Automation
Most development processes are automated:
- GitHub Actions run tests, builds, and validations on each push or pull request.
- Pre-commit formatting is handled by lint-staged,
which automatically formats code before committing.
🛠️ The NPM package husky takes care of installing the
pre-commit hook automatically after pnpm install.
Manual Commands
While automation handles most workflows, the following commands are available for local development
and debugging:
| Command |
Description |
Notes |
make |
Installs dependencies and compiles frontend/backend assets |
|
make test |
Runs PHP unit tests |
|
make test-frontend |
Runs frontend (Vitest) tests |
|
make format |
Auto-fix code style |
|
make lint |
Check code quality |
|
make openapi |
Generate OpenAPI documentation |
Output saved to openapi.json |
make appstore |
Production build for Nextcloud app store |
|
make source |
Create full source package |
|
make distclean |
Clean build artifacts and dependencies |
|
make sign |
Sign release archive with SHA-512 signature |
Run after uploading .tar.gz to GitHub. Uses ~/.nextcloud/certificates/forum.key |
Scaffolding
Generate boilerplate for common app pieces with:
name is required for every type except migration.
Available generators
| Type |
Purpose |
Output directory |
Name required? |
Template folder |
Notes |
component |
Vue single-file component for reusable UI |
src/components |
✅ |
gen/component |
For user-facing building blocks. |
view |
Vue view / route view |
src/views |
✅ |
gen/view |
Pair with your router. |
api |
PHP controller (API endpoint) |
lib/Controller |
✅ |
gen/api |
PSR-4 namespace: OCA\<App>\Controller. |
service |
PHP service class |
lib/Service |
✅ |
gen/service |
Business logic; DI-friendly. |
util |
PHP utility/helper |
lib/Util |
✅ |
gen/util |
Pure helpers / small utilities. |
model |
PHP DB model / entity |
lib/Db |
✅ |
gen/model |
Pair with migrations. |
command |
Nextcloud OCC console command |
lib/Command |
✅ |
gen/command |
Shows up in occ. |
task-queued |
Queued background job |
lib/Cron |
✅ |
gen/task-queued |
Extend queued job base. |
task-timed |
Timed background job (cron) |
lib/Cron |
✅ |
gen/task-timed |
Scheduled execution. |
migration |
Database migration |
lib/Migration |
❌ |
gen/migration |
Auto-numbers version; injects version and dt. |
How migrations are numbered
The scaffolder looks at lib/Migration, finds the latest VersionNNNN... file, and increments
it for you. It also injects:
version — the next numeric versiondt — a timestamp like YYYYMMDDHHmmss (via date-fns)
You don't pass a name for migrations.
Resources
Nextcloud Development
Technologies Used