# Setup with NestJS CLI — NestJS: Building Scalable Node.js APIs

Source: https://www.skillbyai.com/en/nestjs/nestjs-setup-cli

> Scaffold a NestJS project with the Nest CLI and tour main.ts, the root module and the sample controller and service.

## Create a project

The `@nestjs/cli` package generates everything—package.json, tsconfig, and starter files.

```bash
npm install -g @nestjs/cli
nest new my-app
cd my-app
npm run start:dev
```

## Generated files

You get a `src/` folder with `main.ts` (bootstrap), `app.module.ts` (root module), and `app.controller.ts` + `app.service.ts` (example controller/service pair).

## Generate a full CRUD resource

`nest g resource users` creates a module, controller, service, DTOs and an entity in one go.

- `g` is short for `generate`.
- `--no-spec` skips the test files.
- The CLI also registers `UsersModule` in `AppModule` for you.

```bash
nest g resource users --no-spec
```

## Use --dry-run first

Add `--dry-run` to any `nest g` command to preview which files will be created or changed. Nothing is written to disk, so it is safe to experiment.

Quick check

**Quiz:** What does `nest g resource users` do that `nest g controller users` does not?

- [ ] It only creates a service file
- [x] It generates module, controller, service and DTOs together
- [ ] It starts the server in watch mode

*Answer:* It generates module, controller, service and DTOs together. `resource` scaffolds the whole feature slice, while `controller` creates only the controller.