Command line reference

Commands

aquery	Analyzes the given targets and queries the action graph.
build	Builds the specified targets.
canonicalize-flags	Canonicalizes a list of bazel options.
clean	Removes output files and optionally stops the server.
coverage	Generates code coverage report for specified test targets.
cquery	Loads, analyzes, and queries the specified targets w/ configurations.
dump	Dumps the internal state of the bazel server process.
fetch	Fetches external repositories that are prerequisites to the targets.
help	Prints help for commands, or the index.
info	Displays runtime info about the bazel server.
license	Prints the license of this software.
mobile-install	Installs targets to mobile devices.
mod	Queries the Bzlmod external dependency graph
print_action	Prints the command line args for compiling a file.
query	Executes a dependency graph query.
run	Runs the specified target.
shutdown	Stops the bazel server.
test	Builds and runs the specified test targets.
vendor	Fetches external repositories into a folder specified by the flag —vendor_dir.
version	Prints version information for bazel.

Startup Options

Options that appear before the command and are parsed by the client

Remote caching and execution options

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Options Common to all Commands

Options that appear before the command and are parsed by the client

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options relating to Bzlmod output and semantics

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Remote caching and execution options

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Aquery Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options relating to query output and semantics

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

Options that affect the signing outputs of a build

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Build Options

Options that control build execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Remote caching and execution options

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

Options that affect the signing outputs of a build

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Canonicalize-flags Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options that control the output of the command

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Clean Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options that control the output of the command

Config Options

Coverage Options

Inherits all options from test.

Cquery Options

Inherits all options from test.

Options relating to query output and semantics

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

Options that affect the signing outputs of a build

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Dump Options

Options that control the output of the command

Fetch Options

Inherits all options from test.

Options that control build execution

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options relating to Bzlmod output and semantics

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

Options that affect the signing outputs of a build

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Help Options

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Info Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

License Options

Mobile-install Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Mod Options

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options relating to the output and semantics of the mod subcommand

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Print_action Options

Inherits all options from build.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Query Options

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options relating to query output and semantics

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Run Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options that appear before the command and are parsed by the client

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Shutdown Options

Options that control the output of the command

Test Options

Inherits all options from build.

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Vendor Options

Inherits all options from test.

Options that control build execution

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options relating to Bzlmod output and semantics

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Options that control build execution

Options that configure the toolchain used for action execution

Options that control the output of the command

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Options that affect how strictly Bazel enforces valid build inputs (rule definitions, flag combinations, etc.)

Options that affect the signing outputs of a build

This option affects semantics of the Starlark language or the build API accessible to BUILD files, .bzl files, or WORKSPACE files.

Options that govern the behavior of the test environment or test runner

Options that trigger optimizations of the build time

Options that affect the verbosity, format or location of logging

Options specifying or altering a generic input to a Bazel command that does not fall into other categories.

Miscellaneous options, not otherwise categorized.

Version Options

Options that let the user configure the intended output, affecting its value, as opposed to its existence

Option Effect Tags

unknown	This option has unknown, or undocumented, effect.
no_op	This option has literally no effect.
loses_incremental_state	Changing the value of this option can cause significant loss of incremental state, which slows builds. State could be lost due to a server restart or to invalidation of a large part of the dependency graph.
changes_inputs	This option actively changes the inputs that bazel considers for the build, such as filesystem restrictions, repository versions, or other options.
affects_outputs	This option affects bazel’s outputs. This tag is intentionally broad, can include transitive affects, and does not specify the type of output it affects.
build_file_semantics	This option affects the semantics of BUILD or .bzl files.
bazel_internal_configuration	This option affects settings of bazel-internal machinery. This tag does not, on its own, mean that build artifacts are affected.
loading_and_analysis	This option affects the loading and analysis of dependencies, and the building of the dependency graph.
execution	This option affects the execution phase, such as sandboxing or remote execution related options.
host_machine_resource_optimizations	This option triggers an optimization that may be machine specific and is not guaranteed to work on all machines. The optimization could include a tradeoff with other aspects of performance, such as memory or cpu cost.
eagerness_to_exit	This option changes how eagerly bazel will exit from a failure, where a choice between continuing despite the failure and ending the invocation exists.
bazel_monitoring	This option is used to monitor bazel’s behavior and performance.
terminal_output	This option affects bazel’s terminal output.
action_command_lines	This option changes the command line arguments of one or more build actions.
test_runner	This option changes the testrunner environment of the build.

Option Metadata Tags

experimental	This option triggers an experimental feature with no guarantees of functionality.
incompatible_change	This option triggers a breaking change. Use this option to test your migration readiness or get early access to the new feature
deprecated	This option is deprecated. It might be that the feature it affects is deprecated, or that another method of supplying the information is preferred.
non_configurable	This option cannot be changed in a transition or be used in a select() statement.
fully_redacted_in_logs	This option may contain sensitive credentials and should be redacted in logs.