CLI

The package ships a CLI binary so you can run seeders or seed entities directly from the terminal without writing a seed script.

TypeScript

To use .ts files directly, install ts-node as a dev dependency and the CLI will pick it up automatically. Compiled .js files work without it.

seed:run

Loads all @Seeder-decorated classes from a glob pattern and runs them in topological order.

Pass --dry-run (-n) to see which seeders would run without executing them or touching the database:

npm

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:run './src/seeders/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts

yarn

yarn @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:run './src/seeders/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts

pnpm

pnpm exec @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:run './src/seeders/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:run './src/seeders/*.ts' --dry-run
# Dry run — seeders will not run
#
# 3 seeders found:
#   UserSeeder
#   PostSeeder
#   CommentSeeder

seed:entities

Loads entity constructors from a glob pattern, filters to those with at least one @Seed decorator, and persists --count instances of each (default: 1).

Pass --dry-run (-n) to create entities in memory and print them without writing to the database:

npm

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:entities './src/entities/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts --count 20

yarn

yarn @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:entities './src/entities/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts --count 20

pnpm

pnpm exec @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:entities './src/entities/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts --count 20

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:entities './src/entities/*.ts' --dry-run --count 3
# Dry run — nothing will be written to the database
#
# 3 × User
# User { name: 'Alice Smith', email: 'alice@example.com', age: 27 }
# User { name: 'Bob Jones', email: 'bob@example.com', age: 34 }
# User { name: 'Carol White', email: 'carol@example.com', age: 22 }

seed:list

Prints all seeder runs recorded in the history table:

npm

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:list -o ./src/orm.ts

yarn

yarn @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:list -o ./src/orm.ts

pnpm

pnpm exec @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:list -o ./src/orm.ts

┌─────────┬─────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┐
│ (index) │ name                │ executed_at                  │
├─────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│ 0       │ 'UserSeeder'        │ '2026-04-01T10:00:00.000Z'   │
│ 1       │ 'PostSeeder'        │ '2026-04-01T10:00:01.243Z'   │
└─────────┴─────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘

If the history table does not exist yet, or no seeders have run, a descriptive message is printed instead. Pass --table (-t) if you use a custom historyTableName.

seed:untrack

Removes a seeder from the history table so it runs again on the next application boot:

npm

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:untrack UserSeeder -o ./src/orm.ts

yarn

yarn @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:untrack UserSeeder -o ./src/orm.ts

pnpm

pnpm exec @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:untrack UserSeeder -o ./src/orm.ts

If your NestJS module uses a custom historyTableName, pass --table (-t) to match:

npx @joakimbugge/mikroorm-seeder seed:untrack UserSeeder -o ./src/orm.ts --table seed_history

npm scripts

A common pattern is to define scripts in package.json with the paths baked in:

{
  "scripts": {
    "seed:run": "mikroorm-seeder seed:run './src/seeders/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts",
    "seed:entities": "mikroorm-seeder seed:entities './src/entities/*.ts' -o ./src/orm.ts"
  }
}

Run them with your package manager:

npm

npm run seed:run

yarn

yarn seed:run

pnpm

pnpm seed:run

To pass extra arguments at call time, npm and pnpm require a -- separator before any flags; yarn does not:

npm

npm run seed:entities -- --count 50

yarn

yarn seed:entities --count 50

pnpm

pnpm seed:entities -- --count 50

MikroORM instance

Pass --orm (-o) with a path to a file that exports a MikroORM instance:

// orm.ts
import { MikroORM } from '@mikro-orm/core'

export default await MikroORM.init({ ... })

If the flag is omitted the CLI looks for mikroorm-seeder.config.ts then mikroorm-seeder.config.js in the current working directory.

TIP

Wrap glob patterns in single quotes to prevent your shell from expanding them before they reach the CLI. Without quotes, the shell resolves the glob and the CLI receives a list of individual file paths — which also works, but prevents the CLI from using tinyglobby's pattern matching.