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Command Line Arguments

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Peter Flynn edited this page Apr 18, 2015 · 11 revisions

Brackets Command Line Tools

Applies to: Brackets 1.3 and newer

Mac and Windows users can open files and folders in Brackets from the command line, if optional command-line shortcuts are set up:

  • Mac: Select File > Install Command Line Shortcut in Brackets
  • Windows: When installing Brackets, ensure Add "brackets" launcher to PATH for command line use is checked off

Using Brackets from the Command Line

Type brackets at the Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows) to launch Brackets from any location.

To open file(s), add the filenames as command-line arguments; paths can be relative to the command prompt's current directory. If Brackets is already running, the file(s) will open there instead of launching another copy of Brackets. Filenames that include spaces must be wrapped in quotes on Windows.

To open a project, add the folder name as a command-line argument. Currently, Brackets only opens one project at a time, so if Brackets is already running it will switch to this folder. (Any unsaved changes in the previous project are confirmed first).

Examples

Open a file in the current folder, without switching projects:
brackets index.html

Open two files from a specific path, without switching projects:
brackets ~/Sites/index.html ~/Sites/index.css

Open the current folder as a project in Brackets:
brackets .

Open a specific folder as a project in Brackets:
brackets ~/Sites/mysite

Removing Command Line Tools

Windows - Uninstalling Brackets reverts the PATH changes. You can also manually edit your path this way:

  1. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties
  2. Click Advanced System Settings
  3. In the Advanced tab, click the Environment Variables button
  4. Select PATH from the first list you see it in, then click Edit
  5. Remove the segment referencing Brackets, including

Mac - Delete the file /usr/local/bin/brackets

Troubleshooting

If the automatic setup described at the top of this page doesn't work, please file a bug with details so we can improve Brackets.

You can also manually create shortcuts to launch Brackets from the command line.

Windows - Follow the steps above to edit your PATH environment variable, and add ;%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Brackets\command to the end. Close and reopen any Command Prompts you have open. You may also need to restart your computer for the change to take effect.

Mac - Manually run sudo ln -s /Applications/Brackets.app/Contents/Resources/brackets.sh /usr/local/bin/Brackets and type your admin password to confirm. (If Brackets is not in /Applications, substitute the correct path).

Multiple Versions of Brackets

If you have multiple copies of Brackets on your computer, you can control which version will be launched:

Windows - The command line will launch Brackets from whatever folder it was installed to the last time the Brackets installer was run. To change this, manually edit your PATH following the steps above.

Mac - The command line will launch whatever copy of Brackets the Install Command Line Shortcut command was run in. To change this, rerun the command from a different copy of Brackets.

Linux

Linux support is still in progress - Brackets can be launched from the command line, but it does not accept arguments.

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