DevEcoCli: Unified CLI for HarmonyOS Development with AI Integration

Introduction

DevEcoCli is a unified command-line entry for HarmonyOS application development. It encapsulates the DevEco Studio toolchain—including ohpm (package manager), hvigor (build system), hdc (device connector), emulator, hilog (logging), and the MCP (Model Context Protocol) syntax-checking service—into a single CLI. This design makes DevEco Studio capabilities easily callable from AI coding agents.

What Is DevEcoCli?

DevEcoCli provides a command-line interface that bundles the core tools used in DevEco Studio. Key bundled tools: ohpm – Open Harmony Package Manager (like npm for ArkTS/ArkUI libraries) hvigor – Build toolchain (similar to Gradle) hdc – HarmonyOS Device Connector (like Android's adb) emulator – Local HarmonyOS device simulator hilog – System log viewer MCP – Model Context Protocol service for AI-assisted syntax checking

The CLI is purpose-built for the AI era of HarmonyOS development, enabling natural-language interaction via integrated AI agents.

Environment Requirements

Operating system: macOS or Windows (Linux and HarmonyOS PC are not supported )

Node.js >= 18 (version 22+ recommended) – download from https://nodejs.org/en

DevEco Studio >= 6.1.0 – download from https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/doc/harmonyos-guides/ide-tools-overview

On macOS, DevEco Studio must be installed in ~/Applications or

/Applications

Installation

Run the following command to install the latest version: npm install -g @deveco/deveco-cli@latest Verify installation:

devecocli -v

Core Commands Walkthrough

Project Scaffolding

Create a new HarmonyOS project (default API 23): devecocli create --app-name MyApp Full options:

devecocli create --app-name <name> --project-path <path> --bundle-name <bundle> --api-level <level>

--app-name

(required): application name --project-path (optional): default

./<appname>

--bundle-name

(optional): default com.example.<appname> (lowercased) --api-level (optional): min 17, max from installed HarmonyOS SDK

Emulator Management

List available emulator images: devecocli emulator list Start a specific emulator (e.g., "Pura 90"): devecocli emulator start "Pura 90" Other subcommands: stop, create, delete, image list, image download, image remove, license view, license accept.

Build and Run

Build the project (produces .hap/.hsp/.har/.app): devecocli build --build-mode release Clean build artifacts: devecocli build clean Build, install, and launch on a device/emulator: devecocli run --device 127.0.0.1:5555 Key parameters: --module, --device, --product, --build-mode, --ability, --uninstall, --skip-build.

Device Management

List connected devices: devecocli device list View device details:

devecocli device view -t <name|serial>

Log Debugging

Fetch device logs (hilog) with filtering: devecocli log --level E Parameters: --device, --crash, --level, --bundle-name, --keyword, --tail, --from, --to, --follow.

Local Documentation Search

Search offline HarmonyOS docs (primarily for AI consumption): devecocli docs search Button Read full document by ID: devecocli docs read <documentId>; list catalogs: devecocli docs catalog.

Skill Discovery and Installation

List skills from the 格物市场 (Matrix OpenHarmony Skill Square): devecocli skills list --long Find skills by keyword: devecocli skills find <keyword>; add to an agent: devecocli skills add --skill <name> --agent cursor.

AI Agent Integration

DevEcoCli ships with built-in support for popular AI coding agents: trae-cn, opencode, cursor, codebuddy, qoder, claude-code, codex. Integration is done via the init command:

# Install deveco-cli skill for opencode (user-level)
devecocli init --agent opencode

# Install for multiple agents
devecocli init --agent opencode,cursor,atomcode

# Install into a specific project directory
devecocli init --agent cursor --project ./MyApp

# Configure MCP syntax-checking service for an agent
devecocli init --mcp --agent opencode --project ./MyApp

# Overwrite existing configuration
devecocli init --agent cursor --force

After integration, the agent can invoke DevEcoCli via a slash command (e.g., /deveco-cli xxxxx in Claude Code), allowing natural-language requests like "create a new HarmonyOS project" or "search Button documentation" without memorizing CLI syntax.

Command Reference Summary

The article provides a comprehensive table mapping functional categories to top-level commands, subcommands, purposes, key parameters, and examples. Major categories include:

Project scaffolding : create Build & package : build, build clean, run Device management : device list, device view Emulator : emulator list, start, stop, create, delete, image list, image download, image remove, license view, license accept Log debugging : log Documentation : docs search, docs read, docs catalog AI integration : init, skills list, skills find, skills add, skills remove, serve mcp Self-management :

update

Conclusion

DevEcoCli transforms HarmonyOS development from a GUI-heavy "click-click-click" workflow into a "one-sentence" CLI-driven process. When combined with AI coding agents, it significantly boosts developer productivity by eliminating command memorization and enabling natural-language orchestration of project creation, building, testing, documentation lookup, and skill reuse.

References

Node.js official site: https://nodejs.org/en

DevEco Studio overview: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/doc/harmonyos-guides/ide-tools-overview

Matrix OpenHarmony Skill Square: https://matrix.openharmony.cn/#/skillSquare

@deveco/deveco-cli on npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@deveco/deveco-cli

HarmonyOS 7 new features: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/features/

HarmonyOS AI development tools (DevEco Code & DevEco CLI): https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/forum/topic/0202216647056043902

Community resources collection: https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/cn/forum/topic/0201215860119833282

Related live video: https://ost.51cto.com/activity/877