# Symfony — CLI and bin/console for Symfony Projects > Practical guide to Symfony: the CLI for the local server and bin/console for make, Doctrine, cache, routing and debugging your Symfony apps. Source: https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/symfony/ Symfony is one of the leading PHP frameworks for web applications and APIs. Day to day you work with two tools: the separate `symfony` CLI (the Symfony binary) starts the local development server, scaffolds new projects and bundles tooling around Symfony Cloud. For everything inside your application – code generation, database migrations, cache, routing and debugging – you use `php bin/console`, the framework's Console component. This guide collects the commands you reach for most often in everyday project work. ## General `php bin/console list` — List all available commands. ```bash php bin/console list ``` `php bin/console help ` — Show help for a specific command. ```bash php bin/console help make:entity ``` `php bin/console about` — Show information about the current project. ```bash php bin/console about ``` `symfony serve` — Start the Symfony local web server. ```bash symfony serve -d ``` `symfony new ` — Create a new Symfony project. ```bash symfony new my-project --webapp ``` ## Code Generation (make:) `php bin/console make:entity` — Create or update a Doctrine entity class. ```bash php bin/console make:entity Product ``` `php bin/console make:controller` — Create a new controller class. ```bash php bin/console make:controller ProductController ``` `php bin/console make:form` — Create a new form type class. ```bash php bin/console make:form ProductType ``` `php bin/console make:migration` — Generate a migration based on entity changes. ```bash php bin/console make:migration ``` `php bin/console make:command` — Create a new console command class. ```bash php bin/console make:command app:send-emails ``` `php bin/console make:subscriber` — Create a new event subscriber class. ```bash php bin/console make:subscriber ExceptionSubscriber ``` `php bin/console make:twig-extension` — Create a Twig extension. ```bash php bin/console make:twig-extension AppExtension ``` `php bin/console make:voter` — Create a new security voter. ```bash php bin/console make:voter ProductVoter ``` ## Database & Doctrine `php bin/console doctrine:database:create` — Create the configured database. ```bash php bin/console doctrine:database:create ``` `php bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate` — Run pending database migrations. ```bash php bin/console doctrine:migrations:migrate ``` `php bin/console doctrine:migrations:status` — Show migration status. ```bash php bin/console doctrine:migrations:status ``` `php bin/console doctrine:schema:validate` — Validate the mapping files and database schema. ```bash php bin/console doctrine:schema:validate ``` `php bin/console doctrine:schema:update --dump-sql` — Show SQL needed to update database schema. ```bash php bin/console doctrine:schema:update --dump-sql ``` `php bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load` — Load data fixtures into the database. ```bash php bin/console doctrine:fixtures:load --append ``` `php bin/console dbal:run-sql ''` — Execute raw SQL directly. ```bash php bin/console dbal:run-sql 'SELECT count(*) FROM product' ``` ## Cache & Config `php bin/console cache:clear` — Clear the application cache. ```bash php bin/console cache:clear ``` `php bin/console cache:warmup` — Warm up the cache. ```bash php bin/console cache:warmup ``` `php bin/console cache:pool:clear ` — Clear a specific cache pool. ```bash php bin/console cache:pool:clear cache.app ``` `php bin/console debug:config ` — Show resolved configuration for a bundle. ```bash php bin/console debug:config framework ``` `php bin/console config:dump-reference ` — Show full default configuration reference. ```bash php bin/console config:dump-reference security ``` ## Debug & Routes `php bin/console debug:router` — List all registered routes. ```bash php bin/console debug:router ``` `php bin/console debug:router ` — Show details of a specific route. ```bash php bin/console debug:router app_product_show ``` `php bin/console router:match ` — Show which route matches a given URL path. ```bash php bin/console router:match /product/42 ``` `php bin/console debug:container` — List all services in the container. ```bash php bin/console debug:container --show-arguments ``` `php bin/console debug:container ` — Show details of a specific service. ```bash php bin/console debug:container App\Service\Mailer ``` `php bin/console debug:event-dispatcher` — List all registered event listeners. ```bash php bin/console debug:event-dispatcher kernel.request ``` `php bin/console debug:twig` — Show Twig functions, filters, and globals. ```bash php bin/console debug:twig ``` ## Messenger & Security `php bin/console messenger:consume ` — Consume messages from a transport (queue worker). ```bash php bin/console messenger:consume async --limit=10 ``` `php bin/console messenger:failed:show` — Show failed messages. ```bash php bin/console messenger:failed:show ``` `php bin/console messenger:failed:retry` — Retry failed messages. ```bash php bin/console messenger:failed:retry ``` `php bin/console security:hash-password` — Hash a plain-text password. ```bash php bin/console security:hash-password ``` `php bin/console secrets:set ` — Set a secret in the vault. ```bash php bin/console secrets:set DATABASE_PASSWORD ``` ## Conclusion Between the `symfony` CLI and `bin/console` you have nearly everything a Symfony project needs day to day – from the local server to code generation, cache and routing. The local server (`symfony serve`) is meant for development only; in production your app runs behind a real web server such as nginx or Apache with PHP-FPM. Be careful with data-changing Doctrine commands: `doctrine:migrations:migrate` along with `doctrine:database:drop` and `doctrine:schema:drop` can delete data irreversibly – take a backup first and use `--no-interaction` in production only deliberately and after review. `cache:clear` is harmless, but in production it should run in the correct environment. The console is extensible: with `make:command` you build your own commands in the same style. ## Further Reading - [Symfony Documentation](https://symfony.com/doc/current/index.html) – official reference for the framework, console and components - [The Console Component](https://symfony.com/doc/current/components/console.html) – details on `bin/console` and custom commands - [Symfony Local Web Server](https://symfony.com/doc/current/setup/symfony_server.html) – setup and usage of the `symfony` CLI ## Related Commands - [artisan](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/artisan/) – command-line tool of the Laravel framework - [cargo](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/cargo/) – package and build manager for Rust - [composer](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/composer/) – dependency manager for PHP