> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.the-meridian.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Flags and configuration

## Global flags

These work on every command, before or after the command name.

| Flag | Effect |
| - | - |
| `--json` | Print machine-readable JSON on stdout |
| `-q`, `--quiet` | Only print warnings and errors |
| `--verbose` | Print debug output, including stack traces |
| `--no-color` | Disable ANSI colors |
| `-y`, `--yes` | Assume yes for every confirmation prompt |
| `--no-input` | Never prompt; fail instead |
| `--cwd <dir>` | Run as if started in this directory |
| `--api-url <url>` | Meridian API base URL, overriding `MERIDIAN_API_URL` and the stored config |

`--yes` and `--no-input` are not the same thing. `--yes` answers every prompt affirmatively; `--no-input` refuses to prompt at all and fails instead. In CI you usually want both: `--yes` so expected confirmations pass, `--no-input` so an unexpected one is a failed build rather than a hung job.

`--json` changes stdout to a single JSON document, which is what makes the CLI scriptable. Pair it with `--no-input` and read the result rather than the log.

## Files on disk

| Path | Contents |
| - | - |
| `~/.meridian/config.json` | Token, its expiry, your user, the API base URL. Mode `0600` |
| `~/.meridian/bin/` | Cached, checksum-verified `cloud-sql-proxy` binaries |
| `<project>/.meridian/project.json` | Organization, app, and optional dev command |
| `<project>/.meridian/snapshots/` | Pre-migration dumps, pruned to the newest few |

`project.json` is the one to commit. `config.json` holds your token and belongs to the machine, and `snapshots/` is local recovery state. Keep both out of git.

## Environment

`MERIDIAN_API_URL` sets the API base URL when no `--api-url` is passed. Everything else the CLI needs it either stores in `~/.meridian/config.json` or reads from `.meridian/project.json`.


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