cronix init

init writes a heavily-commented operator config to the chosen path so you have a working starting point for the operator-side configuration that global-status and other multi-backend tooling reads. Defaults to ~/.cronix/cronix.yaml, with the same path resolution as the rest of the CLI: $CRONIX_CONFIG, then ~/.cronix/cronix.yaml, then /etc/cronix/cronix.yaml.

It refuses to overwrite an existing file unless --force is passed — running init twice on the same host is a safe no-op until you opt in. With --app / --manifest-url / --secret-ref you can pre-fill the first manifest_sources entry at scaffold time, skipping the manual edit.

Synopsis

cronix init [flags]

Flags

Flag	Default	Purpose
--config	$CRONIX_CONFIG → ~/.cronix/cronix.yaml	Destination path
--app	(none)	Pre-fill the first manifest_sources entry’s app field
--manifest-url	(none)	Pre-fill the first manifest_sources entry’s url field
--secret-ref (repeatable)	(none)	Pre-fill secret_refs for the first entry
--force	false	Overwrite an existing file

Examples

Empty scaffold at the default path:

cronix init
# wrote /Users/me/.cronix/cronix.yaml
# next: edit manifest_sources[].url and secret_refs, then run `cronix apply --config /Users/me/.cronix/cronix.yaml`.

Pre-fill an app entry at scaffold time:

cronix init \
  --app billing \
  --manifest-url https://billing.example.com/.well-known/cron-manifest \
  --secret-ref env:CRON_SECRET

Overwrite an existing config to a tmp path for testing:

cronix init --config /tmp/cronix.yaml --force
# wrote /tmp/cronix.yaml

Notes

• Refuses to overwrite by default. If the destination exists, init errors out with a pass --force to overwrite message and exits non-zero. This protects production config from accidental scaffolding.
• File mode is 0600. The scaffold may contain secret references; cronix writes it with owner-only read/write permissions. Parent directories are created with 0755.
• Path resolution mirrors the rest of the CLI. The same --config flag, $CRONIX_CONFIG env, and ~/.cronix/cronix.yaml / /etc/cronix/cronix.yaml precedence apply to every multi-backend command — set them once and init matches.
• The scaffold is a starting point, not a complete config. It includes manifest_sources, locks, defaults blocks and inline comments. Edit it before running apply against real hosts.