CLI

The @openpolicy/cli package provides the openpolicy command for generating and validating policy documents without a build tool.

Installation

bun add -D @openpolicy/cli

Or install globally:

bun add -g @openpolicy/cli

Create your config

Create an openpolicy.ts at the root of your project using defineConfig() from @openpolicy/sdk:

// openpolicy.ts
import { defineConfig } from "@openpolicy/sdk";

export default defineConfig({
  company: {
    name: "Acme Inc.",
    legalName: "Acme Corporation",
    address: "123 Main St, Springfield, USA",
    contact: "privacy@acme.com",
  },
  privacy: {
    effectiveDate: "2026-01-01",
    dataCollected: {
      "Account Information": ["Name", "Email address"],
      "Usage Data": ["Pages visited", "Browser type", "IP address"],
    },
    legalBasis: "Legitimate interests and consent",
    retention: { "Account data": "Until account deletion" },
    cookies: { essential: true, analytics: false, marketing: false },
    thirdParties: [],
    userRights: ["access", "erasure"],
    jurisdictions: ["us", "eu"],
  },
  terms: {
    effectiveDate: "2026-01-01",
    acceptance: { methods: ["using the service", "creating an account"] },
    governingLaw: { jurisdiction: "Delaware, USA" },
  },
});

See the openpolicy.ts reference → for all available fields.

Generate

Run openpolicy generate with no arguments — it looks for openpolicy.ts automatically and compiles every section present:

openpolicy generate

A unified config (defineConfig()) generates all sections in one pass. Given the example above, this writes:

output/
  privacy-policy.md
  terms-of-service.md

Pass options to customize the output:

openpolicy generate --format markdown,html --out ./src/policies

To generate from a specific file:

openpolicy generate ./openpolicy.ts --format markdown,html --out ./src/policies

Option	Default	Description
`config`	`./openpolicy.ts`	Path to the policy config (positional). Falls back to `./policy.config.ts` then `./terms.config.ts` if not found.
`--format`	`markdown`	Comma-separated list of output formats: `markdown`, `html`
`--out`	`./output`	Output directory
`--type`	(auto-detected)	`"privacy"`, `"terms"`, or `"cookie"` — inferred from filename; ignored for unified configs
`--watch`	`false`	Watch config files and regenerate on changes

The output filename is determined by the policy type:

Type	Output filename
`privacy`	`privacy-policy.md` / `privacy-policy.html`
`terms`	`terms-of-service.md` / `terms-of-service.html`
`cookie`	`cookie-policy.md` / `cookie-policy.html`

Type auto-detection: if the config filename contains "cookie" it's treated as a cookie policy, "terms" as terms of service, otherwise privacy. Use --type to override.

Examples

# Unified config — generates all sections (default)
openpolicy generate

# Both formats into src/policies
openpolicy generate --format markdown,html --out ./src/policies

# Watch mode — regenerate on config changes
openpolicy generate --format html --out ./src/policies --watch

# Explicit type override for a non-standard filename
openpolicy generate ./my.config.ts --type terms --format markdown

Init

The init command runs an interactive wizard and writes a ready-to-use config file for a single policy type:

# Privacy policy wizard (default)
openpolicy init

# Terms of service wizard
openpolicy init --type terms

Privacy policy wizard prompts for:

Company name and legal entity name
Company address and privacy contact email
Jurisdiction (GDPR, CCPA, or both)
Data categories collected
Whether your app uses cookies

Terms of service wizard prompts for:

Company name and legal entity name
Company address and legal contact email
Governing law jurisdiction

The output path defaults to ./privacy.config.ts or ./terms.config.ts based on --type. Override with --out:

openpolicy init --type terms --out ./openpolicy.ts

Validate

Check a config for compliance issues without generating output:

openpolicy validate ./openpolicy.ts

Option	Default	Description
`config`	`./policy.config.ts`	Path to the policy config (positional)
`--jurisdiction`	`all`	Jurisdiction to validate against: `gdpr`, `ccpa`, or `all` (privacy only)
`--type`	(auto-detected)	`"privacy"`, `"terms"`, or `"cookie"` — inferred from filename if omitted

Privacy policy validation checks:

Required fields: effectiveDate, company.*, dataCollected
GDPR: legalBasis required; recommended user rights (access, rectification, erasure, portability, restriction, objection)
CCPA: recommended user rights (access, erasure, opt_out_sale, non_discrimination)

Terms of service validation checks:

Required fields: effectiveDate, company.*, governingLaw.jurisdiction
Warnings if disclaimers or limitationOfLiability are missing
Warning if acceptance.methods is empty

Errors cause a non-zero exit code. Warnings are printed but do not fail the process.

# Check GDPR compliance only
openpolicy validate ./openpolicy.ts --jurisdiction gdpr

package.json scripts

A common pattern is to add a generate:policy script that runs before your build:

{
  "scripts": {
    "generate:policy": "openpolicy generate --format markdown,html --out ./src/policies",
    "build": "bun run generate:policy && next build"
  }
}

CLI