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Use init to start your project

Last updated: September 29, 2026

This page creates a Liquibase project on disk: the working directory with your changelog, properties file, and checks scaffolding. Looking for projects in the web application, the records that group your changelogs and database connections for the dashboards? See Create a project using the UI.

When you’re ready to use Liquibase, the first step whether you have an existing database or are implementing Liquibase while choosing a new database is to create a project. This guide shows you how to create a new Liquibase project using the init project command.

This guide shows you how to create a new Liquibase project using the init project command.

Liquibase projects are separate from your Liquibase installation. While the Liquibase CLI is installed globally on your system, the project directory is where all change tracking, environment configuration, and automation settings live.

Before you begin

Before you can run Liquibase commands, make sure you have the following:

  • Liquibase is installed and accessible from your terminal. Run liquibase --version to verify. If the command fails, you may need to add Liquibase to your PATH. See how to add environment variables to your PATH on Windows and MacOS.

Procedure

1

Run the init project command

Navigate to the folder where you want your Liquibase project to live. Then run:

liquibase init project

Liquibase will prompt you:

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  • Press Y to accept default names and settings.

  • Press C if you want to customize the filenames or locations.

  • Press N to cancel.

2

Validate that your project creation was successful.

Liquibase generates several files in your current directory. You should see several files that have been created, including:

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For most databases, you will now need to use the liquibase.properties file to connect your database to Liquibase.

We recommend you open this file now:

  • To prepare for connecting your database

  • To get familiar with how long-lived Liquibase properties are typically set (such as url, username, password, and changeLogFile)

This file allows you to avoid repeating common flags on every CLI command and is the standard approach in most Liquibase workflows.

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