# Legacy compiler CLI reference

By [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0x3d85c54b662e548943442759bcab6424158f9764) · 2023-11-01

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When the Starknet compiler is installed, you can view this command-line help in a terminal by entering the following command:

    starknet-compile --help
    

**Usage**
---------

    starknet-compile [-h] [--abi ABI] [--disable_hint_validation]
                          [--account_contract] [--dont_filter_identifiers] [-v]
                          [--prime PRIME] [--cairo_path CAIRO_PATH]
                          [--preprocess] [--output OUTPUT] [--no_debug_info]
                          [--debug_info_with_source]
                          [--cairo_dependencies CAIRO_DEPENDENCIES]
                          [--no_opt_unused_functions]
                          file [file ...]
    

**Example**
-----------

The following example compiles the file `contract.cairo`. It generates two files:

**contract\_compiled.json**

The contract class. This file contains the bytecode and all other information necessary to execute a contract. For information on contract classes, see [Contract classes](https://docs.starknet.io/documentation/architecture_and_concepts/Smart_Contracts/contract-classes/).

**contract\_abi.json**

The contract’s ABI.

    starknet-compile contract.cairo \
        --output contract_compiled.json \
        --abi contract_abi.json
    

**Description**
---------------

A tool to compile Starknet contracts.

**Positional arguments**
------------------------

### **file**

File names.

**Optional arguments**
----------------------

### `-h`**,** `--help`

Show this help message and exit.

### `--abi ABI`

Output the contract’s ABI.

### `--disable_hint_validation`

Disable the hint validation.

### `--account_contract`

Compile as account contract.

### `--dont_filter_identifiers`

Disable the filter-identifiers-optimization.If True, all the identifiers will be kept, instead of just the ones mentioned in hints or 'with\_attr' statements.

### `-v`**,** `--version`

show program’s version number and exit

### `--prime PRIME`

The size of the finite field.

### `--cairo_path CAIRO_PATH`

A list of directories, separated by ":" to resolve import paths. The full list will consist of directories defined by this argument, followed by the environment variable CAIRO\_PATH, the working directory and the standard library path.

### `--preprocess`

Stop after the preprocessor step and output the preprocessed program.

### `--output OUTPUT`

The output file name (default: `stdout`).

### `--no_debug_info`

Don’t include debug information in the compiled file.

### `--debug_info_with_source`

Include debug information with a copy of the source code.

### `--cairo_dependencies CAIRO_DEPENDENCIES`

Output a list of the Cairo source files used during the compilation as a CMake file.

### `--no_opt_unused_functions`

Disables unused function optimization.

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*Originally published on [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0x3d85c54b662e548943442759bcab6424158f9764/legacy-compiler-cli-reference)*