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These flags are available on every pidgeon command.
FlagTypeDefaultDescription
-p, --project <dir>stringCurrent directoryProject directory
-s, --standard <std>stringAuto-detectForce standard: hl7, fhir, or ncpdp
-o, --output <path>stringstdoutOutput file or directory path
-f, --format <fmt>stringautoOutput format: auto, hl7, json, ndjson
-v, --verboseflagoffEnable verbose logging
--quietflagoffSuppress all output except errors
--color <mode>stringautoColor output: auto, always, never
--config <file>string—Path to configuration file
--profile <name>string—Named vendor profile to use

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Smart Standard Detection

When --standard is omitted, Pidgeon auto-detects the standard from the message type:
PatternDetected StandardExamples
TYPE^TRIGGERHL7 v2ADT^A01, ORU^R01, ORM^O01
Resource nameFHIR R4Patient, Observation, Bundle
Transaction typeNCPDP SCRIPTNewRx, RxFill, CancelRx

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Output Formats

FormatWhen to Use
autoDefault — picks the best format for the standard
hl7Raw HL7 pipe-delimited format
jsonPretty-printed JSON (FHIR resources, structured output)
ndjsonNewline-delimited JSON for bulk/streaming

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Examples

# Verbose output for debugging
pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --verbose

# Quiet mode for CI/CD pipelines
pidgeon validate --folder ./messages --quiet

# Force JSON output
pidgeon generate Patient --format json

# Use a vendor profile
pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --profile epic_er