Camel CLI - Running Camel

This page covers the essential options for running Camel integrations — dev mode, properties, profiles, HTTP endpoints, dependencies, and runtimes.

For advanced techniques like running from GitHub, clipboard, or stub components, see Tips and Recipes.

Dev mode with live reload

Run with --dev to get automatic reload when you edit and save your source files:

camel run foo.yaml --dev

This works for all DSLs (YAML, Java, XML).

Live reload is for development purposes. If you encounter JVM class loading issues, restart the integration. Java files are not live-reloadable in Spring Boot runtime.

Source directory

Use --source-dir for more flexibility — Camel watches the entire directory (including subfolders) and automatically detects new, modified, and deleted files:

camel run --source-dir=mycode --dev

Without --source-dir, Camel only watches the specific files you listed on the command line.

You cannot combine files and source dir: camel run abc.java --source-dir=mycode is not allowed.

Live reload of resource files

In dev mode, Camel disables contentCache on resource-based components (such as xslt) so that edits to resource files are picked up on the next message without restarting.

User properties (e.g. camel.component.xslt.contentCache=true) and explicit endpoint settings are always respected.

Loading new routes into existing Camel

Available as of Camel 4.17

The camel cmd load command loads new routes into a running Camel application:

camel cmd load --source=bar.java

Assign ids to your routes so the load command detects previously loaded routes and avoids duplicates.

Use --restart to restart all routes after the new route is loaded.

Using properties

Set properties with --property or load them from a file with --properties:

camel run foo.yaml --property=my-key=my-value
camel run foo.yaml --properties=/var/my-app/config.properties

Use the = sign directly after --property (no space).

If both are used, the properties are merged into a single application.properties file.

Using profiles

Available from Camel 4.5

Camel CLI has three profiles:

dev — development (default), enables tracing, extra metrics, and developer-focused features
test — testing (currently same as production)
prod — production

Run with a specific profile:

camel run hello.java --profile=prod

Use profile-specific configuration files:

application.properties — common configuration (always loaded)
application-dev.properties — dev profile overrides
application-prod.properties — production profile overrides

Since Camel 4.21, camel run and camel export auto-detect application.properties (and profile-specific variants) in the current directory.

Using the platform-http component

When a route uses platform-http, Camel CLI automatically starts a VertX HTTP server on port 8080:

- route:
    from:
      uri: platform-http:/hello
      steps:
        - set-body:
            constant: "Hello World"

camel run server.yaml

$ curl http://localhost:8080/hello
Hello World%

Camel CLI only supports platform-http for HTTP serving and REST DSL. It does not support camel-servlet or camel-jetty.

Adding custom JARs

Camel CLI automatically detects and downloads dependencies for Camel components. For 3rd-party JARs, use --dep with Maven GAV syntax:

camel run foo.java --dep=com.foo:acme:1.0

For Camel dependencies, use the shorthand syntax:

camel run foo.java --dep=camel-saxon

Multiple dependencies can be separated by comma:

camel run foo.java --dep=camel-saxon,com.foo:acme:1.0

Using 3rd-party Maven repositories

By default, Camel CLI downloads from the local Maven repository and Maven Central. To add other repositories:

camel run foo.java --repos=https://packages.atlassian.com/maven-external

Separate multiple repositories with commas.

You can also configure repositories in application.properties:

camel.jbang.repos=https://packages.atlassian.com/maven-external

Or set a global default via environment variable:

export JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-Dcamel.extra.repos=repo1=https://repo1.example.com/maven2,repo2=https://repo2.example.com/releases"

Downloading JARs over the internet

Camel CLI automatically resolves and downloads dependencies in this order:

Local Maven repository (~/.m2/repository)
Maven Central
Custom 3rd-party repositories
Repositories from ~/.m2/settings.xml

To disable automatic downloading:

camel run foo.java --download=false

Running with Spring Boot or Quarkus

Camel CLI can run integrations using Spring Boot or Quarkus runtimes:

camel run foo.camel.yaml --runtime=spring-boot
camel run foo.camel.yaml --runtime=quarkus

This does an export to a temporary folder and runs using Maven. Source changes are reloaded via Spring Boot dev-tools or Quarkus dev mode.

Limitations:

Spring Boot and Quarkus cannot auto-detect new components (stop and run again to update dependencies)
Quarkus versions are locked to a specific Camel version (camel version list --runtime=quarkus)
Spring Boot is more flexible — you can choose different versions:

camel run foo.camel.yaml --runtime=spring-boot --spring-boot-version=3.2.3 --camel-version=4.4.1
camel run foo.camel.yaml --runtime=quarkus --quarkus-version=3.9.4

Running local Kamelets

Run local Kamelets without publishing them:

camel run --local-kamelet-dir=/path/to/local/kamelets earthquake.yaml

Local Kamelets support live reload in dev mode.

You can also point to a GitHub folder:

camel run --local-kamelet-dir=https://github.com/apache/camel-kamelets-examples/tree/main/custom-kamelets user.java

Kamelets loaded from GitHub cannot be live reloaded.

Creating a new Kamelet

Create a new Kamelet using naming conventions — the suffix determines the type:

camel init cheese-source.kamelet.yaml    # creates a source kamelet
camel init wine-sink.kamelet.yaml        # creates a sink kamelet

Use the new Kamelet in a route:

- route:
    from:
      uri: kamelet:cheese-source
      parameters:
        period: "2000"
        message: "Hello World"
      steps:
        - to:
            uri: kamelet:wine-sink

To base a new Kamelet on an existing one:

camel init orderdb-sink.kamelet.yaml --from-kamelet=mysql-sink