cli commands

CLI Command Reference

Complete list of every command and every accepted argument in the CHDSharp CLI, side by side with chdman (MAME 0.289). The CLI is drop-in compatible with chdman: every chdman subcommand and option is accepted with identical semantics, validation errors, and exit codes, plus a few CHDSharp-only conveniences (marked below).

Sources of truth: chdman.cpp (s_options[] / s_commands[], MAME 0.289) and CHDSharpCli/Program.cs (per-command parsers).

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Command index

Command	In chdman	Description
info	✓	Displays information about a CHD
verify	✓	Verifies a CHD's integrity
createraw	✓	Create a raw CHD from the input file
createhd	✓	Create a hard disk CHD from the input file
createcd	✓	Create a CD CHD from the input file
createdvd	✓	Create a DVD CHD from the input file
createld	✓	Create a laserdisc CHD from the input file
extractraw	✓	Extract raw file from a CHD input file
extracthd	✓	Extract raw hard disk file from a CHD input file
extractcd	✓	Extract CD file from a CHD input file
extractdvd	✓	Extract DVD file from a CHD input file
extractld	✓	Extract laserdisc AVI from a CHD input file
copy	✓	Copy data from one CHD to another of the same type
addmeta	✓	Add metadata to the CHD
delmeta	✓	Remove metadata from the CHD
dumpmeta	✓	Dump metadata from the CHD to stdout or to a file
listtemplates	✓	List hard disk templates
help <command>	✓	Help for all commands or a specific command
create	—	CHDSharp alias for createraw
random	—	Random-access read stress test on a CHD
list	—	Verify every .chd path listed in a text file
parent	—	Verify a child CHD against its parent
toc	—	Print table-of-contents for a CD/GD-ROM CHD
cue	—	Generate a CUE sheet for a CD CHD
classify	—	Classify CHD media type (cd/dvd/hdd/gd-rom)
detect	—	Detect game platform/region from a CD CHD
hash	—	Compute content hashes (SHA-1/SHA-256/CRC-32/XXH3)
batch	—	Batch extract/create over a directory
<dir> [<dir> ...]	—	Recursively verify all .chd files in directories

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Option syntax conventions

These apply to both chdman and CHDSharp:

• Options are passed as separate tokens: -i file.chd or --input file.chd (not option=value).
• Every option has a short chdman-style form (-i) and a long form (--input).
• Unknown option, duplicate option ("Multiple parameters of the same type specified"), and missing parameter are hard errors.
• Start/length pairs are mutually exclusive per group: -isb/-ish/-isf vs -ib/-ih/-if.
• Numeric option values accept a K/M/G suffix (k=1024, M=1024², G=1024³), matching chdman's parse_number(). The one exception is createhd --size, which follows chdman's stricter sscanf("%I64u") behaviour (plain digits only — "512K" is read as 512 bytes).
• -f is shared: force (overwrite output) on create/extract/copy/dumpmeta commands, fix (repair header SHA-1) on verify.
• -t means tag (metadata) in chdman. CHDSharp keeps -t = --tag on addmeta/delmeta/dumpmeta and additionally accepts -t as a legacy alias for --numprocessors on the create/copy commands (see tables).

CHDSharp-only parsing conveniences:

• Positional fallback: CHDSharp createraw in.bin out.chd (input then output, before any flags) works for create/extract/copy/batch commands. chdman requires named -i/-o.
• Extra long-form aliases: --hunk-size, --unit-size, --codecs, --tasks (see tables).

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Shared option pool

All options defined by chdman's global option table, and whether each command accepts them. **req** = required for that command.

Long form	Short	Parameter	Description
--input	-i	file	Input file (CHD for extract/verify/info; source file for create)
--inputparent	-ip	file	Parent CHD file for the input CHD
--output	-o	file	Output file (CHD, BIN, CUE, ISO or AVI depending on command)
--outputparent	-op	file	Parent CHD file for the output CHD
--outputbin	-ob	file	Output BIN file name for binary data (extractcd)
--splitbin	-sb	—	Output one binary file per track (extractcd)
--force	-f	—	Force overwriting an existing output file
--fix	-f	—	Fix the header SHA-1 if it is incorrect (verify only)
--inputstartbyte	-isb	offset	Starting byte offset within the input
--inputstarthunk	-ish	offset	Starting hunk offset within the input
--inputstartframe	-isf	offset	Starting frame within the input
--inputbytes	-ib	length	Effective length of input in bytes
--inputhunks	-ih	length	Effective length of input in hunks
--inputframes	-if	length	Effective length of input in frames
--hunksize	-hs	bytes	Size of each hunk, in bytes
--unitsize	-us	bytes	Size of each unit, in bytes
--compression	-c	codecs	Which compression codecs to use (up to 4, comma-separated)
--ident	-id	file	512-byte ATA IDENTIFY DEVICE file providing CHS information (createhd)
--chs	-chs	c,h,s	CHS geometry specified directly (createhd)
--sectorsize	-ss	bytes	Size of each hard disk sector (createhd)
--size	-s	bytes	Size of the blank output file (createhd)
--template	-tp	id	Use hard disk template (see listtemplates) (createhd)
--tag	-t	tag	4-character metadata tag (addmeta/delmeta/dumpmeta)
--index	-ix	index	Indexed instance of the metadata tag
--valuetext	-vt	text	Text for the metadata (addmeta)
--valuefile	-vf	file	File containing metadata data (addmeta)
--nochecksum	-nocs	—	Exclude this metadata from the overall SHA-1 (addmeta)
--numprocessors	-np	count	Limit processors used during compression
--verbose	-v	—	Output additional information

CHDSharp-only option aliases (not accepted by chdman)

Alias	Equivalent to	Accepted on
--hunk-size	--hunksize	createraw, createcd, createdvd
--unit-size	--unitsize	createraw
--codecs	--compression	createld, copy, batch
--tasks, -t	--numprocessors	createraw, createcd, createdvd, createld, copy
--dvd / -d	Force DVD metadata	createraw
--cooked	Cooked (2048-byte) sector output	extractcd
--raw, --raw-frames	Raw (2448-byte) frame output	extractcd
--no-upgrade	Preserve legacy metadata tags	copy
--verbose (-v)	Per-hunk compression logging	additionally on createraw, createhd, createcd, createdvd, createld, copy

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Per-command option tables

Legend: ✓ accepted, — not accepted, ✓ req required.

info

Displays information about a CHD.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--verbose	-v	✓	✓	Additional information

verify

Verifies a CHD's integrity.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--inputparent	-ip	✓	✓	Parent CHD file
--fix	-f	✓	✓	Fix mismatched SHA-1 header fields

createraw

Create a raw CHD from the input file. (CHDSharp also accepts the alias create.)

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CHD file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input file
--outputparent	-op	✓	✓	Output parent CHD
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartbyte	-isb	✓	✓	Starting byte offset within input
--inputstarthunk	-ish	✓	✓	Starting hunk offset within input
--inputbytes	-ib	✓	✓	Effective length of input in bytes
--inputhunks	-ih	✓	✓	Effective length of input in hunks
--hunksize	-hs	✓	✓ ( + --hunk-size)	Hunk size in bytes
--unitsize	-us	✓	✓ ( + --unit-size)	Unit size in bytes (required if no output parent)
--compression	-c	✓	✓	Codecs (default: lzma,zlib,huff,flac)
--numprocessors	-np	✓	✓ ( + --tasks, -t)	Parallel workers
--dvd	-d	—	✓	CHDSharp only: force DVD metadata
--verbose	-v	—	✓	Per-hunk compression logging

createhd

Create a hard disk CHD. If --input is omitted, a blank zero-filled image is created.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CHD file
--input	-i	✓	✓	Input file (optional; omit for blank image)
--outputparent	-op	✓	✓	Output parent CHD
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartbyte	-isb	✓	✓	Starting byte offset within input
--inputstarthunk	-ish	✓	✓	Starting hunk offset within input
--inputbytes	-ib	✓	✓	Effective length of input in bytes
--inputhunks	-ih	✓	✓	Effective length of input in hunks
--hunksize	-hs	✓	✓	Hunk size in bytes
--compression	-c	✓	✓	Codecs (default: none for blank images)
--template	-tp	✓	✓	Hard disk template ID (see listtemplates)
--ident	-id	✓	✓	512-byte ATA IDENTIFY DEVICE file
--chs	-chs	✓	✓	CHS geometry: cylinders,heads,sectors
--size	-s	✓	✓	Size of blank image (plain bytes; chdman sscanf semantics)
--sectorsize	-ss	✓	✓	Sector size in bytes (default: 512)
--numprocessors	-np	✓	✓	Parallel workers
--verbose	-v	—	✓	Per-hunk compression logging

createcd

Create a CD CHD from CUE/GDI/ISO/TOC/NRG input.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CHD file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input file: .cue, .gdi, .iso, .toc, .nrg, .cdr, .toast
--outputparent	-op	✓	✓	Output parent CHD
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--hunksize	-hs	✓	✓ ( + --hunk-size)	Hunk size in bytes (default: 19584 = 8 × 2448)
--compression	-c	✓	✓	Codecs (default: cdlz,cdzl,cdfl)
--numprocessors	-np	✓	✓ ( + --tasks, -t)	Parallel workers
--verbose	-v	—	✓	Per-hunk compression logging

createdvd

Create a DVD CHD from the input file (typically an .iso).

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CHD file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input file (raw binary, size divisible by 2048)
--outputparent	-op	✓	✓	Output parent CHD
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartbyte	-isb	✓	✓	Starting byte offset within input
--inputstarthunk	-ish	✓	✓	Starting hunk offset within input
--inputbytes	-ib	✓	✓	Effective length of input in bytes
--inputhunks	-ih	✓	✓	Effective length of input in hunks
--hunksize	-hs	✓	✓ ( + --hunk-size)	Hunk size in bytes
--compression	-c	✓	✓	Codecs (default: lzma,zlib,huff,flac)
--numprocessors	-np	✓	✓ ( + --tasks, -t)	Parallel workers
--verbose	-v	—	✓	Per-hunk compression logging

createld

Create a laserdisc CHD from an AVI file.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CHD file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input AVI file
--outputparent	-op	✓	✓	Output parent CHD
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartframe	-isf	✓	✓	Starting frame within input
--inputframes	-if	✓	✓	Effective length of input in frames
--hunksize	-hs	✓	✓	Hunk size in bytes
--compression	-c	✓	✓ ( + --codecs)	Codecs (default: avhu)
--numprocessors	-np	✓	✓ ( + --tasks, -t)	Parallel workers
--verbose	-v	—	✓	Per-hunk compression logging

extractraw / extracthd / extractdvd

Extract raw file / raw hard disk file / DVD file from a CHD input file. All three share the same option set.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--inputparent	-ip	✓	✓	Parent CHD file
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartbyte	-isb	✓	✓	Starting byte offset within input
--inputstarthunk	-ish	✓	✓	Starting hunk offset within input
--inputbytes	-ib	✓	✓	Effective length of input in bytes
--inputhunks	-ih	✓	✓	Effective length of input in hunks

extractcd

Extract CD file from a CHD input file (BIN/CUE).

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CUE file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--outputbin	-ob	✓	✓	Output BIN file name for binary data
--splitbin	-sb	✓	✓	Output one binary file per track (BIN name must contain a %t track-number variable)
--inputparent	-ip	✓	✓	Parent CHD file
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--cooked	—	—	✓	CHDSharp only: force cooked (2048-byte) sectors (default)
--raw, --raw-frames	—	—	✓	CHDSharp only: write full 2448-byte raw frames

The output BIN name supports chdman variables: %t (track number), optional printf width (%02t), and %% escaping.

extractld

Extract laserdisc AVI from a CHD input file.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output AVI file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--inputparent	-ip	✓	✓	Parent CHD file
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartframe	-isf	✓	✓	Starting frame within input
--inputframes	-if	✓	✓	Effective length of input in frames

copy

Copy data from one CHD to another of the same type (re-compression).

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--output	-o	✓ req	✓ req	Output CHD file
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--inputparent	-ip	✓	✓	Parent CHD file for input
--outputparent	-op	✓	✓	Parent CHD file for output
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--inputstartbyte	-isb	✓	✓	Starting byte offset within input
--inputstarthunk	-ish	✓	✓	Starting hunk offset within input
--inputbytes	-ib	✓	✓	Effective length of input in bytes
--inputhunks	-ih	✓	✓	Effective length of input in hunks
--hunksize	-hs	✓	✓	Hunk size in bytes
--compression	-c	✓	✓ ( + --codecs)	Codecs (default: per input CHD type)
--numprocessors	-np	✓	✓ ( + --tasks, -t)	Parallel workers
--no-upgrade	—	—	✓	CHDSharp only: preserve legacy metadata tags
--verbose	-v	—	✓	Per-hunk compression logging

addmeta

Add metadata to the CHD.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--tag	-t	✓ req	✓ req	4-character metadata tag
--index	-ix	✓	✓	Indexed instance of this tag (default: 0)
--valuetext	-vt	✓	✓	Text for the metadata
--valuefile	-vf	✓	✓	File containing data to add
--nochecksum	-nocs	✓	✓	Exclude this metadata from the overall SHA-1

delmeta

Remove metadata from the CHD.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--tag	-t	✓ req	✓ req	4-character metadata tag
--index	-ix	✓	✓	Indexed instance of this tag (default: 0)

dumpmeta

Dump metadata from the CHD to stdout or to a file.

Option	Short	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
--input	-i	✓ req	✓ req	Input CHD file
--tag	-t	✓ req	✓ req	4-character metadata tag
--output	-o	✓	✓	Output file for binary data (default: stdout)
--force	-f	✓	✓	Overwrite existing output
--index	-ix	✓	✓	Indexed instance of this tag (default: 0)

listtemplates

List built-in hard disk geometry templates. Takes no options.

Option	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
(none)	✓	✓	Prints the 17 built-in HDD templates

help

Usage	chdman	CHDSharp	Description
help	✓	✓	Print command summary
help <command>	✓	✓	Detailed help for a command

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CHDSharp-only commands

These commands exist only in CHDSharp (no chdman equivalent). All accept the file as a positional argument or via --input/-i.

Command	Options	Description
create	same as createraw	Alias for createraw
random <file.chd>	—	Random-access read stress test
list <listfile.txt>	—	Verify every .chd path listed in a text file
parent <child.chd> <parent.chd>	—	Verify a child CHD against its parent
toc <file.chd>	—	Print table-of-contents for a CD/GD-ROM CHD
cue <file.chd> [binfile]	—	Generate a CUE sheet (optional BIN name)
classify <file.chd>	—	Classify CHD media type
detect <file>	—	Detect game platform/region from a CD CHD
hash <file.chd>	see below	Compute content hashes
batch <in-dir> <out-dir>	see below	Batch extract/create
<dir> [<dir> ...]	—	Recursively verify all .chd files in the given directories

hash

Option	Short	Description
--input	-i	Input CHD file (required)
--hashes	—	Comma-separated hash types: sha1, sha256, crc32, xxh3 (default: sha1)
--result	—	Output format: text, json, sfv (default: text)
--tracks	—	Compute per-track hashes (CD only)

batch

Option	Short	Description
--input	-i	Input directory (required)
--output	-o	Output directory (required)
--action	—	extract (default) or create
--compression	-c ( + --codecs)	Codecs for create mode

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Compression codec names

Valid tags for -c/--compression (up to 4, tried in order):

Tag	Codec	Typical use
none	No compression	blank/testing
zlib	Deflate	raw-type images
zstd	Zstandard	raw-type images
lzma	LZMA	raw-type images
huff	Huffman	raw-type images
flac	FLAC	raw-type images
cdlz	CD LZMA (ECC/sync aware)	CD/GD-ROM images
cdzl	CD Deflate (ECC/sync aware)	CD/GD-ROM images
cdzs	CD Zstandard (ECC/sync aware)	CD/GD-ROM images
cdfl	CD FLAC (ECC/sync aware)	CD/GD-ROM images
avhu	A/V Huffman	Laserdisc images

Per-command defaults: createraw/createdvd/copy (raw types): lzma,zlib,huff,flac · createcd: cdlz,cdzl,cdfl · createld: avhu · blank createhd: none.