How do I capture commands generated when using quartus gui

Yes, echoing should be added. It does so with the Assignment Editor, but not the other Quartus stuff.

When you run a compile, the commands get put into the .flow.rpt. That calls each module individually. A full compile that is just like pushing the compile button can be done in a single line:

quartus_sh --flow compile <project_name> -c <qsf_name>

(The -c <qsf_name> is only necessary if it's different then the qpf name)

Another interesting resource for finding commands is typing:

quartus_sh --qhelp

This launches a GUI with all the commands and options, which is useful for exploring rather than typing help on various commands.