OpenShell/docs/reference/cli.md

title, description, topics, tags, content

title	description	topics	tags	content
page nav CLI Reference CLI	Complete command reference for the openshell CLI including all subcommands, flags, and environment variables.	Generative AI Cybersecurity	CLI Reference Commands AI Agents	type difficulty audience reference technical_beginner engineer data_scientist

CLI Reference

Complete command reference for the openshell CLI. Every subcommand, flag, and option is documented here.

Command Tree

The full hierarchy of openshell subcommands:

openshell
├── status
├── logs [name]
├── term
├── forward
│   ├── start <port> <name>
│   ├── stop <port> <name>
│   └── list
├── gateway
│   ├── start
│   ├── stop
│   ├── destroy
│   ├── info
│   ├── add <url>
│   ├── tunnel
│   └── select [name]
├── sandbox
│   ├── create
│   ├── get [name]
│   ├── list
│   ├── delete <name...>
│   ├── connect [name]
│   ├── upload [name]
│   ├── download [name]
│   └── ssh-config <name>
├── policy
│   ├── set <name>
│   ├── get <name>
│   └── list <name>
├── provider
│   ├── create
│   ├── get <name>
│   ├── list
│   ├── update <name>
│   └── delete <name>
├── inference
│   ├── set
│   ├── update
│   └── get
└── completions <shell>

:::{tip} Commands that accept an optional [name] argument — such as get, connect, upload, download, and logs — fall back to the last-used sandbox when the name is omitted. The CLI records the sandbox name each time you create or connect, and prints a hint showing which sandbox was selected. :::

Status, Logs, and Terminal

Check gateway health, stream sandbox logs, and launch the terminal dashboard:

Command	Description
openshell status	Show the health and status of the active gateway.
openshell logs [name]	View sandbox logs. Use --tail for streaming, --source and --level to filter.
openshell term	Launch the OpenShell Terminal — a dashboard showing sandbox status, live logs, and policy decisions in a single view. Navigate with j/k, press f to follow live output, s to filter by source, and q to quit.

Refer to {doc}/sandboxes/create-and-manage for more on monitoring sandboxes and reading log entries.

Gateway Commands

Manage the OpenShell runtime cluster.

Command	Description
openshell gateway start	Deploy a new cluster. Add --remote user@host for remote deployment.
openshell gateway stop	Stop the active cluster, preserving state.
openshell gateway destroy	Permanently remove the cluster and all its data.
openshell gateway info	Show detailed information about the cluster.
openshell gateway add <url>	Register an existing remote gateway by URL.
openshell gateway tunnel	Set up a kubectl tunnel to a remote cluster.
openshell gateway select <name>	Set the active cluster. All subsequent commands target this cluster.
openshell gateway select	List all registered clusters (when called without a name).

Sandbox Commands

Create and manage isolated agent execution environments.

Command	Description
openshell sandbox create	Create a new sandbox. Refer to the flag reference below.
openshell sandbox get [name]	Show detailed information about a sandbox.
openshell sandbox list	List all sandboxes in the active cluster.
openshell sandbox delete <name...>	Delete one or more sandboxes by name.
openshell sandbox connect [name]	Open an interactive SSH session into a running sandbox.
openshell sandbox upload [name]	Upload files from the host into a sandbox.
openshell sandbox download [name]	Download files from a sandbox to the host.
openshell sandbox ssh-config <name>	Print SSH config for a sandbox. Append to ~/.ssh/config for VS Code Remote-SSH.

Sandbox Create Flags

The following flags control sandbox creation:

Flag	Description
--name	Assign a human-readable name to the sandbox. Auto-generated if omitted.
--provider	Attach a credential provider. Repeatable for multiple providers.
--policy	Path to a policy YAML file to apply at creation time.
--upload	Upload local files into the sandbox before running.
--keep	Keep the sandbox alive after the trailing command exits.
--forward	Forward a local port into the sandbox at startup.
--from	Build from a community sandbox name, local Dockerfile directory, or container image reference.
-- <command>	The command to run inside the sandbox. Everything after -- is passed as the agent command.

Policy Commands

Apply and inspect sandbox policies at runtime.

Command	Description
openshell policy set <name>	Apply or update a policy on a running sandbox. Pass --policy <file>.
openshell policy get <name>	Show the active policy for a sandbox. Add --full for the complete policy with metadata.
openshell policy list <name>	List all policy versions applied to a sandbox, with status.

Port Forwarding Commands

Forward sandbox ports to the host for local access.

Command	Description
openshell forward start <port> <name>	Forward a sandbox port to the host. Add -d for background mode.
openshell forward stop <port> <name>	Stop an active port forward.
openshell forward list	List all active port forwards.

Provider Commands

Manage credential providers that inject secrets into sandboxes.

Command	Description
openshell provider create	Create a new credential provider. Refer to the flag reference below.
openshell provider get <name>	Show details of a provider.
openshell provider list	List all providers in the active cluster.
openshell provider update <name>	Update a provider's credentials or configuration.
openshell provider delete <name>	Delete a provider.

Provider Create Flags

The following flags control provider creation:

Flag	Description
--name	Name for the provider.
--type	Provider type: claude, codex, opencode, github, gitlab, nvidia, generic, outlook.
--from-existing	Discover credentials from your current shell environment variables.
--credential	Set a credential explicitly. Format: KEY=VALUE or bare KEY to read from env. Repeatable.
--config	Set a configuration value. Format: KEY=VALUE. Repeatable.

Inference Commands

Configure the backend used by https://inference.local.

openshell inference set

Set the provider and model for managed inference. Both flags are required.

Flag	Description
--provider	Provider record name to use for injected credentials.
--model	Model identifier to force on generation requests.

openshell inference update

Update only the fields you specify.

Flag	Description
--provider	Replace the current provider record.
--model	Replace the current model ID.

openshell inference get

Show the current inference configuration, including provider, model, and version.

Environment Variables

The following environment variables override CLI defaults:

Variable	Description
OPENSHELL_CLUSTER	Name of the cluster to operate on. Overrides the active cluster set by openshell gateway select.
OPENSHELL_SANDBOX_POLICY	Default path to a policy YAML file. When set, openshell sandbox create uses this policy if no --policy flag is provided.

Shell Completions

Generate shell completion scripts for tab completion:

$ openshell completions bash
$ openshell completions zsh
$ openshell completions fish

Pipe the output to your shell's config file:

$ openshell completions zsh >> ~/.zshrc
$ source ~/.zshrc

Built-in Help

Every command and subcommand includes built-in help. Use --help at any level to see available subcommands, flags, and usage examples:

$ openshell --help
$ openshell sandbox --help
$ openshell sandbox create --help
$ openshell gateway --help