CLI Overview

The Vibengine CLI (ve) lets you manage sandboxes, templates, and authentication directly from your terminal. It is the fastest way to build, test, and debug sandbox templates during development.

Installation

Install the CLI globally via npm:

npm install -g @vibengine/cli

Verify the installation:

ve --version
# vibengine-cli/1.2.0 darwin-arm64 node-v20.11.0

The CLI requires Node.js 18 or later. Run node --version to check your Node.js version.

Authentication

Before using the CLI, authenticate with your Vibengine account:

ve auth login

This opens a browser window where you sign in and authorize the CLI. See the Authentication page for more details.

Available Commands

Command	Description
`ve auth`	Manage authentication (login, logout, whoami)
`ve sandbox`	List, connect to, and manage running sandboxes
`ve template`	Initialize, build, list, and delete sandbox templates

Quick Reference

Usage: ve <command> [options]

Commands:
  ve auth       Manage authentication
  ve sandbox    Manage sandboxes
  ve template   Manage sandbox templates

Options:
  --version     Show version number                        [boolean]
  --api-key     API key (overrides stored credentials)     [string]
  --help        Show help                                  [boolean]

Global Options

These options are available on all commands:

`--api-key`

Pass an API key directly instead of using stored credentials from ve auth login. Useful in CI/CD pipelines.

ve sandbox list --api-key ve_sk_abc123...

`--help`

Display help for any command or subcommand:

ve --help
ve sandbox --help
ve template build --help

`--version`

Print the CLI version:

ve --version

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`VE_API_KEY`	API key used when no `--api-key` flag is provided and no stored credentials exist

export VE_API_KEY=ve_sk_abc123...
ve sandbox list  # Uses VE_API_KEY automatically

The CLI checks credentials in this order: --api-key flag, stored credentials from ve auth login, then the VE_API_KEY environment variable.

Common Workflows

Develop a Custom Template

# 1. Initialize a new template
ve template init my-template

# 2. Edit the Dockerfile and ve.toml
# 3. Build and push the template
ve template build my-template/

# 4. Verify it appears in your template list
ve template list

Debug a Running Sandbox

# List all running sandboxes
ve sandbox list

# SSH into a specific sandbox
ve sandbox connect abc123

# View sandbox logs
ve sandbox logs abc123

# Terminate when done
ve sandbox kill abc123

Next Steps

Authentication — Set up credentials
Sandbox Commands — Manage running sandboxes
Template Commands — Build custom sandbox templates

CLI Overview

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