CLI reference
CLI reference
Every command of the kiste CLI, its arguments, options, aliases and global options.
The Kiste CLI is installed as kiste and, for short, kst; both names are the same program. This reference is generated from the CLI's own command tree, so it lists exactly what the current release accepts. kiste --help shows the overview and kiste help COMMAND the same details as these pages.
Commands
| Command | Aliases | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| login | Log in through a short-lived browser OAuth flow | |
| logout | Revoke the access token, then remove it locally | |
| whoami | Show the currently authenticated user | |
| account | Download your account's data, or delete the account | |
| new | start, run | Start a new Kiste, then connect over SSH or open its desktop |
| credentials | creds | Choose which of your logins new Kisten may carry, and carry them |
| ssh | shell, terminal | Connect to a running Kiste |
| ssh-config | Print an OpenSSH configuration for your Kisten | |
| exec | Execute a command and return its exact stdout, stderr and exit code | |
| prompt | Run a pinned coding agent non-interactively inside a Kiste | |
| cancel | Cancel a native command by its client-supplied UUID | |
| interrupt | Cooperatively interrupt a command by its global command ID | |
| command | Show the durable final or in-flight state of a native command | |
| commands | List durable native commands for one Kiste | |
| desktop | Open a running desktop Kiste in the browser | |
| list | ls | List your Kisten |
| status | inspect, info | Show one Kiste in detail |
| current | self | Print or change the locally selected Kiste |
| watch | Poll one Kiste and emit deterministic status events until interrupted | |
| events | Read the durable event stream of your account | |
| stop | Shut a Kiste down cleanly. The next start is a fresh boot | |
| restart | Reboot a Kiste and optionally reconnect | |
| rename | Rename a Kiste. The name inside the Kiste follows on its next update or cold boot | |
| update | upgrade | Cold-boot a Kiste onto the newest image (the session ends) |
| resume | Resume a stopped Kiste | |
| extend | Push a Kiste's automatic stop further out | |
| fork | Clone a running Kiste into an independent Kiste | |
| scp | Copy files over the SSH transport | |
| forward | Forward a local TCP port to the Kiste until interrupted | |
| delete | rm | Permanently delete a Kiste and its disk |
| logs | Print the console log of a Kiste | |
| image | images | Build, inspect and remove machine images |
| snapshot | snapshots | Capture, restore, inspect and delete durable Kiste snapshots |
| environment | Manage immutable, versioned launch environments | |
| stream | Kiste Stream: publish a port of a Kiste at its own address under kiste.stream | |
| auth | Authentication commands grouped for automation and discoverability | |
| devices | device | List the computers whose SSH keys open your Kisten, or remove one |
| config | Inspect or change non-secret local CLI configuration | |
| completions | Generate a shell completion script on stdout | |
| self-update | self-upgrade | Replace this executable with the latest checksum-verified release build |
| limits | Show account quotas and usage | |
| doctor | Check whether kiste.run is healthy and this CLI is signed in |
Global options
These options work with every command, before or after it. Each one can also be set through its environment variable.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--output OUTPUT | Output contract. JSON modes never open a browser, prompt, or attach SSH. Values: human (Compact output intended for a terminal), json (One stable JSON success or error envelope), ndjson (One JSON event per line; collections are streamed item by item). Default: human. Environment: KISTE_OUTPUT. |
--json, --machine | Shorthand for --output json. |
--no-input | Never prompt, open a browser, or implicitly attach to a Kiste. Environment: KISTE_NO_INPUT. |
--timeout SECONDS | Maximum end-to-end API request deadline, and the deadline of exec commands: seconds, or 10m, 2h. Earlier server errors return immediately. Default: 960. Environment: KISTE_TIMEOUT. |
--verbose, -v | Print each step on stderr as it happens, with how long it took. Environment: KISTE_VERBOSE. |
--request-id REQUEST_ID | Correlation ID sent with every request. Environment: KISTE_REQUEST_ID. |
-h, --help prints help for any command and -V, --version prints the version.