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What Is the Coolify CLI and How to Use It on Your VPS

The Coolify CLI connects your terminal to Coolify Cloud or a self-hosted VPS through the REST API. This guide covers VPS requirements, installation, token contexts, inventory, server registration, deployments, automation, and troubleshooting.
Length10 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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The Coolify CLI is a terminal client for Coolify’s REST API. Install it on the laptop, administration host, or CI runner where you issue commands; Coolify itself continues running on your VPS. With an API token and a named context, you can inspect resources, manage servers, and start application deployments without opening the dashboard. The same CLI works with Coolify Cloud and self-hosted Coolify.

What the Coolify CLI does

Coolify’s dashboard is a web interface for deploying and operating applications, databases, and services. The CLI provides a command-line path to the same Coolify API, making routine actions repeatable in shell scripts, CI jobs, inventory checks, and administrative runbooks.

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The CLI is not a replacement for the Coolify server. Your VPS still hosts Coolify and the workloads it manages; the CLI is a client that sends authenticated API requests to that installation. You can point one CLI installation at several targets by creating named contexts, such as a cloud context and a context for a self-hosted instance.

  • Cloud and self-hosted support: the client can target both Coolify Cloud and an administrator-managed installation.
  • Token authentication: every operation uses an API token with enough permission for the requested resource.
  • Operational coverage: command groups include contexts, servers, projects, resources, applications, GitHub integrations, databases, services, deployments, domains, and private keys.
  • Automation: commands can be placed in deployment scripts or CI jobs instead of relying on manual dashboard clicks.

How the CLI, Coolify, and your VPS fit together

There are three separate pieces in a normal self-hosted setup:

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  1. The VPS: a virtual private server that runs Coolify and your containers.
  2. The Coolify installation: the server-side control plane, including its API and dashboard.
  3. The CLI host: your workstation, an administration machine, or a CI runner from which the coolify executable runs.

Installing the CLI on your laptop does not install Coolify on the VPS, and installing Coolify on the VPS does not automatically install the CLI on your laptop. Treat them as separate installations connected over HTTPS (for API calls) and, during server setup, SSH.

VPS requirements before installing Coolify

Coolify’s current self-hosting documentation gives a short-form minimum of 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, and 10 GB of disk. That is a documented baseline for running Coolify, not a performance guarantee for a particular number of applications, databases, images, or build jobs.

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Access and system checks

Use a VPS from any provider, but confirm the following before running the installer:

  • SSH access to the server, with credentials you can use for the initial setup.
  • A supported operating system and the correct CPU architecture.
  • At least the documented 2-core, 2-GB-RAM, and 10-GB-disk baseline, plus additional headroom for your workloads.
  • Firewall rules that allow the SSH port and the HTTP or HTTPS traffic your applications will serve.
  • Enough disk for container images, build caches, databases, logs, and backups; the 10-GB minimum can be exhausted quickly by active workloads.

For production, evaluate CPU and memory headroom, disk type and capacity, network bandwidth and region, firewall controls, backup and snapshot features, and total monthly cost rather than selecting a plan solely because it meets the minimum.

Install Coolify on the VPS

Connect to the new server over SSH and run Coolify’s automated installation command:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.coollabs.io/coolify/install.sh | bash

The command downloads and executes the official installer. Review your server’s operating-system, network, and firewall state first, because a successful script run does not make an unsuitable or inaccessible VPS suitable for production.

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Complete the first-run tasks

  1. Open the Coolify dashboard at the address shown by the installation process.
  2. Create the first administrator account promptly. Leaving the initial setup unfinished increases the time during which the instance is not under your control.
  3. Back up /data/coolify/source/.env. Coolify identifies this file as containing installation secrets, including APP_KEY, which is required when restoring the installation.
  4. Confirm that the dashboard is reachable through the hostname and firewall rules you intend to use for API access.

On self-hosted installations, API access must be enabled by an administrator. It is enabled by default on Coolify Cloud, but a self-hosted administrator needs to turn it on before a token-based CLI connection can work.

Install the Coolify CLI where you will run commands

The official installer supports Linux and macOS on amd64 and arm64. Run it on the workstation, administrative host, or CI runner that will execute Coolify commands:

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curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coollabsio/coolify-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

If you do not have administrator privileges and want a user-local installation, use:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coollabsio/coolify-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --user

Official documentation also describes Homebrew, Windows PowerShell, and go install installation paths. Choose the method appropriate for the machine that will run the commands; the VPS does not need the CLI merely because it runs Coolify.

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Check the executable

coolify version
coolify --help

The first CLI command creates its configuration file if one does not already exist. Run the help command after installation and again before writing automation, because command names and flags exposed by your installed version are the authoritative interface for that version.

Create an API token and a context

Contexts store the target information the CLI uses for a command. They let you switch between Coolify Cloud and one or more self-hosted instances without repeatedly typing a server URL.

Create the token in Coolify

  1. Sign in to the target Coolify dashboard.
  2. Open /security/api-tokens.
  3. Create an API token and copy it immediately to a secure password manager or secret store.
  4. Grant only the permissions required by the commands or automation that will use it.

A token is effectively a credential. Do not commit it to a repository, paste it into a ticket, or place it directly in a script that will be shared.

Configure a Cloud context

For Coolify Cloud, save the token with:

coolify context set-token cloud <token>

Replace <token> with the value you created. Keep the token out of shell history where possible; a CI secret variable is safer for automated jobs.

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Configure a self-hosted context

Create a named context for the fully qualified URL of your self-hosted Coolify instance and its token, then select that context as the default. The exact context-creation subcommand can vary with the CLI release, so inspect the installed syntax first:

coolify context --help

After the context exists, set its token with the same pattern used for a named context:

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coolify context set-token <context-name> <token>

Use the instance’s complete URL, including the scheme, when defining the context. If the self-hosted administrator has not enabled API access, or if the URL is not reachable from the CLI host, token configuration alone will not establish a connection.

Select and verify the default target

coolify context list
coolify context verify

Make the intended context the default using the context-selection command shown by coolify context --help, then run coolify context verify. Verification should succeed before you put any mutating command into a script.

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Inventory what the token can see

Once verification succeeds, start with a read-only inventory command:

coolify resource list

This lists applications, services, and databases that the current token can access. Some CLI releases expose the collection as resources instead of resource; check coolify --help if the singular form is not recognized.

Useful read-only commands from the command catalog include:

coolify context list
coolify server list
coolify server get <uuid> --resources
coolify projects list
coolify resources list
coolify app list

Use the UUID returned by the list operation when a later command requires an identifier. Starting with inventory helps distinguish a connection problem from a permissions problem: a verified connection with an empty or incomplete list often means the token cannot access the resources you expected.

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Register and inspect servers

If you need to add a server to Coolify from the terminal, the documented syntax is:

coolify server add <server_name> <ip_address> <private_key_uuid> --port 22 --user root --validate

Here, <server_name> is the label you want in Coolify, <ip_address> is the VPS address, and <private_key_uuid> identifies a private key already known to Coolify. The documented defaults are port 22 and user root; specify different values when your SSH configuration requires them.

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The --validate flag checks the connection immediately. Use it when registering a server so an invalid address, key, port, or user is reported before you attempt a deployment.

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Start an application deployment

After the application exists in Coolify and the token can access it, start a deployment with its UUID:

coolify app start <uuid>

The command reference documents two useful options:

  • --force forces a rebuild.
  • --instant-deploy skips queuing.

Inspect the exact options supported by your installed release before scripting them:

coolify app start --help

That check matters because the help output bundled with your binary reflects the flags your version actually accepts. A script that assumes an option from a different release can fail before a deployment starts.

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A practical terminal workflow

A cautious first deployment from a new administration machine can follow this sequence:

  1. Run coolify version and coolify --help to confirm the binary and command surface.
  2. List contexts and select the intended Cloud or self-hosted target.
  3. Run coolify context verify and resolve URL, API-access, or token issues before changing anything.
  4. Run coolify resource list (or the plural form exposed by your version) to confirm that the token sees the expected projects and applications.
  5. Use coolify server list and, when needed, coolify server get <uuid> --resources to check server associations.
  6. Use coolify app list to obtain the application UUID.
  7. Review coolify app start --help, then run coolify app start <uuid> with --force or --instant-deploy only when that behavior is intended.
  8. Record the command output and deployment result in the same operational log you use for dashboard changes.
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Using the CLI in scripts and CI

The CLI is particularly useful when a deployment must be repeatable. A script can verify the selected context, inventory the target, and start a deployment using a known UUID. Keep the script’s behavior explicit: identify the target context, fail if verification fails, and avoid destructive or rebuild flags unless the job specifically requires them.

Store the API token in the CI system’s encrypted secret facility and inject it only for the job that needs it. Do not echo the token, include it in command-line logging, or save a generated configuration file as a build artifact. Use a token with the narrowest permissions that still allow the job to perform its task, and rotate it when a runner, repository, or operator is no longer trusted.

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Common failures and fixes

“Command not found: coolify”

The binary is either not installed or its installation directory is not on the current shell’s PATH. Re-run coolify version after opening a new shell, and use the installer’s user-local instructions if you selected --user.

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Context verification fails

  • Check that the context points to the complete, reachable instance URL.
  • On self-hosted Coolify, ask an administrator to confirm that API access is enabled.
  • Regenerate or replace the token if it was copied incorrectly or revoked.
  • Check firewall, DNS, TLS, and outbound network access from the machine running the CLI.

The connection verifies but lists no expected resources

This usually indicates that the token’s permissions or account scope do not include the project, application, database, or service you expected. Create a token with the necessary permissions, update the context token, and repeat the inventory command.

Server registration fails validation

Confirm the VPS IP address, SSH port, login user, and private-key UUID. The documented command defaults to port 22 and user root; a hardened server may use another port or a non-root account. Also verify that the VPS firewall permits SSH from the CLI host.

An application start flag is rejected

Run coolify app start --help. The installed CLI version, rather than an example copied from another release, determines whether --force or --instant-deploy is available and how it is spelled.

Choosing VPS capacity beyond the minimum

The 2-core, 2-GB-RAM, 10-GB-disk figure is a starting point for Coolify itself. Your actual plan should account for the workloads you intend to deploy. Build processes can consume CPU and memory; container images and build caches consume disk; databases and logs grow over time; and simultaneous deployments need headroom.

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Decision area What to evaluate Why it matters
CPU and RAM Headroom beyond 2 cores and 2 GB RAM Builds, databases, and concurrent containers compete with the Coolify control plane.
Disk Type, capacity, image and log growth The 10-GB baseline can fill quickly when images, caches, databases, and backups accumulate.
Network Bandwidth, latency, and region These affect image pulls, source checkout, user traffic, and access to external services.
Administration SSH access and firewall controls You need reliable initial setup and a way to restrict management traffic.
Recovery Backups and snapshots Coolify’s environment secrets and workload data need a recovery plan, not just a reinstall.
Cost Total recurring monthly cost A low entry price is not useful if storage, backups, or upgrades make the running total unsuitable.

What to remember

  • The Coolify CLI is an authenticated API client for Coolify Cloud and self-hosted Coolify.
  • Install it where commands run; keep Coolify on the VPS.
  • Use named contexts to switch between targets and verify the selected context before making changes.
  • Plan for at least 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, and 10 GB disk for the Coolify installation, then add capacity for applications and data.
  • Use inventory commands first, validate SSH when adding a server, and check the installed command help before relying on deployment flags.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Coolify CLI install Coolify on my VPS?

No. The CLI is installed on the machine that issues commands. Coolify itself must be installed separately on the VPS with the self-host installer.

Can one CLI installation manage both Coolify Cloud and a self-hosted server?

Yes. Create separate named contexts, assign each its URL and API token, and select the intended context before running commands.

What is the minimum VPS size for Coolify?

Coolify’s current self-hosting documentation lists 2 CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, and 10 GB disk. Treat that as a baseline for Coolify, not a guarantee for your applications or databases.

Why does a valid token still fail on a self-hosted instance?

Self-hosted API access must be enabled by an administrator. The token also needs permissions for the resources and actions you are requesting.

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How do I know which deployment flags my CLI supports?

Run coolify app start --help on the machine where the deployment will run; that output matches the installed CLI version.

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