CLI

Install, update, and use the Dedalus CLI for Cloud Services.

The Dedalus CLI manages Dedalus Cloud Services (DCS) from a terminal or automated workflow. API commands group actions under resources such as machines and usage.

This guide covers stable workflows and command families. For the exact commands and flags supported by your installed version, use the generated --help output.

Install

Homebrew

brew install dedalus-labs/tap/dedalus

Homebrew installs the version currently published in the tap. Compare dedalus --version with the latest CLI release; if the tap trails the release, use Go, curl, or PowerShell.

Verify the installation and inspect the available commands:

dedalus --version
dedalus --help

Authenticate

Create an API key in the Dedalus Dashboard, then export it in your shell:

export DEDALUS_API_KEY="your-api-key"

Prefer the environment variable to --api-key in scripts. This keeps the key out of shell history and command arguments.

Verify that the CLI can access your account:

dedalus machines list

Update

Update the current installation, or check for a newer release without installing it:

dedalus update
dedalus update --check

Homebrew and curl-installer installations update in place. On Windows, the command prints the PowerShell update command. Go users should rerun go install github.com/dedalus-labs/dedalus-cli/cmd/dedalus@latest; other unrecognized installs receive manual instructions.

During interactive use, the CLI periodically checks for a newer release and asks before updating. Continuous integration jobs and commands without an interactive terminal skip this check. Set DEDALUS_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 to disable it in interactive shells.

If an older CLI does not recognize dedalus update, reinstall it with the Go, curl, or PowerShell command above.

Command structure

API commands follow the resource hierarchy:

dedalus <resource> <action> [flags]
dedalus machines <subresource> <action> [flags]

Command family	Use it to
dedalus machines	Create, inspect, update, delete, sleep, wake, and watch Machines.
dedalus machines <subresource>	Manage artifacts, executions, previews, SSH sessions, and terminals.
dedalus usage	Inspect organization totals and per-Machine compute or storage usage.
dedalus ssh	Open an SSH session to a running Machine.
dedalus update	Check for or install a newer CLI release.

Manage a Machine

dedalus machines create \
  --vcpu 1 \
  --memory-mib 2048 \
  --storage-gib 10 \
  --autosleep 15m
dedalus machines list
dedalus machines retrieve --machine-id dm-abc123
dedalus machines update --machine-id dm-abc123 --autosleep never
dedalus machines watch --machine-id dm-abc123

See Machine lifecycle for the state model and operations.

Work with Machine resources

dedalus machines executions create \
  --machine-id dm-abc123 \
  --command '["echo", "hello"]'
dedalus machines artifacts list --machine-id dm-abc123
dedalus machines terminals list --machine-id dm-abc123
dedalus machines previews list --machine-id dm-abc123
dedalus ssh dm-abc123

For workflow details, see Executions, Terminals, Ports, and SSH.

Inspect organization usage

Usage commands use the organization associated with your API key:

dedalus usage retrieve
dedalus usage machine-compute --granularity day
dedalus usage machine-storage --machine-id dm-abc123

Control input and output

The default output format is JSON. Use --format for human-readable YAML or the interactive explorer:

dedalus machines list --format yaml
dedalus machines list --format explore

GJSON is the field-selection syntax for CLI JSON output. Use GJSON path syntax to transform each list item. This example prints one Machine ID per line without JSON quotes:

dedalus machines list --transform machine_id --raw-output

Commands with a request body also accept JSON or YAML from standard input:

dedalus machines create <<'YAML'
vcpu: 2
memory_mib: 4096
storage_gib: 20
autosleep: 15m
YAML

Run dedalus <command> --help to inspect pagination flags and accepted input fields. Run dedalus --help to see the global output formats for your version.

Shell completions

Homebrew installs completions automatically. Manual installations can generate a script for Bash, zsh, Fish, or PowerShell. The command writes the script to standard output; source it for the current session or save it where your shell loads completions.

dedalus @completion bash > dedalus.bash
dedalus @completion zsh > _dedalus
dedalus @completion fish > dedalus.fish
dedalus @completion pwsh > dedalus.ps1

Command reference

The CLI generates its reference from the same command tree it executes. Add --help at any level to see the exact flags and nested commands in the installed release:

dedalus --help
dedalus machines --help
dedalus machines executions create --help

See the CLI repository for release notes and source code.