generated: '2026-07-21'
method: searched
source: https://docs.vers.sh/cli-reference/overview
name: vers
description: >-
  The Vers CLI is git-for-running-compute at the command line. Four primitives
  make the VM tree (run, branch, commit, run-commit); everything else is
  convenience for scaffolding, connecting, naming, and moving HEAD.
repository: https://github.com/hdresearch/vers-cli
install:
  curl: "curl -sSL https://vers.sh/api/install | bash"
  binary_path: /usr/local/bin/vers
  from_source: "git clone https://github.com/hdresearch/vers-cli.git"
  releases: https://github.com/hdresearch/vers-cli/releases
  docs: https://docs.vers.sh/installation
config:
  file: vers.toml
  defines: [memory, vCPUs, disk, boot image]
  docs: https://docs.vers.sh/config
auth:
  commands: [login, logout, signup]
  signup: "git-based by default — email + SSH key, no password"
  api_key: VERS_API_KEY (from https://vers.sh/billing)
primitives:
  - name: run
    summary: Boot a root VM
  - name: branch
    summary: Fork a live VM in 258µs
  - name: commit
    summary: Freeze a VM as an immutable, content-addressable snapshot
  - name: run-commit
    summary: Restore any snapshot to a fresh VM
command_groups:
  project:
    - {name: init, summary: "Create a project and generate vers.toml"}
    - {name: run, summary: Boot a VM from configuration}
    - {name: run-commit, summary: Restore a VM from a committed snapshot}
    - {name: build, summary: "Build a commit from a literal Dockerfile (cached layers)"}
    - {name: deploy, summary: "Clone, install, build and run a GitHub repo on a fresh VM"}
  tree:
    - {name: branch, summary: Fork a live VM or commit into a new branch}
    - {name: checkout, summary: Move HEAD to a different VM}
    - {name: commit, summary: Snapshot a VM as an immutable commit}
    - {name: tag, summary: Named, mutable pointers to commits}
    - {name: repo, summary: "Group commits into named, optionally public repositories"}
    - {name: head, summary: "Print the VM ID HEAD points to (scripting primitive)"}
    - {name: alias, summary: Name a VM}
  vm:
    - {name: connect, summary: Interactive SSH into a VM}
    - {name: execute, summary: Run a one-off command on a VM}
    - {name: copy, summary: Transfer files to or from a VM}
    - {name: info, summary: "Detailed VM metadata — IP, lineage, timestamps, SSH info"}
    - {name: status, summary: VM status}
    - {name: pause, summary: Pause a VM}
    - {name: resume, summary: Resume a paused VM}
    - {name: kill, summary: "Delete one or more VMs (alias for delete)"}
    - {name: resize, summary: "Grow a VM's root disk (one-way, larger only)"}
    - {name: tunnel, summary: "Forward a local port to a VM port (like ssh -L)"}
  env:
    - {name: env, summary: "Manage env vars injected into newly-created VMs"}
  repo_subcommands:
    - repo create
    - repo delete
    - repo fork
    - repo get
    - repo list
    - repo tag create
    - repo tag delete
    - repo tag get
    - repo tag list
    - repo tag update
    - repo visibility
  agent:
    - {name: mcp serve, summary: "Run the MCP server exposing vers operations as agent tools (stdio/http)"}
  meta:
    - {name: upgrade, summary: Upgrade the CLI}