CLI Reference
alien init
Create a new Alien project from a template:
alien init my-appPrompts for language (TypeScript or Rust) and template. Creates a project directory with alien.ts, source code, and dependencies.
Example:
alien init my-app
cd my-appalien dev
Start the local development environment:
alien devProvisions all resources locally (sled for KV/Queue, filesystem for Storage) and starts your workers as native processes. Hot-reloads on code changes.
Example:
alien dev
# ✓ worker (worker) → http://localhost:3001
# ✓ data (storage) → local filesystem
# ✓ Server → http://localhost:9090alien serve
Start the standalone manager for production deployments:
alien serveStarts an HTTP server backed by SQLite. Manages deployments, dispatches commands, collects telemetry, and hosts an embedded artifact registry.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--init | Generate a starter alien-manager.toml config file |
--config <path>, -c | Path to config file (default: alien-manager.toml) |
--port <port> | Override the HTTP server port |
--host <host> | Override the HTTP server bind address |
Example:
# Generate config
alien serve --init
# Start with defaults
alien serve
# Start with custom config
alien serve --config /etc/alien/manager.tomlOn first run, generates an admin API key. See Self-Hosting for full setup instructions.
alien build
Build your stack into deployable output:
alien build --platform <platform>
alien build --platforms <platform1>,<platform2>Compiles your code using the configured toolchain (Bun for TypeScript, cargo-zigbuild for Rust, Docker for containers), packages container images where needed, and validates the stack.
Builds are content-hashed — if your code hasn't changed, the build completes instantly by reusing the previous output.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--platform <platform>, --platforms | Target platform(s): aws, gcp, azure (comma-separated for multiple) (required) |
--config <path>, -c | Path to alien.ts/alien.js/alien.json file or directory |
--output-dir <dir>, -o | Output directory for build files |
--targets <targets> | Target OS/architecture combinations (comma-separated) |
--cache-url <url> | Cache URL for build caching (e.g., s3://bucket/path) |
--experimental | Allow experimental platforms (kubernetes, local) |
--json | Emit structured JSON output |
Examples:
alien build --platform aws
alien build --platforms aws,gcp
alien build --platform aws --targets linux-arm64alien release
Create a new release:
alien releaseBuilds your code, pushes images to the registry, and creates a release. Active deployments pick up new releases automatically.
Alien always rebuilds during release to ensure the release reflects your latest code. If nothing changed, the build is instant thanks to content-hash dedup. Pushed images are cached — if the same images were already pushed in a prior release, the push step is skipped.
Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--platforms <platforms> | Comma-separated list of platforms to release (auto-discovers from manager config if not specified) |
--project <name> | Project name or ID (skips project linking) |
--prebuilt | Skip build and push — uses pre-pushed image URIs from stack.json |
--no-git | Skip git metadata collection |
--experimental | Allow experimental platforms (kubernetes, local) |
--json | Emit structured JSON output |
Examples:
alien release
alien release --platforms aws,gcp
alien release --prebuiltalien onboard
Onboard a new customer and generate a deployment token:
alien onboard <name>Creates a deployment group and returns a token the customer uses to set up their environment.
Example:
alien onboard acme-corp
# Deployment token: ax_dg_abc123...
# Send this to the customer's admin.alien deploy
Deploy a release to a cloud platform:
alien deploy --name <name> --platform <platform>Options:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--name <name> | Deployment name for identification (required) |
--platform <platform> | Target platform: aws, gcp, azure (required) |
--token <token> | Deployment API key for authentication |
--no-heartbeat | Disable heartbeat capability |
--monitoring <mode> | Telemetry mode: auto (default) or off |
--network <mode> | Network mode: auto (default), use-default, create, or byo |
--network-cidr <cidr> | CIDR block for --network create |
--availability-zones <n> | Number of zones for --network create |
--vpc-id <id> | Existing AWS VPC ID for --network byo |
--public-subnet-ids <ids> | Comma-separated AWS public subnet IDs for --network byo |
--private-subnet-ids <ids> | Comma-separated AWS private subnet IDs for --network byo |
--security-group-ids <ids> | Comma-separated AWS security group IDs for --network byo |
--network-name <name> | Existing GCP VPC network name for --network byo |
--subnet-name <name> | Existing GCP subnet name for --network byo |
--network-region <region> | GCP subnet region for --network byo |
--vnet-resource-id <id> | Existing Azure VNet resource ID for --network byo |
--public-subnet-name <name> | Azure public subnet name for --network byo |
--private-subnet-name <name> | Azure private subnet name for --network byo |
Example:
alien deploy --name acme-production --platform aws
alien deploy --name acme-production --platform aws --network create --availability-zones 3Network flags are converted to deployment stack settings. See Networking and Network.
alien deployments ls
List all active deployments:
alien deployments lsShows deployment status, platform, last heartbeat, and current release version.
alien vault
Manage vault secrets for a deployment:
alien vault <action>See Environment Variables for details on managing secrets across deployments.