Command Reference

SkyBox provides a set of commands for managing your local-first development environments with remote sync.

Commands Overview

Command	Description	Common Usage
skybox init	Interactive setup wizard	skybox init
skybox new	Create new project on remote	skybox new my-app
skybox clone	Clone remote project locally	skybox clone my-app
skybox push	Push local project to remote	skybox push ./my-app
skybox up	Start a development container	skybox up my-app -e
skybox down	Stop a development container	skybox down my-app
skybox shell	Access shell inside container	skybox shell my-app
skybox open	Open editor/shell for running container	skybox open my-app --editor
skybox status	Show project status	skybox status my-app
skybox dashboard	Full-screen status dashboard	skybox dashboard
skybox browse	List projects on remote server	skybox browse
skybox list	List local projects	skybox list
skybox rm	Remove project locally (keeps remote)	skybox rm my-app
skybox editor	Change default editor	skybox editor
skybox config	View/modify configuration	skybox config set editor code
skybox remote	Manage remote servers	skybox remote list
skybox doctor	Diagnose common issues	skybox doctor
skybox logs	Show container or sync logs	skybox logs my-app -f
skybox encrypt	Manage project encryption	skybox encrypt enable my-app
skybox update	Check for and install SkyBox updates	skybox update
skybox hook	Shell integration for auto-starting containers	skybox hook bash

Offline Reference

All commands include built-in help with usage examples. Run skybox <command> --help for the same information available on these pages.

Global Options

All commands support these global options:

-h, --help     Show help for a command
-v, --version  Show SkyBox version
--dry-run      Preview commands without executing them

Dry-Run Mode

The --dry-run flag previews what a command would do without executing any side effects (no SSH, Docker, filesystem writes, or sync operations). Each skipped action is printed with a [dry-run] prefix.

# Preview starting a project
skybox up my-project --dry-run

# Preview removing a project and its remote copy
skybox rm my-project --remote --dry-run

# Preview cloning from remote
skybox clone my-project --dry-run

Supported commands: up, down, clone, push, rm, init, new, editor, config, config-devcontainer, remote, update, encrypt, open, shell, hook.

Read-only commands (status, list, browse, logs, dashboard, doctor) are unaffected since they have no side effects.

Quick Reference

Setup and Configuration

# Initial setup
skybox init

# Diagnose common issues
skybox doctor

# View configuration
skybox config

# Test remote connections
skybox config --validate

# Change default editor
skybox editor

# Or via config
skybox config set editor vim

# Enable project encryption
skybox encrypt enable my-app

# Disable project encryption
skybox encrypt disable my-app

# Set up shell integration (auto-start containers on cd)
eval "$(skybox hook bash)"  # Add to ~/.bashrc
eval "$(skybox hook zsh)"   # Or add to ~/.zshrc

Managing Remote Servers

# Add a new remote
skybox remote add myserver user@host:~/code

# List configured remotes
skybox remote list

# Remove a remote
skybox remote remove myserver

# Rename a remote
skybox remote rename myserver production

Working with Projects

# Start working on a project
skybox up my-project

# Stop a project
skybox down my-project

# Open editor/shell for running container
skybox open my-project

# Access shell inside container
skybox shell my-project

# Run a command in container
skybox shell my-project -c "npm test"

# Check project status
skybox status my-project

Syncing with Remote

# See what's on the remote server
skybox browse

# Clone a project from remote
skybox clone my-project

# Push a local project to remote
skybox push ./my-project

# Create a new project on remote
skybox new

Diagnostics & Maintenance

# Show container logs
skybox logs my-project -f

# Show sync logs
skybox logs my-project --sync

# Diagnose common issues
skybox doctor

# Check for and install updates
skybox update

Batch Operations

# Start all projects
skybox up --all

# Stop all projects
skybox down --all

# Remove multiple projects (interactive multi-select)
skybox rm

Cleanup

# Remove a project locally (remote copy preserved)
skybox rm my-project