Insites CLI Tool Overview

The Insites CLI is a Node.js command-line tool that connects the project on your computer to your Insites instances. It deploys and syncs your code, manages data, constants and modules, runs Liquid and GraphQL, checks your code, and connects your AI assistant to Insites. This page describes the CLI 6.4.1.

Install it, or update it to the latest release, with:

npm i -g @insites/insites-cli@latest --no-fund

After installing, insites-cli, insites and ins all run the same tool.

The command is insites-cli, and insites is a short name for it. Both work everywhere.

What the CLI Does

• Signs in through the Insites Console. Add an instance with its UUID and approve the sign-in in your browser. The CLI never stores the instance key, so removing someone's access in the Console stops their next command. You can also sign in with an access token from the instance's CLI Commands tab, which records every deploy against your name.
• Deploys code and assets. One command sends your project to any instance, and prints how many files of each type were upserted, deleted and skipped. A dry run checks the release on the instance and shows what would change first.
• Syncs as you work. sync watches your files and sends each change to the instance when you save it, and keeps running when one upload fails.
• Checks your setup. doctor checks Node.js, the CLI version, your environments, their sign-in and the instances, and tells you how to fix each problem.
• Runs Liquid and GraphQL. Run a Liquid snippet or a GraphQL query on an instance from your terminal, with parameters passed as JSON.
• Moves data. Export the data on an instance to a zip or JSON file, import it, or clean it.
• Manages constants, modules and migrations. Set and list constants, start, build, version, pull and remove modules, and run migrations.
• Checks your code. The linter reports Liquid errors, unknown filters, missing partials and pages at addresses they should not take. It also runs in your editor. The audit reports deprecated code before each deploy.
• Runs your tests. test run runs the Liquid tests in your project on an instance.
• Shows live logs. Follow an instance's logs, filter them by type, or print them as JSON.
• Opens a local GUI. A web interface with a dashboard, your database, administrators, constants, logs, and GraphQL and Liquid editors.
• Connects your AI assistant. ai init sets up Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code to use Insites CloudShell.
• Prints JSON for scripts and AI agents. Every command with --json prints exactly one JSON document.

Requirements

Node.js 22 or newer. Node 24 is recommended. The CLI runs on macOS, Linux and Windows.

Where to Start

1. Getting Started: install the CLI, add an environment and deploy for the first time.
2. Commands and Options: every command and option.
3. Connect Your AI Assistant: set up your editor's AI with one command.
4. Troubleshooting: fixes for the problems people meet most often.