Getting Started

Install the CLI, authenticate, link your project, and deploy in under 2 minutes.

Prerequisites

macOS or Linux (Windows: download binary)
A CreateOS account

Step 1: Install

macOS (Homebrew)

brew tap nodeops-app/tap
brew install createos

macOS / Linux (curl)

curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NodeOps-app/createos-cli/main/install.sh | sh -

Verify

createos version

Expected output:

CreateOS CLI (version: v0.0.7)
  Channel: stable
  Commit:  abc123

Step 2: Authenticate

createos login

Opens your default browser for OAuth sign-in. The CLI stores the session and auto-refreshes it, so you won't need to re-login.

API token (for CI/CD and headless environments)

createos login --token

Paste your API key when prompted. Get your key from Profile Settings > API Keys in the CreateOS dashboard.

Verify authentication

createos whoami

Expected output:

ID:          abc-123-def
Email:       you@example.com
Created At:  January 15, 2026

Step 3: Link your project

Navigate to your project directory and link it:

cd my-api/
createos init

The CLI lists your projects and lets you pick one interactively. If you know the ID:

createos init --project <project-id>

This creates a .createos.json file in your directory. All subsequent commands auto-detect the project, so there is no need to pass --project every time.

.createos.json is automatically added to .gitignore.

Step 4: Deploy

createos deploy

The CLI auto-detects your project type and deploys:

Project type	What happens
VCS (GitHub)	Triggers deployment from the latest commit
Upload	Zips your local directory and uploads it
Docker image	Deploys the specified image

Build logs stream in real-time. When deployment succeeds, you get your live URL:

  Building v12...

  Step 1/4: Installing dependencies...
  Step 2/4: Building application...
  Step 3/4: Running tests...
  Step 4/4: Packaging container...

  ✓ Deployed (v12)

  ℹ Live at: https://my-api.nodeops.app

Deploy a specific branch

createos deploy --branch staging

Deploy a Docker image

createos deploy --image myapp:v1.0

Step 5: Verify

Check your project status:

createos status

Open in browser:

createos open

Tail runtime logs:

createos deployments logs -f

Next steps

Task	Command	Docs
Set environment variables	`createos env set KEY=value`	Environment Variables
Add a custom domain	`createos domains add myapp.com`	Custom Domains
Scale resources	`createos scale --replicas 2`	Scaling
Schedule a cron job	`createos cronjobs create`	Cron Jobs
Use in CI/CD	`createos deploy --project $ID`	CI/CD Usage
See all commands	`createos --help`	Command Reference

Updating

The CLI checks for updates automatically. To upgrade:

createos upgrade

Or via Homebrew:

brew tap nodeops-app/tap
brew upgrade createos