# Helix CLI

> Install the Helix CLI and look up every shipped helix command, from login and init through dev, auth, deploy, and MCP.

The Helix CLI (`@trayai/helix-cli`) is the command-line interface for Helix: it scaffolds projects, runs them locally, connects authentications, and deploys to Tray's cloud. The binary is `helix`. It also runs an MCP server, which is how Claude drives the same commands while you build.

## Install

The CLI needs Node.js 24.18.0 or later. Check with `node --version` and upgrade first if you're below that (for example, `nvm install 24`).

```bash
npm install -g @trayai/helix-cli
```

Prefer pnpm? `pnpm add -g @trayai/helix-cli`. To run without installing: `npx @trayai/helix-cli <command>`.

Verify with `helix --version` and `which helix`. These pages document **v1.0.0 and later**.

To move to a newer release later, see [Update the CLI and SDK](/documentation/reference/cli/update/).

## Ask the CLI

`helix --help` lists the commands your installed version has, and `helix <command> --help` lists that command's flags. This output is authoritative and version-specific. Where these pages and `--help` disagree, trust `--help`: it ships with the binary you're running.

## Commands

### Session, workspace, and project

Full details: [Project & auth session](/documentation/reference/cli/project/).

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `helix login` | Sign in to Helix through your browser |
| `helix logout` | Sign out and end the session |
| `helix whoami` | Show who you're signed in as |
| `helix init [project-name]` | Scaffold a new project, optionally with a React app |
| `helix workspace select [name]` | Choose the Tray workspace interactively |
| `helix workspace set <id>` | Set the workspace by ID |
| `helix project set <id>` | Point the project at a provisioned project ID |
| `helix region set <region>` | Choose the Helix region the CLI talks to |

### Local development

Full details: [Local development](/documentation/reference/cli/dev/).

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `helix dev` | Run the project locally on port 3000 with hot reload |

### Authentications

Full details: [Authentications](/documentation/reference/cli/auth/).

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `helix auth connect [service]` | Find and connect a service interactively |
| `helix auth add <alias> <uuid>` | Map an alias to an existing authentication |
| `helix auth list` | List the aliases configured for this project |

### Deploy

Full details: [Build & deploy](/documentation/reference/cli/deploy/).

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `helix deploy` | Deploy the project and print its live URL; `--wait` blocks until the rollout finishes |
| `helix deployment get <deploymentId>` | Show a deployment's status, warnings, and build errors |
| `helix deployment wait <deploymentId>` | Wait for a deployment to finish; exit 1 with the build errors if it fails |
| `helix ci init` | Generate the CI pipeline (GitHub Actions) that deploys the project |

### Agent tooling

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `helix mcp` | Start the CLI's MCP server on stdio |

`helix mcp` serves the tools Claude uses to build a Helix project. It speaks the stdio transport, and Claude starts it from the project's MCP configuration, so you rarely run it by hand. See [Building with Claude Code](/documentation/getting-started/building-with-claude/).

## Regions and configuration

Project settings live in `helix.config.ts` at the project root: `name`, `projectId`, `workspaceId`, and your authentication aliases. Your Tray session lives separately in `~/.tray.config`, written by `helix login`.

Helix runs as four regional deployments, `us1` (the default), `eu1`, `ap1`, and `ap2`, each with its own dashboard and API backend. Your workspace lives in one of them. Set the Helix region with `helix region set <region>`, which persists. For a single command, `helix login`, `helix logout`, and `helix whoami` each accept an optional `--region <region>` flag. Run `helix region set --help` to see which region names your CLI version accepts. See [regions](/documentation/concepts/configuration/#regions) for the matching dashboard URL.

Every command that reads or writes project config (`dev`, `deploy`, the `deployment` commands, the `auth` commands, `project set`, `region set`, the `workspace` commands, and `mcp`) accepts `--config <path>` to run against a config file other than `./helix.config.ts`, for example `helix deploy --config helix.production.config.ts`. The `HELIX_CONFIG` environment variable has the same effect; the flag wins when both are set. Keeping one config file per deploy target is how multiple development/production targets work in Helix; see [the configuration model](/documentation/concepts/configuration/#one-config-file-per-target).

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Canonical: https://helix.tray.ai/documentation/reference/cli/
Any link on this page is available as markdown by appending .md to its URL.
Full corpus: https://helix.tray.ai/documentation/llms-full.txt