Kernel CLI

The Kernel CLI is a fast, friendly command‑line interface for Kernel — the platform that provides sandboxed, ready‑to‑use Chrome browsers for browser automations and web agents.

Sign up at onkernel.com and read the docs.

What's Kernel?

Kernel provides sandboxed, ready-to-use Chrome browsers for browser automations and web agents. This CLI helps you deploy apps, run actions, manage browsers, and access live views.

What you can do with the CLI

• Deploy and version apps to Kernel
• Invoke app actions (sync or async) and stream logs
• Create, list, view, and delete managed browser sessions
• Get a live view URL for visual monitoring and remote control

Installation

Install the Kernel CLI using your favorite package manager:

# Using brew (recommended)
brew install onkernel/tap/kernel

# Using pnpm
pnpm install -g @onkernel/cli

# Using npm
npm install -g @onkernel/cli

Verify the installation:

which kernel
kernel --version

Quick Start

1. Authenticate with Kernel:

   kernel login

2. Deploy your first app:

   kernel deploy index.ts

3. Invoke your app:

   kernel invoke my-app action-name --payload '{"key": "value"}'

Authentication

OAuth 2.0 (Recommended)

The easiest way to authenticate is using OAuth:

kernel login

This opens your browser to complete the authentication flow. Your credentials are securely stored and automatically refreshed.

API Key

You can also authenticate using an API key:

export KERNEL_API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY>

Create an API key from the Kernel dashboard.

Commands Reference

Global Flags

• --version, -v - Print the CLI version
• --no-color - Disable color output
• --log-level <level> - Set log level (trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, print)

Authentication

• kernel login [--force] - Login via OAuth 2.0
• kernel logout - Clear stored credentials
• kernel auth - Check authentication status

App Deployment

• kernel deploy <file> - Deploy an app to Kernel

  • --version <version> - Specify app version (default: latest)
  • --force - Allow overwriting existing version
  • --env <KEY=VALUE>, -e - Set environment variables (can be used multiple times)
  • --env-file <file> - Load environment variables from file (can be used multiple times)

• kernel deploy logs <deployment_id> - Stream logs for a deployment

  • --follow, -f - Follow logs in real-time (stream continuously)
  • --since, -s - How far back to retrieve logs. Duration formats: ns, us, ms, s, m, h (e.g., 5m, 2h, 1h30m). Timestamps also supported: 2006-01-02, 2006-01-02T15:04, 2006-01-02T15:04:05, 2006-01-02T15:04:05.000
  • --with-timestamps, -t - Include timestamps in each log line

• kernel deploy history [app_name] - Show deployment history

  • --all - Show deployment history for all applications

App Management

• kernel invoke <app> <action> - Run an app action

  • --version <version>, -v - Specify app version (default: latest)
  • --payload <json>, -p - JSON payload for the action
  • --sync, -s - Invoke synchronously (timeout after 60s)

• kernel app list - List deployed apps

  • --name <app_name> - Filter by app name
  • --version <version> - Filter by version

• kernel app history <app_name> - Show deployment history for an app

Logs

• kernel logs <app_name> - View app logs
  • --version <version> - Specify app version (default: latest)
  • --follow, -f - Follow logs in real-time
  • --since <time>, -s - How far back to retrieve logs (e.g., 5m, 1h)
  • --with-timestamps - Include timestamps in log output

Browser Management

• kernel browsers list - List running browsers
• kernel browsers create - Create a new browser session
  • -p, --persistence-id <id> - Unique identifier for browser session persistence
  • -s, --stealth - Launch browser in stealth mode to avoid detection
  • -H, --headless - Launch browser without GUI access
• kernel browsers delete <id or persistent id> - Delete a browser
  • -y, --yes - Skip confirmation prompt
• kernel browsers view <id or persistent id> - Get live view URL for a browser

Browser Logs

• kernel browsers logs stream <id or persistent id> - Stream browser logs
  • --source <source> - Log source: "path" or "supervisor" (required)
  • --follow - Follow the log stream (default: true)
  • --path <path> - File path when source=path
  • --supervisor-process <name> - Supervisor process name when source=supervisor. Most useful value is "chromium"

Browser Replays

• kernel browsers replays list <id or persistent id> - List replays for a browser
• kernel browsers replays start <id or persistent id> - Start a replay recording
  • --framerate <fps> - Recording framerate (fps)
  • --max-duration <seconds> - Maximum duration in seconds
• kernel browsers replays stop <id or persistent id> <replay-id> - Stop a replay recording
• kernel browsers replays download <id or persistent id> <replay-id> - Download a replay video
  • -o, --output <path> - Output file path for the replay video

Browser Process Control

• kernel browsers process exec <id or persistent id> [--] [command...] - Execute a command synchronously
  • --command <cmd> - Command to execute (optional; if omitted, trailing args are executed via /bin/bash -c)
  • --args <args> - Command arguments
  • --cwd <path> - Working directory
  • --timeout <seconds> - Timeout in seconds
  • --as-user <user> - Run as user
  • --as-root - Run as root
• kernel browsers process spawn <id or persistent id> [--] [command...] - Execute a command asynchronously
  • --command <cmd> - Command to execute (optional; if omitted, trailing args are executed via /bin/bash -c)
  • --args <args> - Command arguments
  • --cwd <path> - Working directory
  • --timeout <seconds> - Timeout in seconds
  • --as-user <user> - Run as user
  • --as-root - Run as root
• kernel browsers process kill <id or persistent id> <process-id> - Send a signal to a process
  • --signal <signal> - Signal to send: TERM, KILL, INT, HUP (default: TERM)
• kernel browsers process status <id or persistent id> <process-id> - Get process status
• kernel browsers process stdin <id or persistent id> <process-id> - Write to process stdin (base64)
  • --data-b64 <data> - Base64-encoded data to write to stdin (required)
• kernel browsers process stdout-stream <id or persistent id> <process-id> - Stream process stdout/stderr

Browser Filesystem

• kernel browsers fs new-directory <id or persistent id> - Create a new directory
  • --path <path> - Absolute directory path to create (required)
  • --mode <mode> - Directory mode (octal string)
• kernel browsers fs delete-directory <id or persistent id> - Delete a directory
  • --path <path> - Absolute directory path to delete (required)
• kernel browsers fs delete-file <id or persistent id> - Delete a file
  • --path <path> - Absolute file path to delete (required)
• kernel browsers fs download-dir-zip <id or persistent id> - Download a directory as zip
  • --path <path> - Absolute directory path to download (required)
  • -o, --output <path> - Output zip file path
• kernel browsers fs file-info <id or persistent id> - Get file or directory info
  • --path <path> - Absolute file or directory path (required)
• kernel browsers fs list-files <id or persistent id> - List files in a directory
  • --path <path> - Absolute directory path (required)
• kernel browsers fs move <id or persistent id> - Move or rename a file or directory
  • --src <path> - Absolute source path (required)
  • --dest <path> - Absolute destination path (required)
• kernel browsers fs read-file <id or persistent id> - Read a file
  • --path <path> - Absolute file path (required)
  • -o, --output <path> - Output file path (optional)
• kernel browsers fs set-permissions <id or persistent id> - Set file permissions or ownership
  • --path <path> - Absolute path (required)
  • --mode <mode> - File mode bits (octal string) (required)
  • --owner <user> - New owner username or UID
  • --group <group> - New group name or GID
• kernel browsers fs upload <id or persistent id> - Upload one or more files
  • --file <local:remote> - Mapping local:remote (repeatable)
  • --dest-dir <path> - Destination directory for uploads
  • --paths <paths> - Local file paths to upload
• kernel browsers fs upload-zip <id or persistent id> - Upload a zip and extract it
  • --zip <path> - Local zip file path (required)
  • --dest-dir <path> - Destination directory to extract to (required)
• kernel browsers fs write-file <id or persistent id> - Write a file from local data
  • --path <path> - Destination absolute file path (required)
  • --mode <mode> - File mode (octal string)
  • --source <path> - Local source file path (required)

Examples

Deploy with environment variables

# Set individual variables
kernel deploy index.ts --env API_KEY=abc123 --env DEBUG=true

# Load from .env file
kernel deploy index.ts --env-file .env

# Combine both methods
kernel deploy index.ts --env-file .env --env OVERRIDE_VAR=value

Invoke with payload

# Simple invoke
kernel invoke my-scraper scrape-page

# With JSON payload
kernel invoke my-scraper scrape-page --payload '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

# Synchronous invoke (wait for completion)
kernel invoke my-scraper quick-task --sync

Follow logs in real-time

# Follow logs
kernel logs my-app --follow

# Show recent logs with timestamps
kernel logs my-app --since 1h --with-timestamps

Browser management

# List all browsers
kernel browsers list

# Create a new browser session
kernel browsers create

# Create a persistent browser session
kernel browsers create --persistence-id my-browser-session

# Create a headless browser in stealth mode
kernel browsers create --headless --stealth

# Delete a persistent browser
kernel browsers delete --by-persistent-id my-browser-session --yes

# Get live view URL
kernel browsers view --by-id browser123

# Stream browser logs
kernel browsers logs stream my-browser --source supervisor --follow --supervisor-process chromium

# Start a replay recording
kernel browsers replays start my-browser --framerate 30 --max-duration 300

# Execute a command in the browser VM
kernel browsers process exec my-browser -- ls -alh /tmp

# Upload files to the browser VM
kernel browsers fs upload my-browser --file "local.txt:remote.txt" --dest-dir "/tmp"

# List files in a directory
kernel browsers fs list-files my-browser --path "/tmp"

Getting Help

• kernel --help - Show all available commands
• kernel <command> --help - Get help for a specific command

Documentation

For complete documentation, visit:

• 📖 Documentation
• 🚀 Quickstart Guide
• 📋 CLI Reference

Support

• Discord Community
• GitHub Issues
• Documentation

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For development and contribution information, see DEVELOPMENT.md.