CLI reference

Commands that take a site use the site for the current folder when you leave it out.

leash sites

List sites and what serves them

leash sites [OPTIONS]

leash status

Show Short Leash's status

leash status

leash park

Serve every folder inside PATH (default: current folder) as name.test

leash park [PATH]

leash forget

Stop parking PATH (default: current folder)

leash forget [PATH]

leash link

Serve the current folder as NAME.test (default: the folder's name)

leash link [NAME]

leash unlink

Remove a link. A renamed site in a parked folder gets its folder's name back

leash unlink [SITE]

leash rename

Give a site a new address, NAME.test. Its folder keeps its name

leash rename [OPTIONS] <NAME>

leash alias

List a site's aliases (other NAME.test addresses it answers at), or add or remove one

leash alias [OPTIONS] [ACTION] [NAME]

leash secure

Serve sites over HTTPS, e.g. leash secure shop blog

leash secure [SITES]...

leash unsecure

Serve sites over plain HTTP

leash unsecure [SITES]...

leash use

Set the default PHP version

leash use <VERSION>

leash isolate

Pin a site to a PHP or Python version

leash isolate [OPTIONS] <VERSION>

leash unisolate

Go back to the default version

leash unisolate [OPTIONS]

leash run

Set the command that starts a site's dev server ("$PORT" is substituted)

leash run <SITE> <COMMAND>

leash start

Start sites, e.g. leash start shop blog

leash start [SITES]...

leash stop

Stop sites, e.g. leash stop shop blog

leash stop [SITES]...

leash share

Share a site on a public https address through Cloudflare

leash share [SITE]

leash unshare

Stop sharing a site

leash unshare [SITE]

leash open

Open a site in the browser

leash open [SITE]

leash requests

Show recent requests (add --follow to watch)

leash requests [OPTIONS] [SITE]

leash logs

Show a process's log, e.g. site:shop, php:8.4 (add --follow to watch)

leash logs [OPTIONS] [SOURCE]

leash ca

Print the Short Leash CA certificate (for tools that need it)

leash ca

leash php

Run PHP for the current folder: the site's version, with Short Leash's settings, e.g. leash php artisan inspire

leash php [ARGS]...

leash composer

Run Composer with the current folder's PHP, e.g. leash composer install

leash composer [ARGS]...

leash node

Run Node for the current folder: the site's version, e.g. leash node server.js

leash node [ARGS]...

leash npm

Run npm with the current folder's Node, e.g. leash npm run dev

leash npm [ARGS]...

leash npx

Run npx with the current folder's Node, e.g. leash npx vite build

leash npx [ARGS]...

leash mcp

Serve the Model Context Protocol on stdio, for AI coding tools

leash mcp

leash process

Manage a site's background processes (queue workers, schedulers…)

Subcommands: list, add, starts, run, start, stop, restart, remove.

leash process list

List the current site's processes and suggestions

leash process list [OPTIONS]

leash process add

Add a process and start it, e.g. leash process add "php artisan queue:work"

leash process add [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

leash process starts

Choose when a process starts: only when you start it, with Short Leash, or on the site's first visit, e.g. leash process starts vite on-visit

leash process starts [OPTIONS] <ID> <WHEN>

leash process run

Run a command that runs once, wait for it to end, and exit with its status, e.g. leash process run migrate

leash process run [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash process start

Start a process

leash process start [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash process stop

Stop a process

leash process stop [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash process restart

Restart a process

leash process restart [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash process remove

Stop and remove a process

leash process remove [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash octane

Serve a Laravel site with Laravel Octane, e.g. leash octane frankenphp, or leash octane off

leash octane [OPTIONS] <SERVER>

leash docroot

Serve a PHP or static site from another folder, e.g. leash docroot web, or leash docroot auto

leash docroot [OPTIONS] [PATH]

leash proxy

Send a site's requests to an app you run yourself on a port of this computer, e.g. leash proxy 3000, or leash proxy off

leash proxy [OPTIONS] [TARGET]

leash init

Write leash.toml in a site's folder from its settings in Short Leash.

Anything that looks like a secret is left out, and nothing comes from leash.local.toml. In a Git repository that doesn't ignore leash.local.toml yet, it's added to the site folder's .gitignore

leash init [OPTIONS]

leash project

Show what a site's leash.toml sets and whether its folder is trusted

leash project [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Subcommands: apply, trust, untrust.

leash project apply

Apply a site's leash.toml: install what it names and start its services and processes.

It lists the Short Leash settings it replaces with the file's and asks first. A folder that isn't trusted is asked about at a terminal whatever the options

leash project apply [OPTIONS]

leash project trust

Trust a site's folder to run the commands and services its leash.toml asks for, and its Git hooks.

It lists what the grant allows and asks at a terminal; there's no way to trust without one

leash project trust [OPTIONS]

leash project untrust

Stop trusting a site's folder: its processes from leash.toml stop, and its services keep running

leash project untrust [OPTIONS]

leash env

Manage a site's environment variables (its server, processes and PHP requests see them)

Subcommands: list, set, unset.

leash env list

List a site's environment variables

leash env list [OPTIONS]

leash env set

Set a variable, e.g. leash env set APP_ENV staging

leash env set [OPTIONS] <KEY> <VALUE>

leash env unset

Remove a variable

leash env unset [OPTIONS] <KEY>

leash webhook

Webhooks: public addresses that check and forward deliveries to your sites

Subcommands: list, start, stop, deliveries, show, resend, release.

leash webhook list

List webhooks, their addresses and where they send

leash webhook list [OPTIONS]

leash webhook start

Start a webhook's tunnel (it starts again with Short Leash)

leash webhook start <WEBHOOK>

leash webhook stop

Stop a webhook's tunnel

leash webhook stop <WEBHOOK>

leash webhook deliveries

Show recent deliveries (add --follow to watch)

leash webhook deliveries [OPTIONS] <WEBHOOK>

leash webhook show

Show one delivery: headers, body, signature check and replies

leash webhook show <DELIVERY>

leash webhook resend

Send a delivery again to the webhook's sites, signed afresh

leash webhook resend <DELIVERY>

leash webhook release

Send every held delivery on, oldest first

leash webhook release <WEBHOOK>

leash pair

Pair: share your screen, talk, and give control to up to three people

Subcommands: start, share, stop-sharing, status, let-in, give-control, take-back, join, end.

leash pair start

Start a call and print its invite once it can be opened. It starts with voice only; share your screen with leash pair share, or at once with --share. The call itself is in the Short Leash app

leash pair start [OPTIONS]

leash pair share

Share your screen with the call (on a Mac, pick it in the system's picker)

leash pair share

leash pair stop-sharing

Stop sharing your screen; the call goes on with voice. Control comes back to you

leash pair stop-sharing

leash pair status

Who's in, who's waiting, and the invite

leash pair status [OPTIONS]

leash pair let-in

Let someone who's waiting in

leash pair let-in <ID>

leash pair give-control

Give someone in the call your mouse and keyboard, while your screen is shared (host or guest). Moving your own mouse or touching a key takes control back

leash pair give-control <ID>

leash pair take-back

Take control of your screen back from whoever has it

leash pair take-back

leash pair join

Join a call from an invite link (the Short Leash app shows the call)

leash pair join <INVITE>

leash pair end

End the call you host, or leave the one you're in

leash pair end

leash backup

Back up and restore MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and MongoDB databases

Subcommands: list, now, skip, include, restore.

leash backup list

List each database's backups, newest first

leash backup list [OPTIONS]

leash backup now

Back up now: every running database service, one service, or one database

leash backup now [SERVICE] [DATABASE]

leash backup skip

Leave a database out of the daily backup and of leash backup now. Backing it up by name still works

leash backup skip <SERVICE> <DATABASE>

leash backup include

Put a skipped database back into the daily backup

leash backup include <SERVICE> <DATABASE>

leash backup restore

Restore a backup, replacing its database after backing it up first

leash backup restore [OPTIONS] <BACKUP>

leash task

A site's task list, shared with AI agents: add, claim, note, block, review and finish tasks

Subcommands: list, show, add, note, block, release, review, status, done, claim.

leash task list

List the site's tasks: status, priority, tags and who has each

leash task list [OPTIONS]

leash task show

Show a task: its description, steps and activity

leash task show [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash task add

Add a task, e.g. leash task add "Fix the cart total" --tag cart

leash task add [OPTIONS] <TITLE>

leash task note

Add a note to a task. Yours on a blocked task gets it moving again

leash task note [OPTIONS] <ID> <TEXT>

leash task block

Say what's in the way: the task stays in progress, blocked, until a note from you

leash task block [OPTIONS] <ID> <REASON>

leash task release

Let a claimed task go, back to To do

leash task release [OPTIONS] <ID> [TEXT]

leash task review

Hand finished work back for review, with what was done

leash task review [OPTIONS] <ID> <SUMMARY>

leash task status

Move a task to To do, In progress, Review or Done

leash task status [OPTIONS] <ID> <STATUS>

leash task done

Mark a task done. An agent's done waits for your review when Review is on

leash task done [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash task claim

Claim a task while you work on it; others are refused until the claim runs out

leash task claim [OPTIONS] --by <BY> <ID>

leash scratchpad

Run code inside a site with its app booted, e.g. leash scratchpad run --code "User::count()"

Subcommands: run, list.

leash scratchpad run

Run code inside the site, as a scratchpad does, and print what came back

leash scratchpad run [OPTIONS] [FILE]

leash scratchpad list

List the site's scratchpads

leash scratchpad list [OPTIONS]

leash call

Send a site's saved calls, or any request, and see what each caused, e.g. leash call send /api/orders

Subcommands: list, send, run, routes, import, export.

leash call list

List the site's saved calls

leash call list [OPTIONS]

leash call send

Send a saved call (by id or name) or a request (a path on the site, or a full URL), and print the answer and what it caused

leash call send [OPTIONS] <TARGET>

leash call run

Send every saved call, or a folder's, in order; exits 1 if any fails

leash call run [OPTIONS] [FOLDER]

leash call routes

List the site's routes (Laravel or Symfony)

leash call routes [OPTIONS]

leash call import

Import calls from a file or folder: Postman, OpenAPI, Bruno, .http, HAR, a curl command, or a Short Leash export

leash call import [OPTIONS] <PATH>

leash call export

Write the site's calls as an .http file (to standard output)

leash call export [OPTIONS]

leash monitor

The Monitor: canonical log lines and each request's trace, e.g. leash monitor tail --follow -q 'status>=500'

Subcommands: tail, trace.

leash monitor tail

Print canonical log lines (one per request, job or command), oldest first

leash monitor tail [OPTIONS]

leash monitor trace

Show one request's trace: stages, queries, events, N+1s, exceptions

leash monitor trace [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash runtime

Check installed PHP, Node, Go and Ruby versions for updates

Subcommands: updates, update.

leash runtime updates

List installed versions with a newer patch release (checks now)

leash runtime updates

leash runtime update

Update an installed version to its newest patch, e.g. leash runtime update PHP 8.4

leash runtime update <NAME> <VERSION>

leash ai

Chat with Short Leash's local model about your sites, logs and requests, e.g. leash ai chat "Why is shop.test slow?"

Subcommands: chat, chats.

leash ai chat

Ask a question; leave it out to chat until an empty line. Reads run on their own, and you're asked before anything changes

leash ai chat [OPTIONS] [MESSAGE]

leash ai chats

List chats, newest first

leash ai chats [OPTIONS]

leash meetings

Meeting notes: list, read, export or summarize them, e.g. leash meetings export <id> -o notes.md

Subcommands: list, show, export, summarize.

leash meetings list

List meetings, newest first

leash meetings list [OPTIONS]

leash meetings show

Print a meeting's summary, action items and transcript

leash meetings show [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash meetings export

Print a meeting as Markdown, with front matter saying how it was made

leash meetings export [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash meetings summarize

Write (or rewrite) a meeting's summary with the local model. Needs Short Leash running

leash meetings summarize <ID>

leash notes

Your notes in Short Leash: list, read, write, change or delete them, e.g. leash notes add "Deploy steps" < steps.md

Subcommands: list, edit, tags, show, add, rm.

leash notes list

List notes, pinned first, then last changed first

leash notes list [OPTIONS]

leash notes edit

Change a note: its title, its text (from --text or stdin), or pin it

leash notes edit [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash notes tags

List the tags in your notes, most used first

leash notes tags [OPTIONS]

leash notes show

Print a note, in Markdown

leash notes show <ID>

leash notes add

Write a note; its text comes from --text or stdin

leash notes add [OPTIONS] <TITLE>

leash notes rm

Delete a note

leash notes rm <ID>

leash license

Short Leash Pro on this computer: the trial or license, e.g. leash license activate LEASH-…

Subcommands: status, activate, deactivate, refresh.

leash license status

Show whether Short Leash Pro is on, and until when

leash license status [OPTIONS]

leash license activate

Activate a license key on this computer (it works on 2)

leash license activate [OPTIONS] <KEY>

leash license deactivate

Free this computer's activation so the key can go on another

leash license deactivate

leash license refresh

Check the license with Polar now

leash license refresh

leash workspace

Branch workspaces: a checkout of a branch beside a site, with its own address, e.g. leash workspace add fix/login

Subcommands: add, list, merge, remove.

leash workspace add

Make a branch workspace from a site: a checkout of the branch with its own address.

The branch can be a local branch, a remote branch Git already has (Short Leash never fetches), or a new one started from --base. It's served at <branch>-<site>.test, with the files Git ignores copied from the site

leash workspace add [OPTIONS] <BRANCH>

leash workspace list

List a site's branch workspaces

leash workspace list [OPTIONS]

leash workspace merge

Merge a branch workspace's branch into its base.

It runs in the site's folder, which must be on the base branch with no uncommitted changes. A conflict stops the merge and leaves the base as it was. Hooks run only in a repository Short Leash trusts

leash workspace merge [OPTIONS] [WORKSPACE]

leash workspace remove

Remove a branch workspace: its folder goes to the Trash and its branch stays.

A database the branch workspace made is backed up, then dropped. Uncommitted changes are listed first and go to the Trash with the folder

leash workspace remove [OPTIONS] [WORKSPACE]

leash import

Import sites from Herd, Valet or Flock: parked folders, links, HTTPS and PHP versions.

Reads that tool's settings once and changes nothing in it. It lists what it would add, then imports only after you confirm, or with --yes

leash import [OPTIONS] [SOURCE]

Subcommands: database.

leash import database

Print the command that dumps a database from the other tool, or restore FILE into Short Leash's service.

Short Leash never runs the dump command: it prints it for you to run. With FILE, the dump is copied into Short Leash's backups and restored into a new database; a database that's already there is never replaced

leash import database [OPTIONS] --kind <KIND> --database <DATABASE> [FILE]

leash changes

Stage, discard, commit and push a site's changes, e.g. leash changes commit -m "Add invoice numbers"

Subcommands: stage, unstage, discard, commit, trust, push.

leash changes stage

Stage files for the next commit, or every change in the site's folder with --all

leash changes stage [OPTIONS] [PATHS]...

leash changes unstage

Unstage files, keeping their changes, or everything staged with --all

leash changes unstage [OPTIONS] [PATHS]...

leash changes discard

Throw away changes to files, after showing what's lost. New files move to the Trash (Recycle Bin on Windows)

leash changes discard [OPTIONS] <PATHS>...

leash changes commit

Commit the staged files. Hooks run only in a folder Short Leash trusts

leash changes commit [OPTIONS] --message <MESSAGE>

leash changes trust

Trust the site's repository, after showing what trusting covers and asking. It needs a terminal.

Trusting lets the repository's hooks run and its Git settings apply when Short Leash runs Git in it, and applies what its project files ask for. Stage, unstage and discard ask for it when a setting needs trust; commit and push can ask with --trust

leash changes trust [OPTIONS]

leash changes push

Push the current branch to its upstream with your own Git and its sign-in. Never forces

leash changes push [OPTIONS]

leash db

Databases: create, list, drop or get a URL for one, or open a service's client (mysql, mariadb or psql), e.g. leash db create, leash db mysql shop

leash db <SERVICE> [DATABASE]

Subcommands: list, create, url, drop.

leash db list

List each database service's databases

leash db list [OPTIONS]

leash db create

Create a database and print its URL.

Without a name, it's the database the site's .env names, or one named after the site. A service that's off is turned on first

leash db create [OPTIONS] [NAME]

leash db url

Print a database's URL on 127.0.0.1, e.g. export DATABASE_URL=$(leash db url)

leash db url [OPTIONS] [NAME]

leash db drop

Drop a database after backing it up.

Short Leash takes a Before drop backup first, and drops nothing if that fails. Restore it with leash backup restore <id>

leash db drop [OPTIONS] --service <SERVICE> <NAME>

leash service

Services: list them, add one, turn one on or off, or remove one you added, e.g. leash service add mysql 9.7

Subcommands: list, add, start, stop, remove.

leash service list

List services, their ports and whether each is on

leash service list [OPTIONS]

leash service add

Add a service, or another version of one, and start it.

The version may be short (9.7 for 9.7.2). Without one, it's the recommended version

leash service add [OPTIONS] <KIND> [VERSION]

leash service start

Start a service. It starts with Short Leash from then on

leash service start <ID>

leash service stop

Stop a service. It stays off until you start it

leash service stop <ID>

leash service remove

Remove a service you added. Its data stays unless you add --delete-data

leash service remove [OPTIONS] <ID>

leash mail

Caught mail for scripts and agents: wait for a message, or print its links, e.g. leash mail wait --to [email protected]

Subcommands: wait, links.

leash mail wait

Wait for a caught message and print it.

Mail that arrived in the last --since seconds counts too, so a message sent just before the wait started is found

leash mail wait [OPTIONS]

leash mail links

Print a message's links, one per line.

Without an ID, it's the newest message the filters match

leash mail links [OPTIONS] [ID]