Using the CLI

Overview

Using the CLI requires you to do the full local install.

Installing the Desktop App install in remote only mode does NOT include the full AI Workbench CLI. There is a partial CLI installed, but it’s not for users.

To get the full CLI on your local machine you must do the full local install.

The CLI provides many of the same features as the Desktop App.

You can manage locations, projects, environments and applications. Run nvwb --help to see available commands and nvwb <command> --help for the full syntax and flags of any command.

On Windows, you must use the CLI in the AI Workbench WSL2 distribution.

It is not available on the Windows side, but you can use it by opening a terminal for the NVIDIA-Workbench distribution.

There are two CLI modes: interactive via nvwb or individual commands direct through the binary.

Interactive mode uses the nvwb shell wrapper command that is sourced into your shell through .bashrc. It is not the binary itself.

For scripts and agents, you should configure things to call the binary directly with ~/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli.

The commands activate, deactivate, open and close set shell state interactively.

These commands set or unset environment variables in an interactive shell session via nvwb <command>.

They are not for calling the CLI binary directly by scripts or agents. Scripts and agents must use the -c and -p flags with the binary to explicitly identify the location (“context”) and project on every call where relevant.

The built-in help flag is the primary reference for the CLI.

The how to pages and the CLI reference page provide context, organization and output details for what the --help flag produces.

Use --help for flags and arguments; use the docs for context and behavioral guidance.

Key Concepts

Shell wrapper

The nvwb command available in your terminal locally after the full install or on a remote. A bash function sourced from ~/.local/share/nvwb/nvwb-wrapper.sh through .bashrc. Handles session state commands and passes everything else to the binary.

CLI binary

The actual executable at ~/.nvwb/bin/nvwb-cli. Scripts and agents should call this directly rather than relying on the shell wrapper.

Context/Location

Context is the legacy term for a location in the Desktop App. It hasn’t been refactored in the CLI and is present as the -c flag and the command nvwb list contexts

Session state

Environment variables tracked by the wrapper script about the active context and open project in a terminal. Set when using the wrapper nvwb with the commands activate, deactivate, open, and close are not used when calling the binary directly.