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CLI overview

Interact with Hex via the command line.

info
  • Available on the Team and Enterprise plans.
  • Requires a personal access token. Admins must enable API access from the Integrations tab in Workspace settings before users can create tokens. See Workspace assets.
  • Hex CLI is being actively developed. Commands and configuration are subject to change.
  • CLI tool calls do not currently consume Credits. Credit consumption may apply in the future.

The Hex CLI manages Hex projects, cells, runs, data connections, and workspace resources from the command line. This can be used directly or via a local AI agent to automate Hex workflows, create and modify notebook cells, trigger project runs, and inspect workspace state.

Installation​

Install the CLI with Homebrew:

brew install hex-inc/hex-cli/hex

Alternatively, you can manually install the CLI using the following command:

curl -fsSL https://hex.tech/install.sh | bash

Verify the installation using:

hex --version

The Hex CLI will automatically check for updates and prompt you any time an update is available. Hex CLI releases are hosted on GitHub.

info

The Hex CLI is currently available for MacOS and Linux users, and is not supported for Windows. Consider using Windows Subsystem for Linux to install the CLI.

Authentication​

To get started:

hex auth login

This will open a web browser to select and log into the workspace you wish to use for the CLI. Credentials are stored securely in your system keyring.

If your workspace has a custom URL (such as for single-tenant or EU customers), specify the base URL as part of the login command:

hex auth login -H https://myorganization.hex.tech

You can verify authentication with:

hex auth status
hex projects list

Using the CLI with multiple accounts or workspaces​

If you are part of multiple workspaces, you log into each of them separately using the Hex CLI. When logging in, specify a profile name which will be used for each account:

hex auth login workspace1
hex auth login workspace2
hex auth login euworkspace -H https://eu.hex.tech

Switch the currently active account using hex auth switch <profile_name>. The currently active account is global and shared across shell sessions.

Usage​

The CLI documents itself with the --help flag:

hex --help

# subcommands are also documented using the `--help` flag
hex auth --help
Usage: hex [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Commands:
  app          Manage and run Hex apps
  project      Manage and run Hex projects
  cell         Manage project cells
  run          Manage running Hex projects and apps
  connection   Manage data connections
  collection   Manage project collections
  group        Manage workspace groups
  user         Manage workspace users
  auth         Manage authentication with Hex
  install      Manage additional tools provided by the Hex CLI, such as Claude skills
  config       Manage CLI configuration
  completions  Generate shell completion scripts
  help         Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
      --profile <PROFILE>  Profile to use (from ~/.config/hex/config.toml) [env: HEX_PROFILE=]
      --json               Output as JSON (for scripting)
  -q, --quiet              Suppress non-essential output
  -v, --verbose            Show verbose output for debugging
      --no-color           Disable colored output
  -h, --help               Print help
  -V, --version            Print version

Configuration for AI agents​

AI agents that can interact with your command line, such as Claude Code, can be instructed to use the hex CLI to accomplish tasks. Install the available Claude skill with hex install agent-skill --claude.

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