# The vato ide CLI

> Use the vato ide command to list your machines and projects, and to start, follow, resume or stop agent conversations from a terminal.

The Vato IDE CLI drives your agents from a terminal, without Vato Desktop. It controls the machines that host your projects but hosts nothing itself.

## Before you start

- Install the CLI with Vato Connect. The same installer adds the `vato` command. See [Install Vato Connect](install-vato-connect.md).
- At least one host must be online on your account: Vato Desktop on a computer, or a Vato Connect machine.

> [!NOTE]
> The CLI currently prints its messages and table headings in French.

## Sign in

```bash
vato ide connect
```

The CLI prints a sign-in link and opens your browser. Approve the sign-in with your Vato account. Add `--no-open` to only print the link, for example over SSH. The link waits ten minutes by default; change it with `--timeout`, for example `--timeout 5m`.

If you already ran `vato-connect login` on this machine, the CLI uses that sign-in. Check it with `vato ide status`.

## Find your machines, projects and conversations

| Command | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| `vato ide remotes` | The hosts that answered, with their number of projects and conversations. |
| `vato ide projects` | The projects of every host. Add `--remote <name>` for a single host. |
| `vato ide conversations` | The conversations, with provider, model and state. Filter with `--remote` and `--project`; add `--all` to include archived ones. |
| `vato ide models` | The model catalog, with model IDs and reasoning levels. Filter with `--provider claude` or `--provider codex`. |

Add `--json` to any of these commands to get machine-readable output.

Wherever the CLI expects a host, a project or a conversation, you can give its exact ID, the start of its ID, or an unambiguous part of its name or title.

## Start a conversation

```bash
vato ide run --project my-app --prompt "Add a health check endpoint"
```

- If several hosts are online, add `--remote <name>`.
- Choose the model with `--model <id>`, and the reasoning level with `--reasoning`, for example `--reasoning high`.
- Choose the run mode with `--mode`, for example `--mode Plan`.
- Give the conversation a name with `--title`.

By default, the CLI follows the agent live and returns when the turn ends. Add `--no-follow` to start the turn and return right away.

## Follow a conversation

- `vato ide fetch <conversation>` prints the conversation so far.
- `vato ide live <conversation>` prints it, then follows the running turn until it ends.

Add `--verbose` to also see tool messages, not only the user, assistant and system messages.

## Resume, change or stop a conversation

```bash
vato ide resume <conversation> --prompt "Now add tests"
```

`resume` sends a new message to an existing conversation and follows the reply. It accepts `--model` and `--reasoning` too. To change settings without sending a message, use `vato ide configure <conversation>` with the same options, `--mode`, `--fast` or `--no-fast`.

To stop the running turn:

```bash
vato ide stop <conversation>
```

## Go back in a conversation

`vato ide edit <conversation> <message-id> --prompt <text>` replaces one of your messages. `vato ide revert <conversation> <message-id>` rewinds the conversation to that message.

Both commands first show a preview, including the files that would be removed. Nothing changes until you run the same command again with `--yes`.

## Timeouts

Durations accept `250ms`, `30s`, `5m` or `1h`. `--wait` sets how long the CLI waits for hosts to answer (two seconds by default). `--turn-timeout` sets how long it follows a turn (30 minutes by default).

## Other commands

| Command | Use |
| --- | --- |
| `vato ide serve --workspace <folder>` | Make this machine a host for one folder. |
| `vato ide accounts list` | List the AI accounts on this machine. |
| `vato ide update` | Download and run the latest installer. |
| `vato ide help` | Show every command. |

If no host answers, open Vato Desktop on one of your computers, or run `vato ide serve` on a signed-in machine.

## Related pages

- [Use remote machines from Vato Desktop](remote-machines.md)

Source: https://vatoide.com/docs/connect/vato-ide-cli