DocsFeaturesCLI (lfc)

CLI (lfc)

Install and use the Lifecycle CLI to examine Environments, manage Services, stream logs, and validate configuration.

lfc is the command-line interface for Lifecycle. Use it to view and manage preview Environments (Builds), redeploy Services, stream logs, host static sites, and validate configuration. Use --json for machine-readable results.

lfc init selects the Lifecycle deployment before first use.

These examples use generic placeholder hosts such as https://lifecycle.example.com and myorg/myrepo. Your commands must use your deployment values.

Overview

Node ≥ 20 is necessary.

  • --help for all commands. lfc <command> --help works on all commands and subcommands and lists all flags.
  • --json for automation. Add --json, or set LFC_JSON=1.
  • --quiet when scripting. Add --quiet to suppress informational output while preserving command results and errors.
  • Humans and agents. Interactive prompts show only on a TTY. Without one, commands fail fast and name the missing flag or argument. This behavior keeps scripts and agents deterministic. Run lfc llms to print agent-oriented instructions.

Profiles and output

Each profile selects one Lifecycle deployment. Use separate profiles for deployments such as production and staging.

Commands use these exit codes:

CodeMeaning
0Success
1API error, failed build, or invalid schema
2Watch timeout or lfc doctor warning
3Not found, missing config, or unresolved lfc doctor --fix error
4Authentication error
⚠️

If the exit code is 4, use one login command:

  • lfc login
  • lfc login --device on a headless machine

Retry the failed command. Make sure of your identity: lfc whoami

Configuration

Point the CLI at your deployment. Interactively:

Or non-interactively (for scripts, dotfiles, onboarding docs):

init validates the URL format and tries to reach the API. If the API is not reachable, init shows a warning and saves the profile. When authentication is on, it starts the SSO login. These flags are useful:

  • --ui-url enables lfc builds open.
  • --no-login skips the login step.
  • --device uses device-code login.
  • --name <profile> names the profile.
  • --force overwrites an existing profile.

Manage profiles

Environment variables

VariableEffect
LIFECYCLE_API_URLOverride the API base URL.
LFC_PROFILESelect the active profile by name.
LFC_JSON=1Force JSON output globally.
LFC_CONFIG_DIROverride the config directory location.

One-off usage with no saved config (auth-less deployments only):

Commands

Authentication

Builds (preview Environments)

When you know the pull request or branch but do not know the Environment ID, use lfc builds find. A full pull request URL identifies the repository. A pull request number or branch name also needs --repo.

When you use --json, a successful result contains found, build, and matches. Exit code 3 means that no build exists. Exit code 1 means that the scan stopped before it could give a conclusive result.

Use lfc builds list --search <text> to search by Environment ID, namespace, pull request title, repository, or author. By default, list excludes torn_down and pending. Use --all or add --exclude to change that filter.

Per-build environment-variable overrides:

Services in a build

Pods & runtime logs

On an interactive terminal, run the command without pod-name to select a pod and container. In automation, specify the pod and container.

Schema validation

Exit code 0 means valid. Exit code 1 means invalid and prints errors for each field. Exit code 3 means that the CLI did not find a configuration file.

⚠️

Offline validation uses the schema in your installed CLI. If results differ, use --repo and --branch. The server result controls that deployment.

Static sites

Diagnostics & agent instructions

All commands support --help. For automation, send --json results to a JSON processor. For example, use lfc builds get <uuid> --json | jq '.deploys[] | {name: .deployable.name, url: .publicUrl}'.

Lifecycle MCPLifecycle CLI telemetry