> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/BintzGavin/helios/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CLI commands

> Complete reference for all Helios CLI commands

The Helios CLI provides commands for project initialization, rendering, component management, and deployment.

## Installation

Install the Helios CLI globally or use it in your project:

```bash theme={null}
npm install -g @helios-project/cli
```

Or use with npx:

```bash theme={null}
npx helios --version
```

## Command structure

All Helios commands follow the pattern:

```bash theme={null}
helios <command> [arguments] [options]
```

## Available commands

### Project initialization

* [helios init](/api/cli-init) - Initialize a new Helios project

### Rendering and video output

* [helios render](/api/cli-render) - Render a composition to video
* `helios merge` - Merge multiple video files into one
* `helios job` - Manage distributed rendering jobs

### Development tools

* [helios studio](/api/cli-studio) - Launch the Helios Studio visual editor
* `helios build` - Build the project for production
* `helios preview` - Preview the production build locally

### Component management

* [helios components](/api/cli-components) - List and search available components
* `helios add` - Add a component to your project
* `helios list` - List installed components
* `helios remove` - Remove a component from your project
* `helios update` - Update a component to the latest version
* `helios diff` - Compare local component with registry version

### Deployment

* `helios deploy setup` - Scaffold Docker configuration files
* `helios deploy gcp` - Scaffold Google Cloud Run configuration
* `helios deploy aws` - Scaffold AWS Lambda configuration

## Global options

Most commands support standard options:

```bash theme={null}
--help, -h    # Show help for a command
--version, -v # Show CLI version
```

## Environment variables

### Browser configuration

```bash theme={null}
HELIOS_BROWSER_ARGS="--no-sandbox --disable-setuid-sandbox"
PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH="/usr/bin/chromium"
```

These variables configure the browser used for rendering:

* `HELIOS_BROWSER_ARGS` - Custom Chromium/Chrome command-line arguments
* `PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH` - Path to a custom browser executable

## Configuration file

Most commands require a `helios.config.json` file in your project root. See [helios init](/api/cli-init) for details on creating this file.

## Common workflows

### Creating a new project

```bash theme={null}
helios init my-project
cd my-project
npm install
helios studio
```

### Rendering a video

```bash theme={null}
helios render composition.html -o output.mp4 --width 1920 --height 1080
```

### Adding components

```bash theme={null}
helios components        # Browse available components
helios add fade-in      # Add a component
helios list             # Verify installation
```

### Distributed rendering

```bash theme={null}
# Generate a job specification
helios render composition.html --emit-job job.json --concurrency 4

# Execute the job
helios job run job.json
```