Render CLI

The Render CLI manages services, databases, and deployments from the terminal. Supports interactive use, non-interactive scripting, and CI/CD automation.

When to Use

• Deploying a service from the terminal or CI/CD
• Tailing logs in real time
• Opening psql to a Render Postgres database
• SSHing into a running service or launching an ephemeral shell
• Validating a render.yaml Blueprint
• Scripting Render operations in CI/CD pipelines
• Installing agent skills for AI coding tools

Installation

After install, run render with no arguments to confirm.

Authentication

Interactive (local dev)

render login

Opens the browser to generate a CLI token. Token is saved to ~/.render/cli.yaml. Tokens expire periodically—re-run render login when prompted.

Non-interactive (CI/CD)

export RENDER_API_KEY=rnd_...

API keys do not expire. Generate one from Account Settings > API Keys in the Dashboard. The API key takes precedence over CLI tokens when set.

Set the active workspace:

render workspace set

Command Reference

Core commands

Non-interactive mode

For CI/CD and scripts, always set:

Output format precedence: --output flag > RENDER_OUTPUT env var > auto-detect (TTY → interactive, pipe → text).

export RENDER_OUTPUT=json
render services --confirm

Deploy patterns

# Deploy and wait for completion (exits non-zero on failure)
render deploys create srv-xxx --wait --confirm -o json

# Deploy a specific commit
render deploys create srv-xxx --commit abc123 --wait --confirm

# Deploy a specific Docker image
render deploys create srv-xxx --image ghcr.io/org/app:v1.2.3 --wait --confirm

Database queries

# Single query, JSON output
render psql db-xxx -c "SELECT NOW();" -o json

# CSV output via psql passthrough
render psql db-xxx -c "SELECT id, email FROM users;" -o text -- --csv

CI/CD Example (GitHub Actions)

name: Deploy to Render
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Install Render CLI
        run: |
          curl -L https://github.com/render-oss/cli/releases/download/v1.1.0/cli_1.1.0_linux_amd64.zip -o render.zip
          unzip render.zip
          sudo mv cli_v1.1.0 /usr/local/bin/render
      - name: Deploy
        env:
          RENDER_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.RENDER_API_KEY }}
        run: render deploys create ${{ secrets.RENDER_SERVICE_ID }} --wait --confirm -o json

Pin to a specific CLI version in CI to avoid breaking changes.

Local Config

Config file: ~/.render/cli.yaml

Override with RENDER_CLI_CONFIG_PATH env var.

Common Mistakes

References

Related Skills

• render-deploy — End-to-end deploy flows, MCP operations, Dashboard deeplinks
• render-blueprints — render.yaml authoring and validation
• render-postgres — Database connections, render psql usage
• render-debug — Using render logs and render ssh for troubleshooting