VideoSDK CLI

The VideoSDK CLI (vsdk) helps you build VideoSDK applications directly from your terminal. Use it to create projects from starter templates, explore VideoSDK documentation, authenticate your account, and configure AI coding tools.

Prerequisites

Before installing the VideoSDK CLI, make sure you have:

• Node.js 20 or later
• Git — required when creating projects with vsdk init
• Windows: Use the npm installation method. The curl installer is currently supported on macOS and Linux.

Install the CLI

Install the VideoSDK CLI globally using npm or the installation script.

npm

npm install -g @videosdk.live/cli

curl

curl -fsSL https://videosdk.live/install-cli | bash

Verify the installation

After installation, verify that the CLI is available:

vsdk --version

If the command returns a version number, the CLI is installed successfully.

Create your first application

Use vsdk init to create a new application from a VideoSDK starter template.

vsdk init

The interactive setup guides you through:

1. Authentication
2. Platform selection
3. Use case selection, which together with the platform picks the starter template
4. Project directory selection
5. Dependency installation
6. Project launch

The project directory must be new or empty; an existing .git folder in it is allowed. You can run the command from any directory. If that directory is itself a project, the CLI asks before creating the new app inside it.

The CLI checks for credentials in the following order:

1. VIDEOSDK_TOKEN environment variable
2. Previously saved authentication
3. Interactive sign-in

For more information, see Auth and Init guide.

CLI commands

Command	Description
vsdk init	Create a new application from a starter template
vsdk templates	Browse and inspect available starter templates
vsdk auth	Sign in, view authentication status, or sign out
vsdk docs	Search and access VideoSDK documentation
vsdk mcp	Connect an AI coding assistant to the VideoSDK MCP server
vsdk skills	Install VideoSDK Agent Skills for AI coding tools

Global options

The following options are available across VideoSDK CLI commands:

Option	Description
--json	Return command output as JSON, useful for scripts and AI coding agents
-y, --yes	Automatically confirm interactive prompts
-q, --quiet	Suppress progress messages and informational output
-h, --help	Display help for a command

For automated project creation, see Non-interactive setup.

Errors and exit codes

Every command ends with an exit code that scripts and AI coding agents can check.

Exit code	Meaning
0	Command completed successfully. A documentation search that finds nothing, and stopping a development server that vsdk init started, also exit 0.
1	Invalid input, such as an unknown command, option, template or SDK name, an invalid or expired VIDEOSDK_TOKEN, or a prompt that could not be answered because there is no terminal.
2	The VideoSDK API or the documentation server could not be reached, or rejected the request.
3	Authentication failed: not signed in, or the saved sign-in was rejected or has expired.
130	Command was stopped with Ctrl-C at a prompt or while waiting.

When using --json, a successful result is returned as a single JSON object on stdout. An error is returned as a single JSON object on stderr, with the exit code in code and, where there is one, what to do next in hint.

JSON error example

The error returned by vsdk templates nosuch --json:

{
  "error": {
    "name": "CliError",
    "message": "No template called \"nosuch\"",
    "code": 1,
    "hint": "Run \"vsdk templates\" for the list."
  }
}

Get help

To see all available commands:

vsdk --help

To see the available options for a specific command:

vsdk <command> --help