Getting Started with Acquia CLI

This guide covers installation, authentication, and your first commands.

Use when:

• Installing acli for the first time
• Authenticating with Acquia Cloud
• Learning your first acli commands

Tool Overview

Two separate CLIs exist for Acquia Cloud operations:

Tool	Purpose
acli	General Cloud management: applications, environments, IDEs, SSH keys, code/DB sync
pipelines-cli	CI/CD pipeline operations: trigger builds, check job status, stream logs

Use pipelines-cli for anything related to pipeline jobs. Use acli for everything else.

ACE vs MEO

acli serves two distinct hosting products with separate command prefixes:

Product	Command prefix	API
ACE (Acquia Cloud Enterprise) — classic single-site hosting	acli api:*	V2
MEO (Multi-site Enterprise Operations) — multi-site hosting	acli api:v3:*	V3

If you're working on a MEO subscription, see MEO Overview for the full command set.

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Installation

macOS & Linux

Option 1: Native Binary (Recommended)

The native binary requires no PHP installation and works on any modern macOS or Linux system.

# Download the latest release
curl -fsSL https://github.com/acquia/cli/releases/latest/download/acli \
  -o /usr/local/bin/acli

# Make it executable
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/acli

# Verify it works
acli --version

Option 2: PHP Archive (PHAR)

If you prefer or already have PHP 8.2 installed:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/acquia/cli/releases/latest/download/acli.phar \
  -o /usr/local/bin/acli.phar
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/acli.phar

# Use as:
acli.phar --version
# Or create an alias
alias acli='acli.phar'

Using Homebrew (macOS)

brew tap acquia/cli
brew install acli
acli --version

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Your First Command: Authentication

Acquia CLI uses OAuth to authenticate with your Acquia account. You'll only need to do this once.

acli auth:login

This will:

1. Open your browser
2. Prompt you to authorize Acquia CLI
3. Generate an access token
4. Store it locally in ~/.acquia/cloud_api/credentials.json (encrypted)

Tokens are valid for 30 days. If your token expires, run acli auth:login again.

Verify Authentication

acli auth:me

Shows your name, email, and account information.

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Your First Command: List Applications

See which applications you have access to:

acli api:applications:list

Output:

Select a Cloud Platform application:
  [0] My First App (prod, staging, dev)
  [1] Client Project (prod, staging)
  [2] Development App (dev)

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Shell Completion

Enable tab completion for faster command entry.

Bash

eval "$(acli shell:complete bash)"

Add to ~/.bashrc for permanent setup:

echo 'eval "$(acli shell:complete bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Zsh

eval "$(acli shell:complete zsh)"

Add to ~/.zshrc:

echo 'eval "$(acli shell:complete zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Fish

acli shell:complete fish | source

Add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish:

acli shell:complete fish | source

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Getting Help

Command Help

Every command has a built-in help page:

# General help
acli --help
acli -h

# Help for a specific command
acli ide:create --help
acli ide:create -h

# List all available commands by category
acli list

Verbose Output

For debugging, show detailed output:

# -v (normal), -vv (detailed), -vvv (very detailed)
acli ide:list -vvv
acli ide:create -v

Debug Mode

Run any command in debug mode to see behind-the-scenes details:

acli ide:create --debug

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Configuration

Config File Location

Configuration is stored at: ~/.acquia/

~/.acquia/
├── cloud_api/
│   └── credentials.json       # Your API token (encrypted)
├── config.yaml                # Settings
└── cache/                      # Cached data

Linking a Local Project

Run acli app:link in your project directory to associate it with a Cloud application. See Application Management for details.

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Common First Steps

Step 1: Authenticate

acli auth:login
acli auth:me

Step 2: Set Up a Project

cd /path/to/project
acli app:link

Step 3: Create an IDE (or connect to existing)

acli ide:create    # Create a new one
# OR
acli ide:list      # Connect to existing

Step 4: Set Up SSH

acli ssh-key:list   # See your SSH keys
# If no keys, create one
acli ssh-key:create

Step 5: Try a Drush Command

acli remote:drush status
acli remote:drush cr   # Clear caches

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Troubleshooting

"Command not found: acli"

Make sure the binary is in your PATH. Try:

which acli
# If nothing, add to PATH
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
acli --version

"Error: Failed to authenticate"

Your token has expired or isn't valid. Try:

acli auth:login

"Error: Access denied"

You don't have permission to access that application or resource. Check:

• Are you logged in with the right Acquia account?
• Do you have permissions in Acquia Cloud UI?

Run acli auth:me to verify you're using the right account.

Need more help?

See Troubleshooting Guide for more issues.

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Acquia Site Factory (ACSF) Authentication

If your organization uses Acquia Site Factory, register separate credentials:

acli auth:acsf-login

Options:

acli auth:acsf-login \
  --username=myuser \
  --key=MY_API_KEY \
  --factory-url=https://www.myfactory.com

To log out:

acli auth:acsf-logout

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Cache Management

Clear local acli caches (useful when commands behave unexpectedly):

acli self:clear-caches

Aliases: acli cc, acli cr

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Telemetry

acli collects anonymous usage data by default to help improve the tool. To opt out:

acli self:telemetry:disable

To re-enable:

acli self:telemetry:enable

Toggle interactively:

acli self:telemetry:toggle

Alias: acli telemetry

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Open Product Documentation

Open Acquia product docs in your browser:

acli docs

For a specific product:

acli docs acli
acli docs cloud-ide

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Best Practices

1. Authenticate first — Run acli auth:login before anything else; most commands require it.
2. Discover commands — Use acli list to see all available commands grouped by topic.
3. Enable shell completion — Run acli shell:complete once to get tab-completion for commands and flags.
4. Verify your setup — Run acli self:info to confirm your authenticated identity and acli version.
5. Stay updated — Run acli self:update regularly to get bug fixes and new features.
6. Clear caches on odd behavior — Run acli self:clear-caches if commands return unexpected results.

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Next Steps

Now that you're set up, try:

• Create your first IDE — Set up a development environment
• Explore applications — Learn about your apps
• Set up SSH keys — Secure authentication