Reference

Command reference

Public CLI surface. Hidden resolvers used only by shell hooks are omitted.

Lifecycle

Command	Aliases	Description
`cvm init <shell>`	—	Print hooks for `bash`, `zsh`, `fish`, or `powershell`.
`cvm update`	—	Install the latest GitHub Release binary in place.
`cvm create <env> [--anonymous] [--inherit] [--open]`	—	Create `~/.cvm/envs/<env>`. Copies global credentials unless `--anonymous`. `--inherit` links skills + copies settings. `--open` launches Claude immediately.
`cvm list`	`ls`	List environments; mark the active one.
`cvm use <env>`	`activate`	Activate in the current shell (needs hooks). Clears auto-pin (`CVM_AUTO`).
`cvm deactivate`	—	Restore global Claude config, prompt, and PATH.
`cvm current`	—	Print active environment name.
`cvm remove <env> [-y]`	`rm`	Delete an environment. `-y/--yes` skips confirm.

Run & edit

Command	Description
`cvm edit [env]`	Open `.env` in `$VISUAL`/`$EDITOR` (default: active). Creates the file if missing.
`cvm run <env> -- <cmd>`	Run a command with env context + `bin/` on PATH; parent shell unchanged.
`cvm open <env>`	Alias for `cvm run <env> -- claude`. Safe to parallelize.

Share

Command	Description
`cvm export [env] [-o file]`	Write YAML manifest (default env: active; default file: `cvm.yaml`). Never includes secret values.
`cvm import <file> [-n name]`	Create/update an env from a manifest; blank `.env` placeholders for listed names.

create flags in depth

default — copy ~/.claude/.credentials.json when present (file-backed platforms).
--anonymous — skip credential copy; empty login state.
--inherit — symlink (or copy) each ~/.claude/skills/* entry; copy settings.json if present.
--open — after a successful create, open Claude and exit with its status code.

macOS note: credentials may live in the Keychain. If there is no .credentials.json file, create still succeeds but you may need to log in once per environment.