Deploying with Laravel Cloud CLI

Setup

composer global require laravel/cloud-cli
cloud auth -n

Commands

Commands follow a CRUD pattern: resource:list, resource:get, resource:create, resource:update, resource:delete.

Available resources: application, environment, instance, database-cluster, database, cache, bucket, domain, websocket-cluster, background-process, command, deployment.

Some resources have additional commands (e.g., domain:verify, database:open, instance:sizes, cache:types). Discover these via cloud -h.

Never hardcode command signatures. Always run cloud <command> -h to discover options at runtime.

CLI Flags

Always add -n to every command — prevents the CLI from hanging. Never use -q or --silent — they suppress all output.

Flag combos per operation:

Read (:list, :get) → --json -n
Create (:create) → --json -n
Update (:update) → --json -n --force
Delete (:delete) → -n --force (no --json)
Environment variables → -n --force
Deploy/ship → -n with all options passed explicitly (no --json)

Deployment Workflow

Determine the task and follow the matching path:

First deploy? → cloud ship -n (discover options via cloud ship -h)

Existing app? →

cloud repo:config
cloud deploy {app_name} {environment} -n --open
cloud deploy:monitor -n

Environment variables? → cloud environment:variables -n --force

Provision infrastructure? → cloud <resource>:create --json -n

Custom domain? → cloud domain:create --json -n then cloud domain:verify -n

For multi-step operations, see reference/checklists.md.

Not sure what the user needs? → ask them before running anything.

When a Command Fails

Read the error output
Check resource status with :list --json -n or :get --json -n
Auth error? → cloud auth -n
Fix the issue, re-run the command
If the same error repeats after one fix, stop and ask the user

Always run cloud deploy:monitor -n after every deploy. If it fails, show the user what went wrong before attempting a fix.

Subagent Delegation

Delegate high-output operations to subagents (using the Task tool) to keep the main context window small. Only the summary comes back — verbose output stays in the subagent's context.

Delegate these to a subagent:

cloud deploy:monitor -n — deployment logs can be very long
cloud deployment:get --json -n — full deployment details
cloud <resource>:list --json -n — listing many resources produces large JSON
Fetching docs from https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/llms.txt via WebFetch

Keep in the main context:

Short commands like :create, :delete, :update — output is small
cloud deploy -n — you need the deployment ID immediately
Any command where you need the result for the next step right away

Rules

Follow exact steps:

Flag selection — always use the documented combos above
Deploy sequence — deploy then monitor, never skip monitoring
Destructive commands — always confirm with user first, show the command and wait for approval
Error loop — diagnose, fix once, ask user if it fails again

Use your judgment:

Instance sizes, regions, cluster types — ask the user if not specified
Which resources to provision — based on what the user describes
Order of provisioning — no strict sequence required
How to present output — summarize, show raw, or extract fields based on context

Config

Global: ~/.config/cloud/config.json — auth tokens and preferences
Repo-local: .cloud/config.json — app and environment defaults (set by cloud repo:config)
CLI arguments override both

Documentation

Laravel Cloud Docs: https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/llms.txt

When the user asks how something works or needs an explanation of a Laravel Cloud feature, fetch the docs from the URL above using WebFetch and use it to provide accurate answers.

When Stuck

Fetch https://cloud.laravel.com/docs/llms.txt for official documentation
Run cloud <command> -h for any command's options
Run cloud -h to discover commands

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