Zeabur Update Service Without Redeploy

Always use npx zeabur@latest to invoke Zeabur CLI. Never use zeabur directly or any other installation method. If npx is not available, install Node.js first.

Workflow

# 1. Get service ID (use the `zeabur-service-list` skill)
npx zeabur@latest service list --project-id <project-id> -i=false

# 2. Check current variables
npx zeabur@latest variable list --id <service-id> -i=false

# 3a. Add new variables (errors if key already exists)
npx zeabur@latest variable create --id <service-id> \
  --key "KEY1=value1" \
  --key "KEY2=value2" \
  -i=false -y

# 3b. Update existing variables (only updates specified keys)
npx zeabur@latest variable update --id <service-id> \
  --key "KEY1=new_value1" \
  -i=false -y

# 4. Restart service (use the `zeabur-restart` skill for details)
npx zeabur@latest service restart --id <service-id> -y -i=false

Caveats

Issue	Solution
${VAR} references	Set in Dashboard, not CLI (shell expands to empty)

Update Image Tag (Upgrade / Downgrade Service Version)

For prebuilt/marketplace services, update the image tag to switch versions.

This is the ONLY correct path for version upgrades or downgrades. Do NOT use zeabur-deploy (or any redeploy / delete-and-recreate flow) as a substitute — those flows can orphan or wipe the service's mounted disk. A tag update triggers a clean redeploy with the new image while the volume stays attached.

Workflow

# 1. Get service ID (use the `zeabur-service-list` skill)
npx zeabur@latest service list --project-id <project-id> -i=false

# 2. Update tag (triggers redeploy automatically)
npx zeabur@latest service update tag --id <service-id> -t <new-tag> -y -i=false

Flags

Flag	Description
--id	Service ID (required, do not use --name)
-t, --tag	New image tag to deploy
--env-id	Environment ID (optional, resolved automatically)
-y, --yes	Skip confirmation

Note: Updating the tag triggers a new deployment. The service will restart with the updated image.

When to Use

• Fix environment variable typos
• Add missing config
• Change ports, URLs, credentials
• Upgrade a prebuilt service to a newer version
• No need to redeploy entire template