Configure the nh CLI

Before running any nh commands, configure the CLI to point at your NervesHub server and authenticate your identity. Configuration is stored in ~/.nh by default and can be overridden per-command with global flags or environment variables — making it straightforward to switch between NervesCloud, a staging server, and a self-hosted instance.

Authentication

Authenticate with NervesHub using your preferred method. After authenticating, nh stores a session token in its local config directory.

nh user auth        # Log in and store a session token
nh user login       # Browser-based login
nh user whoami      # Verify the currently authenticated user

Use nh user login for interactive workstations where a browser is available. In automated pipelines, set the NERVES_HUB_TOKEN environment variable instead of calling a login command (see Environment Variables below).

The browser flow opens a page on your NervesHub instance (for example https://manage.nervescloud.com/auth/cli/<token>) where you confirm the session. The CLI then stores the resulting token locally.

Set the Server URI

nh defaults to the NervesCloud managed service at https://manage.nervescloud.com/. If you are running a self-hosted NervesHub instance, update the URI:

nh config set uri "https://manage.nervescloud.com/"

Replace the value with your own server’s base URL. This setting is persisted to the local config file and used for all subsequent commands until you change it or override it with --uri.

Set Default Org and Product

Avoid typing --org and --product on every command by setting defaults:

nh config set org my-org
nh config set product my-product

Or export them as environment variables for the duration of a shell session or CI job:

export NERVES_HUB_ORG=my-org
export NERVES_HUB_PRODUCT=my-product

Environment Variables

All configuration values can be supplied as environment variables. This is the recommended approach for CI/CD pipelines and containerized environments. nh recognizes both NERVES_HUB_* and NERVES_CLOUD_* prefixes as aliases for every variable.

Variable	Aliases	Purpose
`NERVES_HUB_TOKEN`	`NH_TOKEN`, `NERVES_CLOUD_TOKEN`	API authentication token
`NERVES_HUB_ORG`	`NERVES_CLOUD_ORG`	Default organization name
`NERVES_HUB_PRODUCT`	`NERVES_CLOUD_PRODUCT`	Default product name
`NERVES_HUB_FW_PRIVATE_KEY`	`NERVES_CLOUD_FW_PRIVATE_KEY`	Firmware signing private key
`NERVES_HUB_FW_PUBLIC_KEY`	`NERVES_CLOUD_FW_PUBLIC_KEY`	Firmware signing public key
`NERVES_HUB_URI`	`NERVES_CLOUD_URI`	Platform base URI
`NERVES_HUB_HOME`	`NERVES_CLOUD_DATA_DIR`	CLI data directory (default: `~/.nh`)
`NERVES_HUB_NON_INTERACTIVE`	`NERVES_CLOUD_NON_INTERACTIVE`	Auto-confirm all prompts (set to `true`)

When the same value is set both in the config file and as an environment variable, the environment variable takes precedence. Command-line flags override both.

Configuration Profiles

Use named profiles to maintain separate configurations for different environments — for example, production, staging, and local. Profiles are saved to and loaded from the CLI data directory. Save the current configuration to a named profile:

nh config save staging

Switch to a saved profile:

nh config load staging

List all saved profiles:

nh config profiles

Profiles capture the full current configuration, including the server URI, default org and product, and authentication token, making it easy to switch contexts without re-authenticating.

View Current Config

Print the full current configuration — including the active server URI, org, product, and config file path — with:

nh config get

This is a good first step when debugging unexpected behavior or confirming which environment a command will target.

Global Flags

Every nh command accepts the following flags, which override the corresponding config file or environment variable values for that single invocation:

Flag	Description
`--uri`	API base URI
`--token`	Personal access token
`--org`	Organization scope
`--product`	Product scope
`--non-interactive`	Never prompt; fail instead of waiting for input
`-o` / `--output`	Output format: `table` (default) or `json`

Use --output json (or -o json) when scripting against nh in CI/CD pipelines. JSON output is stable across releases, easier to parse with jq, and includes fields that the default table view may omit for readability.

​Authentication

​Set the Server URI

​Set Default Org and Product

​Environment Variables

​Configuration Profiles

​View Current Config

​Global Flags

Authentication

Set the Server URI

Set Default Org and Product

Environment Variables

Configuration Profiles

View Current Config

Global Flags