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Terminal Usage

Instbyte has a first-class CLI for sending, watching, and checking server status — no browser needed.

How it fits together

One person starts the server — that's npx instbyte, same as always. The CLI commands are what everyone else (or other terminals on the same machine) uses to talk to it.

Machine A — runs the server:
  npx instbyte
  → Network: http://192.168.29.64:3000

Machine A, another terminal — auto-discovers the server:
  instbyte send ./build.zip       ← no --server needed
  instbyte watch
  instbyte status

Machine B — teammate on the same network:
  instbyte send ./notes.txt --server http://192.168.29.64:3000
  instbyte watch --server http://192.168.29.64:3000

On the server machine: the CLI discovers the URL automatically from instbyte-data/.runtime.json, written when the server starts. No flags needed.

On any other machine: pass --server once per command, or set INSTBYTE_URL in your shell profile and never type it again:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc on teammate machines
export INSTBYTE_URL=http://192.168.29.64:3000
export INSTBYTE_PASS=myteam   # only if auth is enabled

After that, instbyte send, instbyte watch, and instbyte status just work on every terminal on every machine on the network — same as the server machine.

CLI

Send a file

instbyte send ./build.zip
instbyte send ./error.log --channel projects
instbyte send ./report.pdf --channel assets --passphrase myteam

Send text or a link

instbyte send "http://staging.myapp.com"
instbyte send "quick note for the team" --channel projects

Pipe anything in

npm run build 2>&1 | instbyte send
git log --oneline -20 | instbyte send
docker logs my-container | instbyte send --channel projects
cat error.log | instbyte send

Windows: use PowerShell or CMD for piping. Git Bash has a known stdin limitation with native executables.

Watch a channel — auto-copy new text to clipboard

instbyte watch                     # watches general channel
instbyte watch --channel projects  # specific channel
instbyte watch --output            # print to stdout instead of clipboard
instbyte watch --output | grep "error"  # pipeable

New text items are silently copied to your clipboard. File items print the download URL.

Check server status

instbyte status
instbyte status --server http://192.168.x.x:3000

Server auto-discovery

When the server starts, it writes a small runtime config to instbyte-data/.runtime.json with the server URL and passphrase. The CLI picks this up automatically by walking up from your current directory — the same way git finds .git.

Priority order for every CLI command:

  1. --server / --passphrase flags
  2. INSTBYTE_URL / INSTBYTE_PASS environment variables
  3. instbyte-data/.runtime.json found by walking up from cwd
  4. http://localhost:3000 fallback

CI/CD

Environment variables are the clean path for CI — set once as a secret, use everywhere:

# Set in CI environment
INSTBYTE_URL=http://192.168.x.x:3000
INSTBYTE_PASS=myteam
# GitHub Actions
- name: Share build artifact
  run: npx instbyte send ./dist/app.zip --channel assets
// package.json scripts
{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "webpack && instbyte send ./dist/build.zip --channel assets",
    "test": "vitest run 2>&1 | instbyte send --channel projects"
  }
}

Options

Flag Commands Default Description
--server <url> all auto-discovered Server URL
--channel <name> send, watch general Target channel
--passphrase <pass> all auto-discovered Passphrase if auth is enabled
--uploader <name> send OS username Display name for sent items
--output watch — Print to stdout instead of clipboard
--quiet send — Suppress confirmation output

Raw HTTP (curl)

The HTTP API is also available directly — useful for environments without the CLI installed.

# Send text
curl -X POST http://192.168.x.x:3000/push \
  -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
  -d "hello from terminal"

# Send to a specific channel
curl -X POST http://192.168.x.x:3000/push \
  -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
  -H "X-Channel: projects" \
  -H "X-Uploader: mohit" \
  -d "targeted push"

# Pipe command output
npm run build 2>&1 | curl -X POST http://192.168.x.x:3000/push \
  -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
  --data-binary @-

# Upload a file
curl -X POST http://192.168.x.x:3000/upload \
  -F "file=@./screenshot.png" \
  -F "channel=general" \
  -F "uploader=terminal"

# With auth
curl -X POST http://192.168.x.x:3000/push \
  -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
  -H "X-Passphrase: yourpassword" \
  --data-binary @error.log