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    5 CLI commands every Versely operator should run in 2026

    The Versely CLI is a credential and wiring tool, not a job runner: npm install -g @versely/cli, versely auth login, versely install, npx @versely/cli setup, and npx skills add AI-XLabs-Innovation/versely-skills — there is no versely generate.

    Versely Team••6 min read

    The Versely CLI is a credential and wiring tool, not a job runner: npm install -g @versely/cli, versely auth login, versely install, npx @versely/cli setup, and npx skills add AI-XLabs-Innovation/versely-skills — there is no versely generate.

    The CLI page is the product surface. It is not a catalog row. It mints a key, writes MCP, and pulls skill packs. Pixels start when an agent or a script actually hits Versely. Treat “I ran the CLI” as configuration. Treat a billed job as a side effect of MCP, skills, or the developer API.

    The CLI is not a job runner

    versely has setup, auth, install, uninstall, and status. That is the command list on purpose. There is no generate subcommand, no --model, no duration flag. CLI, MCP, or API is the surface split: MCP is a live connection to an agent; the CLI is how a machine acquires a durable credential; the API is generation as a function.

    People collapse that. They install the binary, type versely generate, get a usage error, and open a second tab to paste a prompt. The binary did its job. The job they wanted lives behind MCP tools or a skill pack that calls https://api.versely.studio/api/v1.

    The in-app agent is a different door. Its chat model is a planner — treat /chat-models as live; the documented default is runpod/kimi-k2.7-code. GLM 5.3 is z-ai/glm-5.3, text-only, custom OpenRouter. Grok 4.6 is x-ai/grok-4.6, vision. Neither is a generate row. Pinning a brain does not replace the five commands below.

    The five

    1. npm install -g @versely/cli

    Puts the versely binary on your PATH. One line. It does not sign you in, write MCP, or copy skills. The setup UI copies this exact string. A CI image that only needs a key can skip the global install and export VERSELY_API_KEY.

    2. versely auth login

    Opens a browser, runs an authorization-code flow with PKCE over a localhost redirect, and stores a long-lived vsk_ key at ~/.versely/config.json with user-only permissions. On a box with no browser, versely auth login --key vsk_… skips the flow.

    This command updates the file on disk and nothing else. Agents do not see the new key until you wire MCP. Rotate a key and skip versely install, and Cursor keeps sending the old bearer token.

    VERSELY_API_KEY in the environment takes precedence over the file. That is the behaviour you want in CI. Check the source the status line names.

    3. versely install

    Detects coding agents on the machine and writes the Versely MCP server into each config it finds, with the key already attached. No --agent flag means every detected target. --agent claude-code touches one. --agent '*' forces a write when detection reports nothing.

    Today the write is two files: ~/.claude.json under mcpServers.versely (HTTP server at https://mcp.versely.studio/mcp, Authorization: Bearer), and the same shape in ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Restart the agent. MCP config is not reloaded in place. What it does not write: skill packs. MCP tools are the callables. Skills are the instructions.

    4. npx @versely/cli setup

    The one-pass. In order: npx skills add AI-XLabs-Innovation/versely-skills, a browser sign-in that mints the key, MCP into every detected agent. Use it on a fresh laptop. Use the split commands when the key already exists and you added an agent, rotated a key, or only want procedures.

    Re-running setup because versely status says detected, not connected wastes a browser trip. The missing piece is versely install, not the key.

    5. npx skills add AI-XLabs-Innovation/versely-skills

    Pulls all eight packs — generate, slideshow, movie, ugc, music, social, analytics, pipeline — into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and whatever else that skills CLI knows. Eight Versely skills, one npx command is the unpack.

    Cloning markdown is not a generate. The command writes procedures. Credits start when a pack actually calls Versely. Skills-only is valid when VERSELY_API_KEY is already in the environment. MCP-only is the common failure: tools appear, no pre-flight, a 402 retried until the session is a mess.

    The skills page is that path. Pair it with MCP so the agent has callables as well as runbooks.

    There is no versely generate

    If you needed an MP4, you needed an agent with tools, a skill that curls, or a POST to the API. The CLI will not take a prompt. Looking for versely generate --model seedance-2-5 is how operators stall on day one.

    versely uninstall and versely status exist and are not on this list because they are not the install set. Status prints a masked key and per-agent not detected / detected, not connected / connected. Uninstall reverses the MCP write. Neither spends a credit. A chat client pastes https://mcp.versely.studio/mcp and signs in through OAuth — no CLI. Use these five when you are in a terminal agent.

    What to run when

    Fresh laptop you will work in Claude Code or Cursor: command 4. Already have a key, added an agent: command 3, then restart. MCP already connected, procedures missing: command 5. Binary missing: command 1, then 2, then 3. CI: a key in VERSELY_API_KEY, no global install required.

    After wiring, talk in jobs: “Generate an image with Versely.” That sentence is on the setup surface because it is the smoke test, not because the CLI rendered anything. The in-app agent still has its own chat model. Skills do not pin z-ai/glm-5.3 or x-ai/grok-4.6. Name the renderer in the brief when matching matters. The five commands do not change the rate. They only decide whether the key and the tools are on the machine.

    FAQ

    Is there a versely generate I should alias?

    No. The binary is setup, auth, install, uninstall, status. Generation is MCP, skills, the in-app agent, or POST to the API on /developer.

    Do I run all five every time?

    No. npx @versely/cli setup is the one-pass on a fresh machine. The split commands are for key rotation, a new agent, or skills-only. npm install -g @versely/cli is once per machine.

    Does npx skills add spend credits?

    No. It copies eight skill packs onto disk. Credits start when a generate, post, analysis, or other Versely call actually runs.

    Can I use the CLI without any agent installed?

    Yes. versely auth login mints and stores a key; skip versely install. You get a credential without pasting a secret into a shell, and versely auth whoami to check which key is active. The environment variable takes precedence over the stored file.