vakna shell: run a command in a box

Verified against vakna 0.0.0-mock on 2026-10-20 · generated from the CLI's own definitions

vakna shell: run a command in a box; its output and exit code pass through.

Synopsis

vakna shell <box> -- <command>

Flags

Flag	Default	What it does
`--format <format>`	`text`	text, or json: one JSON object per line
`--json`	`off`	the same as --format json
`-h, --help`	`off`	this help

Examples

Example

vakna shell api -- pnpm test

prints 212 passed, 0 failed ran pnpm test · exit 0 38.24s

Exit code 0.

Another example

tar c . | vakna shell api -- tar x -C /src

prints ran tar x -C /src · exit 0 0.40s

Exit code 0.

When it fails

vakna shell docs -- ls

prints vakna: box docs is suspended hint: vakna resume docs # suspended 2h 10m

Exit code 255.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	ok
2	usage: a missing argument, an unknown flag or command
255	vakna failed under shell, run, try or fork

JSON output

With --format json (or --json) every line is one JSON object. v is the format's version; mocked marks numbers from the mock.

vakna shell api --json -- pnpm test

prints 212 passed, 0 failed {"v":1,"event":"ran","box":"api","id":"sbx_eu1a_01JB7X9K3M4N5P6Q7R8S9T0V1W","command":"pnpm test","exit":0,"ms":38240,"mocked":true}

Errors

vakna: unknown command, unknown flag or missing argument: Run vakna <command> --help and fix the command line it points to.
vakna: no box "<box>": Run vakna list and use a name from it.
vakna: "<id>" matches more than one box: Use the box's name or its full id; vakna list shows both.
vakna: box <box> is suspended: Run vakna resume <box>, then run your command again.
vakna: lockdown blocked <host>: Run vakna net allow <host> with the host the error names, then run your command again.

--help

This page and the help text come from one definition.

vakna shell · run a command in a box; its output and exit code pass through usage vakna shell <box> -- <command> flags --format <format> text, or json: one JSON object per line (default: text) --json the same as --format json (default: off) -h, --help this help (default: off) examples vakna shell api -- pnpm test tar c . | vakna shell api -- tar x -C /src exit codes 0 ok 2 usage: a missing argument, an unknown flag or command 255 vakna failed under shell, run, try or fork