Hetzner Cloud CLI (hcloud)

Overview

hcloud is the official CLI for Hetzner Cloud. Use it for quick operations, scripting, and CI/CD workflows. For complex automation or custom Go integrations, use the hetzner:hcloud-go-sdk skill instead.

Quick Setup

# Install
brew install hcloud  # or: go install github.com/hetznercloud/cli/cmd/hcloud@latest

# Authenticate
hcloud context create myproject
# Enter your API token when prompted (from https://console.hetzner.cloud)

See references/configuration.md for multi-project and advanced setup.

Quick Reference

Command Categories

See references/commands.md for complete command reference:

• Servers (lifecycle, rescue, metrics, console)
• Networks, subnets, routes
• Volumes, storage boxes
• Firewalls and rules
• Load balancers, targets, services
• Floating IPs, primary IPs
• SSH keys, images, ISOs
• DNS zones and records
• Certificates, placement groups

Output Formats

# JSON output for scripting
hcloud server list --output json | jq '.[] | select(.status == "running")'

# YAML output
hcloud server describe web --output yaml

# Go template formatting
hcloud server describe web --output format='{{.ServerType.Cores}} cores'

# Table customization
hcloud server list --output columns=id,name,status,ipv4
hcloud server list --output noheader

Context Management (Multi-Project)

# Create contexts for different projects/tokens
hcloud context create production
hcloud context create staging

# Switch context
hcloud context use production

# List contexts
hcloud context list

Common Patterns

# Create server with SSH key and private network
hcloud server create \
  --name web-01 \
  --type cpx22 \
  --image ubuntu-24.04 \
  --ssh-key mykey \
  --network private \
  --location fsn1

# Create firewall with rules file
hcloud firewall create --name web-fw --rules-file rules.json

# Bulk server creation
for i in {1..3}; do
  hcloud server create --name "node-$i" --type cx22 --image ubuntu-24.04
done

# Wait for server to be running
hcloud server create --name app --type cx22 --image ubuntu-24.04
while [[ $(hcloud server describe app -o format='{{.Status}}') != "running" ]]; do
  sleep 2
done

Common Mistakes