Command Reference

Overview

The Tambo CLI provides commands for project initialization, component management, authentication, and more.

Installation

npm install -g tambo
# or use npx for one-off commands
npx tambo [command]

Global Options

Available on all commands:

--help

boolean

Show help for the command

--version

boolean

Show CLI version

Commands

init

Initialize Tambo in an existing project.

tambo init [options]

Full documentation → Options:

--api-key=<key> - Provide API key directly
--project-name=<name> - Create new project
--project-id=<id> - Use existing project
--full-send - Install starter components
--yes - Auto-answer yes to prompts
--skip-agent-docs - Skip AGENTS.md creation
--legacy-peer-deps - Use legacy peer deps
--no-browser - Don’t open browser during auth

Examples:

# Interactive
tambo init

# With API key
tambo init --api-key=sk_...

# Full-send mode
tambo init --full-send

# Non-interactive
tambo init --project-name=my-app --no-browser

add

Add components to your project.

tambo add <component> [options]

Full documentation → Options:

--yes - Auto-answer yes to prompts
--dry-run - Preview changes without installing
--prefix=<path> - Custom installation path
--legacy-peer-deps - Use legacy peer deps
--force-update - Force reinstall

Examples:

# Interactive
tambo add message-thread-full

# Non-interactive
tambo add control-bar --yes

# Dry run
tambo add button --dry-run

# Custom path
tambo add card --prefix=src/ui/components

create-app

Create a new Tambo application from templates.

tambo create-app [name] [options]

Full documentation → Options:

--template=<template> - Template to use (standard, vite, analytics)
--skip-git-init - Skip git initialization
--skip-tambo-init - Skip tambo initialization
--legacy-peer-deps - Use legacy peer deps

Examples:

# Interactive
tambo create-app

# Non-interactive
tambo create-app my-app --template=standard

# Current directory
tambo create-app . --template=vite

# Skip automatic setup
tambo create-app my-app --template=standard --skip-tambo-init

list

List available components from the registry.

tambo list [options]

Options:

--yes - Skip confirmation prompts

Output:

Available Tambo Components:

🎨 Layout Components
  • message-thread-full        Full-screen chat interface
  • message-thread-panel       Split-view chat with workspace
  • message-thread-collapsible Collapsible chat sidebar
  • control-bar                Spotlight-style command palette

🛠️  Building Blocks
  • message-input              Message input with attachments
  • avatar                     User avatar component
  • button                     Button component
  • card                       Card component
  • input                      Input component

📦 Pre-built Agents
  • agent-toolkit              Complete agent with tools

Use 'tambo add <component>' to install a component
Visit https://ui.tambo.co to see components in action

Exit code: 0

update

Update existing components to the latest versions.

tambo update [component] [options]

Options:

--all - Update all components
--yes - Auto-answer yes to prompts
--dry-run - Preview changes

Examples:

# Update specific component
tambo update message-thread-full

# Update all components
tambo update --all

# Preview updates
tambo update --all --dry-run

Output:

ℹ Checking for updates...

Components to update:
  • message-thread-full (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
  • button (0.9.5 → 1.0.0)

? Do you want to proceed with updates? (Y/n)

✓ Updated message-thread-full to 1.1.0
✓ Updated button to 1.0.0

✨ Updates complete!

upgrade

Upgrade Tambo dependencies in your project.

tambo upgrade [options]

Options:

--yes - Auto-answer yes to prompts
--dry-run - Preview changes
--legacy-peer-deps - Use legacy peer deps

What it upgrades:

@tambo-ai/react to latest version
@tambo-ai/client to latest version
Components from registry (via update --all)
LLM rules configuration

Examples:

# Interactive
tambo upgrade

# Non-interactive
tambo upgrade --yes

# Preview
tambo upgrade --dry-run

Output:

ℹ Checking for upgrades...

Packages to upgrade:
  • @tambo-ai/react (1.0.0 → 1.2.0)
  • @tambo-ai/client (1.0.0 → 1.2.0)

Components to update:
  • message-thread-full (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
  • button (0.9.5 → 1.0.0)

? Do you want to proceed with upgrade? (Y/n)

✓ Upgraded @tambo-ai/react to 1.2.0
✓ Upgraded @tambo-ai/client to 1.2.0
✓ Updated 2 components

✨ Upgrade complete!

migrate

Migrate components from legacy ui/ location to new tambo/ location.

tambo migrate [options]

Options:

--yes - Auto-answer yes to prompts
--dry-run - Preview changes

What it does:

Moves all components from components/ui/ to components/tambo/
Updates all import paths in your codebase
Updates component registrations in tambo.ts

Examples:

# Interactive
tambo migrate

# Non-interactive
tambo migrate --yes

# Preview
tambo migrate --dry-run

Output:

ℹ Scanning for components to migrate...

Components found in ui/:
  • message-thread-full
  • button
  • card

Files with imports to update:
  • app/page.tsx
  • app/layout.tsx
  • lib/tambo.ts

? Do you want to proceed with migration? (Y/n)

✓ Moved 3 components to tambo/
✓ Updated 3 files with new import paths

✨ Migration complete!

auth

Manage authentication and sessions.

tambo auth <command> [options]

Authenticate with Tambo Cloud.

tambo auth login [options]

Options:

--no-browser - Don’t open browser (prints URL instead)

Output:

🔐 Device Authorization Required

Please visit: https://console.tambo.co/auth/device?code=ABCD-1234

Waiting for authorization...

✔ Authenticated as [email protected]

Exit code: 0

auth logout

Log out and clear session.

tambo auth logout

Output:

✔ Logged out successfully

Exit code: 0

auth status

Check current authentication status.

tambo auth status

Output:

Authentication Status:
  Status: Authenticated
  User: [email protected]
  Session expires: 2024-12-31 23:59:59

Exit code: 0

Exit Codes

All commands use consistent exit codes:

0 - Success
1 - Error (network failure, invalid arguments, etc.)
2 - User action required (non-interactive mode, missing arguments)

Environment Variables

TAMBO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED

Disable anonymous telemetry.

export TAMBO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
tambo init

TAMBO_TELEMETRY_HOST

Override telemetry host (for testing).

export TAMBO_TELEMETRY_HOST=https://custom-host.com
tambo init

FORCE_INTERACTIVE

Force interactive mode even in non-TTY environments.

export FORCE_INTERACTIVE=1
tambo init

CI

Indicates CI environment (disables interactive prompts).

export CI=true
tambo init --api-key=sk_...

Non-Interactive Mode

The CLI automatically detects non-interactive environments:

Piped stdin/stdout
CI systems (CI=true)
GitHub Actions (GITHUB_ACTIONS=true)

In non-interactive mode:

Prompts are replaced with error messages
Exit code 2 indicates user action required
Guidance is provided for required arguments

Example:

# Interactive environment
tambo init
# → Shows prompts

# Non-interactive environment (e.g., CI)
tambo init
# → Error: API key required in non-interactive mode
# → Exit code: 2

# Correct usage in CI
tambo init --api-key=sk_...
# → Success
# → Exit code: 0

Configuration Files

.env.local (or .env)

Stores API key:

TAMBO_API_KEY=sk_your_api_key_here
# or for Next.js
NEXT_PUBLIC_TAMBO_API_KEY=sk_your_api_key_here
# or for Vite
VITE_TAMBO_API_KEY=sk_your_api_key_here

lib/tambo.ts

Component and tool registry:

import { TamboTool } from "@tambo-ai/react";
import { MessageThreadFull } from "@/components/tambo/message-thread-full";

export const tools: TamboTool[] = [
  // Your tools here
];

export const components: Record<string, unknown> = {
  MessageThreadFull,
  // Other components
};

AGENTS.md

Guidance for AI coding agents (created by tambo init).

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

npx tambo [command]
# or install globally
npm install -g tambo

Permission Denied

sudo npm install -g tambo
# or use npx (no global install)
npx tambo [command]

Network Errors

# Check internet connection
ping github.com

# Try with verbose logging
DEBUG=* tambo [command]

Dependency Conflicts

tambo add [component] --legacy-peer-deps

Stale Cache

npm cache clean --force
tambo [command]

Getting Help

# General help
tambo --help

# Command-specific help
tambo init --help
tambo add --help
tambo create-app --help

Version Information

tambo --version

Output:

tambo/1.0.0 linux-x64 node-v20.0.0

React SDK

Client

CLI

Types

Command Reference

Overview

Installation

Global Options

Commands

init

add

create-app

list

update

upgrade

migrate

auth

auth logout

auth status

Exit Codes

Environment Variables

TAMBO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED

TAMBO_TELEMETRY_HOST

FORCE_INTERACTIVE

CI

Non-Interactive Mode

Configuration Files

.env.local (or .env)

lib/tambo.ts

AGENTS.md

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

Permission Denied

Network Errors

Dependency Conflicts

Stale Cache

Getting Help

Version Information

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

React SDK

Client

CLI

Types

​Overview

​Installation

​Global Options

​Commands

​init

​add

​create-app

​list

​update

​upgrade

​migrate

​auth

​auth login

​auth logout

​auth status

​Exit Codes

​Environment Variables

​TAMBO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED

​TAMBO_TELEMETRY_HOST

​FORCE_INTERACTIVE

​CI

​Non-Interactive Mode

​Configuration Files

​.env.local (or .env)

​lib/tambo.ts

​AGENTS.md

​Troubleshooting

​Command Not Found

​Permission Denied

​Network Errors

​Dependency Conflicts

​Stale Cache

​Getting Help

​Version Information

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Installation

Global Options

Commands

init

add

create-app

list

update

upgrade

migrate

auth

auth login

auth logout

auth status

Exit Codes

Environment Variables

TAMBO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED

TAMBO_TELEMETRY_HOST

FORCE_INTERACTIVE

CI

Non-Interactive Mode

Configuration Files

.env.local (or .env)

lib/tambo.ts

AGENTS.md

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

Permission Denied

Network Errors

Dependency Conflicts

Stale Cache

Getting Help

Version Information