Quick Start

From zero to a running box in five minutes. You'll install the CLI, pick a cloud (Hetzner or Vultr), and forge your first server.

Install gibil

npm install -g gibil

Verify the installation:

gibil --version

Gibil runs real servers on Hetzner Cloud (cheap EU/US, ARM SKUs) or Vultr (APAC density — Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Mumbai, plus the rest of the world). Pick whichever fits — you can add the second one later with gibil init --add.

Get a token:

Hetzner — console.hetzner.cloud → new project → Security → API Tokens → Generate API Token → permissions Read & Write
Vultr — my.vultr.com/settings/#settingsapi → enable API → copy your personal access token

Run the setup wizard:

gibil init

It picks up HETZNER_API_TOKEN or VULTR_API_KEY from your environment if either is set, otherwise it prompts you to choose a provider and paste a token. Either way, it validates the token and writes it to ~/.gibil/config.json.

Want both providers? Add a second one anytime: gibil init --add vultr (or --add hetzner). Non-interactive: gibil init --provider vultr --token $VULTR_API_KEY.

Forge your first server

gibil create --name my-first --ttl 15

This creates a fresh Ubuntu server with Node.js and pnpm pre-installed. The --ttl 15 auto-destroys it after 15 minutes.

You'll see:

  ⠙ Forging "my-first"...
  ✓ 🦎 "my-first" forged (42.1s)

  ╭──────────────────────────────────╮
  │ 🦎 Server ready                  │
  ├──────────────────────────────────┤
  │ Name:  my-first                  │
  │ IP:    49.13.xx.xx               │
  │ TTL:   15 minutes                │
  │ SSH:   gibil ssh my-first        │
  ╰──────────────────────────────────╯

Use it

SSH in and look around:

gibil ssh my-first

# You're on the server now
node --version    # v20.x
exit

Or run commands remotely:

gibil run my-first "uname -a && node --version"

Burn it down

gibil destroy my-first

The server is deleted, SSH keys are cleaned up, local metadata is removed. No trace.

Next: forge with a repo

The real power is cloning your project automatically:

gibil create --name test-run \
  --repo https://github.com/you/your-project \
  --ttl 20

gibil run test-run "cd /root/project && pnpm install && pnpm test"
gibil destroy test-run

Pick your cloud and region

Want to run closer to your users? Add a provider flag:

gibil create --name tokyo-test --provider vultr --location nrt --size small --ttl 30m

Run gibil providers any time to see every supported provider, region, and size with concrete vCPU/RAM/disk specs.

Add a .gibil.yml to your repo to configure runtimes, services (Postgres, Redis), and post-clone tasks.

Next steps

Configuration — set up .gibil.yml for your project
Use with AI Agents — give your agent its own server
CLI Reference — all flags and options