CLI
Estimate, submit and track KinoCloud jobs from a terminal or CI pipeline with the kino command-line tool.
Type: Reference · Audience: Pipeline TDs, developers and CI pipelines
The KinoCloud CLI, kino, drives the same REST API as the dashboard and the MCP server. Estimate a job, upload the scene, submit it, follow it to completion and download the outputs, all from a terminal or a CI pipeline.
Availability: the CLI is in private preview and is not published to npm yet. Until it is, the REST API and the hosted MCP server give you the same job lifecycle.
Authentication
The CLI authenticates with a KinoCloud API key. Create a key, then export it:
export KINOCLOUD_API_KEY=kc_live_your_key_here
| Variable | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
KINOCLOUD_API_KEY |
Yes | A kc_live_… or kc_test_… key. Test keys cannot trigger charges. |
KINOCLOUD_API_URL |
No | API origin. Defaults to https://kinocloud.io. |
Render a scene
# Price the job first: nothing is uploaded and nothing is charged.
kino submit scene.blend --software blender --frames 1-120 --estimate-only
# Upload, submit and wait for the outputs.
kino submit scene.blend --software blender --frames 1-120 --wait
kino submit always prints the cost estimate first and runs the same checks as a real submission, so a job the farm would refuse fails before anything is uploaded. --frames accepts a stepped range such as 1-100:10, and billing counts only the frames rendered.
Cloud rendering is in early access for Blender. The other --software values are accepted by the CLI but fail with an availability error until their render lanes open; see DCC Plugins for where each application stands.
Manage jobs
kino jobs list [--limit <n>]
kino jobs status <id>
kino jobs wait <id>
kino jobs outputs <id>
kino jobs cancel <id> --yes
kino credits
Cancelling requires --yes. kino credits prints your credit balance.
Simulations and bakes
kino simulation submit <spec.json> [--estimate-only] [--wait]
kino bake <scene-file> --simulator <id> --frames <start-end> [--cap-minutes <n>] [--estimate-only] [--wait]
kino simulation submit runs independent parallel tasks (for example swan or wavewatch3) from a spec containing sceneFile, simulator and taskCount. kino bake runs one stateful simulation, such as a Blender fluid or Houdini pyro bake, over a frame range in order. Both estimate before uploading. See Simulations for the supported simulators.
StateBridge
The CLI also exposes StateBridge compatibility checks, checkpoints and restores. StateBridge is a preview; read StateBridge preview before using it.