Running commands in your application

The Commands tab allows you to execute one-off commands directly in your running application instances. This feature provides a convenient way to perform administrative tasks, run maintenance commands, clear caches, and troubleshoot issues without needing direct server access.

Accessing the Commands feature

To run commands in your application:

1. Navigate to your application in the dashboard
2. Click on the "Commands" tab
3. Select an instance from the dropdown menu
4. Enter your command in the command field
5. Click "Run" or press Enter to execute the command

The command output will appear immediately below, showing you the results in real-time.

Understanding instances

When your application is running, it may have one or more instances (containers) depending on your scaling configuration. Each instance is an independent copy of your application. The Commands feature lets you select which specific instance to run your command in.

Command execution

How commands work

When you execute a command:

1. The command runs inside the selected application instance
2. It executes with the same permissions as your application (www-data user)
3. The working directory is your application root
4. All environment variables and secrets are available
5. The command has access to all installed tools and dependencies

Command format

Simply type the command as you would in a terminal. You don't need to prefix commands with special characters - just enter them directly:

• php artisan cache:clear
• ls -la
• composer show
• npm list
• cat .env

Output display

Command output appears in a terminal-style display showing:

• Standard output (stdout) from successful commands
• Error messages if the command fails
• Exit codes when commands complete

Important considerations

Command persistence

Commands executed through this interface are one-off operations. Any changes made to files will persist (since they're stored in your application's file system), but:

• Running processes started by commands will stop when the command completes
• Background tasks should be managed through proper service configurations
• System-level changes outside the application directory won't persist

Performance impact

Running commands consumes resources from your application instance. For resource-intensive operations:

• Consider running during low-traffic periods
• Monitor your application's performance
• Use dedicated worker instances for heavy tasks

Security

• Commands run with application-level permissions only
• You cannot escalate privileges or access system-level resources