CLI Reference
Synopsis
boks [OPTIONS] [TOOL] [ARGS]...All flags appear before the tool name. Anything after the tool name is passed to the tool verbatim — boks never interprets it. Use -- to mark the end of boks flags explicitly.
Run boks --help to see the full flag list.
Sections
- Flags — every flag, grouped by purpose
- Commands — usage patterns, version pinning, shims, env files, k8s
- Environment Variables —
BOKS_CONFIG,CI, pass-through config - Exit Codes — how boks propagates tool exit codes
Quick reference
# Run a tool
boks python --version
boks python@3.12 --version
boks --cap net curl https://example.com
boks --cap rw python -c "open('x','w')"
# Tool discovery
boks --search dns
boks --info curl # synopsis + image metadata
boks man jq # view the tool's real man page
boks --update # refresh the global tool index
# Shim management
boks --install rg
boks --list
# Environment management
boks -e @pip:requirements.txt python script.py
boks -e @uv python script.py
boks --watch -e @pip:requirements.txt python script.py
boks --clean
# Kubernetes
boks --k8s python --version
boks --k8s --namespace staging python script.py