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Xet CLI

Xet CLI provides a versioned object-store view of XetHub, with the ability to easily copy, move, remove, and list repository files. As you develop and write files, Xet CLI automatically commits changes on every write operation, enabling XetHub users to easily rewind and replay their files for comparison and reproducibility.

Unlike with Git, getting a single file with Xet CLI is just as simple as getting the full repository. All <dest> references can be a local path or Xet URL. Xet URLs are in the format of:

xet://user/repo/branch/path/to/file

Install Xet CLI with PyXet​

  1. Using a supported version of Python (3.7+), set up a virtualenv:

    python -m venv .venv
    source .venv/bin/activate

  2. Install PyXet, which includes Xet CLI, with:

    pip install pyxet

  3. Create your personal access token (PAT) by clicking "Create Token" from your Settings page.

  4. Authenticate by copying the login string, starting with xet login, and running it from your terminal:

    xet login -u <username> -e <email> -p <PAT>

Developing with Xet CLI​

Write files to your repository as you would an object store. By committing changes on every write operation, Xet CLI's background versioning ensures confident changes and unlimited reverts.

Create a Xet repository​

If starting new development, create a new repository from your terminal.

For a private repository:

xet repo make --private xet://user/repo

For a public repository:

xet repo make --public xet://user/repo

Basic commands​

Use Xet CLI to move files around at your leisure, with confidence that all your changes are versioned.

Copy files from remote to local​

xet cp xet://user/repo/main/file file

Copy files from local to remote​

xet cp myfile xet://user/repo/main -m "Add my file"

Create a branch​

xet cp xet://user/repo/main xet://user/repo/test_branch

Move assets from outside sources​

xet cp s3://user/file xet://user/repo/test_branch

Move files around in your remote​

xet mv xet://user/repo/branch/folder/file xet://user/repo/branch/file -m "Move up a directory"

Other operations like mv, rm, and more are also supported.

Time travel commands​

Background commits means that we have a record of everything at every time, so we can easily pull a file or repository at a certain absolute or relative time.

By commit​

Show file information at a tag v0.1.0 or commit 261d82962a (no branch needed):

xet ls xet://user/repo/v0.1.0/path
xet ls xet://user/repo/261d82962a/path

By relative commit​

Show file information on main from 2 commits ago:

xet ls xet://user/repo/main~2/path

By date​

Show file information on main from any date:

xet ls "xet://user/repo/main@{2023-07-04 12:00}/path"

By relative date​

Show repository contents on main from 2 days ago:

xet ls xet://user/repo/main@{2.days.ago}

You can also easily move versions around for easy comparison:

xet cp "xet://user/repo/main@{1 month 2 weeks 1 second ago}/file" xet://user/compare_repo/file_1