Zeltro CLI

DevOps in-a-box!

Pre-plumbed PHP, Python and Node environments so your AI agent can skip the setup and get straight to building.

	AI without Zeltro	AI with Zeltro
Standing up an OSS app	Re-derives the image, compose and env vars	zeltro install grafana
↳ agent steps	4–6, sometimes including a crash loop to fix	None: the installer runs without AI
↳ AI cost	About $0.20 per app with Claude Sonnet (measured)	$0
↳ time	2–4 minutes of agent time	About a minute
Databases	One bundled per project: 5 projects ≈ 670 MB of RAM	One shared: ≈ 170 MB (measured)
Addresses	localhost:3002? :3003?	One per project, printed by zeltro status
Project layout	Reinvented every session	Fixed names, addresses, images, credentials
Other machines	"Worked on my laptop"	Identical

📖 Full documentation →

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Why

• It's a project manager. Every project gets a name, its own address, and the same shared services. Ten projects, one Postgres.
• It keeps AI in bounds. Left alone, an agent invents its own ports, database and compose file, ignoring everything else on your machine. Zeltro hands it a fixed environment instead.
• It saves tokens. Networking, scaffolding, secrets and 200+ app installs are pre-baked. The agent builds your app, not the plumbing.
• The containers are already built. PHP 8.3 and Python 3 with their database drivers, and Node 22, each with nginx and supervisor. No image hunting, no Dockerfiles.
• Configure once. One zeltro configure, then no per-project YAML or env spelunking.

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Install

Linux

curl -fsSL https://dist.canebaycomputers.com/zeltro/cli/ubuntu | bash

Swap ubuntu for fedora or arch. Run it as your normal user, then log out and back in so your user can use Docker.

macOS

curl -fsSL https://dist.canebaycomputers.com/zeltro/cli/mac | bash

Installs the Xcode command line tools, Homebrew and Docker Desktop if they are missing. Note that Docker Desktop keeps containers inside a VM, so on macOS you reach a project by the port zeltro status prints rather than by container IP.

Windows

Zeltro is a Linux tool. On Windows, install the desktop app (download) and point it at a Linux or Mac machine over SSH, or let it set up Zeltro inside WSL2 on the same PC (in preview). The older install-windows.ps1 script, run from an administrator PowerShell, also sets up WSL2 with Zeltro inside it; it is lightly tested and will be retired once the desktop app's WSL2 setup is verified.

Then, once:

zeltro configure

Log out and back in so Docker group access takes effect. Details and platform notes: Installation.

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Start here

zeltro create "A timeclock for employees in Django"

Describe what you want. Zeltro builds the project, database, environment and URL. The AI only customizes what sits on top — that's where the savings come from.

Name a framework if you have a preference — or don't, and let the agent choose:

zeltro create "A tool to track my guitar pedal collection"

Give it as much detail as you like:

zeltro create "A customer intake system for a small law firm. Clients submit a
form with their contact info, case type and a short description. Staff log in
to review submissions, assign each one to an attorney, and move it through new,
in progress and closed. Email the client whenever the status changes."

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Prefer to drive it yourself?

zeltro new flask my-api        # scaffold a project you write
zeltro install grafana         # deploy a ready-made app
zeltro clone work-directly <repo-url>
zeltro up my-api               # start it

Everything else — frameworks, the 200+ app library, the full command reference, architecture, and scripting — is in the docs.

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Prefer not to use a terminal?

The Zeltro app is an optional desktop front end: same projects, same shared services, same addresses, just visible and clickable. On Linux it installs with one command, which also installs this CLI if zeltro is missing:

curl -fsSL https://dist.canebaycomputers.com/zeltro/ubuntu | bash

It works on Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora/RHEL and Arch. On Windows, download the installer (beta). The app drives Zeltro on machines you add under Settings → Remotes → Hosts (a Linux box, a Mac, a Pi, an EC2 instance), or inside WSL2 on the same PC (in preview). On a Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel), curl -fsSL https://dist.canebaycomputers.com/zeltro/mac | bash installs it through Homebrew. Packages are on the releases page.

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Runs on Linux and macOS, and on Windows through the desktop app. The CLI is open source (MIT); the desktop app is proprietary and free for personal use, with a lifetime commercial license for businesses.