Use the Unity command-line interface (CLI)

Install the Unity CLI standalone binary and use it to install Editors, add modules, and open projects from a terminal.

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Last updated 6 days ago

Note

The Unity CLI is experimental.

Use the Unity CLI to install Unity Editors, add modules, and manage projects from a terminal without the Unity Hub desktop application. The CLI is a standalone binary that works in CI pipelines, automation scripts, and terminal-first workflows.

The Unity CLI works well for:

Continuous integration (CI) and build agents where installing the full Hub is undesirable.
Scripting and automation that needs structured output (JSON or TSV) and predictable exit codes.
Users who prefer a terminal-first workflow for everyday Hub tasks.

For command syntax, options, and flags, refer to Unity CLI reference. If you have existing scripts that use the Hub CLI's

-- --headless

syntax, refer to Migrate from the Hub CLI for a comparison of syntax and behavior changes.

Note

To use the Unity CLI to control the Unity Editor, install and set up the Unity Pipeline package. For an example of how you can use the Unity CLI with Unity Pipeline, refer to the Unity CLI introduction video.

Common Unity CLI tasks

The following commands cover the most common CLI tasks:


unity --help                                # Top-level helpunity install lts                           # Install the latest LTS Editorunity install-modules -e 6000.3.7f1 -m ios  # Add the iOS moduleunity editors -i                            # List installed Editorsunity open ./MyProject                      # Open a projectunity shell                                 # Run many commands in one interactive sessionunity doctor                                # Print a diagnostic snapshot

Install the Unity CLI

To install the Unity CLI:

Open a terminal. On Windows, use PowerShell.
Run the install script for your operating system.

curl -fsSL https://public-cdn.cloud.unity3d.com/hub/prod/cli/install.sh | UNITY_CLI_CHANNEL=beta bash

After the script completes, verify the CLI is available by running

unity --version

. If the command is not found, add the install directory to your shell's

PATH

or reopen your terminal.

On Linux, the script installs the binary to

~/.local/bin/unity

, which is on

PATH

by default on most distributions. Re-running the installer migrates an install from the previous

~/.unity

location.

Note

The CLI is self-contained, so you can install it on machines that don't run the Unity Hub desktop application, such as headless CI workers. The CLI is also distributed as a Homebrew cask,

.deb

and

.rpm

packages, an AppImage, and an MSIX package on Windows.

Install with Homebrew

On macOS and Linux, you can install the CLI with Homebrew instead of the install script, so Homebrew keeps it current:


brew install --cask unity-cli

The cask supports Apple silicon and Intel on macOS, and x64 and arm64 on Linux. On Linux, installing casks requires Homebrew 6.0 or later.

To update the CLI later, run

brew upgrade unity-cli

Note

The cask installs the command as

unity

. The cask name is

unity-cli

because

unity

refers to a different package in some package managers.

Install from the Linux package repositories

On Linux, you can install the CLI from Unity's apt and rpm repositories instead of the install script, so your system package manager keeps it current. Beta releases publish to the

unstable

suite; general availability (GA) releases publish to

stable

To register the repository and install the CLI on Debian or Ubuntu:


curl -sL https://hub.unity3d.com/linux/keys/public | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/Unity_Technologies_ApS.gpgsudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/unity-cli.sources <<'EOF'Types: debURIs: https://hub.unity3d.com/linux/repos/debSuites: unstableComponents: mainSigned-By: /usr/share/keyrings/Unity_Technologies_ApS.gpgEOFsudo apt update && sudo apt install unity-cli

To register the repository and install the CLI on Fedora or RHEL:


sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/unity-cli.repo <<'EOF'[unity-cli]name=Unity CLIbaseurl=https://hub.unity3d.com/linux/repos/rpm/unstableenabled=1gpgcheck=1gpgkey=https://hub.unity3d.com/linux/repos/rpm/unstable/repodata/repomd.xml.keyrepo_gpgcheck=1EOFsudo dnf install unity-cli

If you install a release's

.deb

.rpm

package file directly, the package registers the matching repository during installation, so

apt upgrade

dnf upgrade

keeps the CLI current from then on.

Note

The package installs the command as

unity

. The package name is

unity-cli

because

unity

refers to a different package on some distributions.

Update the Unity CLI

To update the CLI to the latest release:

Open a terminal.
Run the self-update command:


unity upgrade

The CLI replaces the current binary with the latest available release. The CLI also checks for updates in the background and prints a notice when a new release is available. To turn the check off, run

unity config update-check off

If you installed the CLI through a package manager, update it there instead.

unity upgrade

detects a package-managed install and shows the matching command:


sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade unity-cli   # Debian and Ubuntu


sudo dnf upgrade unity-cli                      # Fedora and RHEL


brew upgrade unity-cli                          # Homebrew on macOS and Linux

Install a Unity Editor

To install a Unity Editor:

Open a terminal.
Run
```
unity install
```
with the version you want. Use a version alias such as
```
lts
```
or a specific version string such as
```
6000.3.7f1
```
:


unity install ltsunity install 6000.3.7f1

The Editor downloads and installs to the configured install path.

To add modules at install time, use

-m

followed by one or more module IDs:


unity install lts -m ios android webgl

For all options, version aliases, and module IDs, refer to Unity CLI reference.

Add modules to an installed Editor

To add modules to an Editor you already installed:

Open a terminal.
Run
```
unity install-modules
```
with
```
-e
```
for the Editor version and
```
-m
```
for the module IDs:


unity install-modules -e 6000.3.7f1 -m android ios

The modules download and install for the specified Editor version.

Important

You can only add modules to Editors installed through the Hub or the CLI. Reinstall manually installed Editors through the Hub or CLI before adding modules.

For all options and module IDs, refer to Unity CLI reference.

Open a project

To open a Unity project:

Open a terminal.
Run
```
unity open
```
with the path to the project:


unity open ./MyProject

Unity opens the project in the Editor version specified in the project's settings.

You can omit the

open

keyword when the first argument is a path:


unity ./MyProject

To sign in to your Unity account:

Open a terminal.
Run the login command, which opens a browser-based sign-in flow:


unity auth login

The CLI stores your session so you can use other commands without signing in again.

To check whether you're signed in, run

unity auth status

. For all auth commands, refer to Unity CLI reference.

When you're signed in, you can install the Unity pipeline package to control an editor instance.

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Documentation

Development

User Acquisition

Monetization

Industry

Unity command-line interface (CLI)

Unity command-line interface (CLI)

Use the Unity command-line interface (CLI)

Common Unity CLI tasks

Install the Unity CLI

Install with Homebrew

Install from the Linux package repositories

Update the Unity CLI

Install a Unity Editor

Add modules to an installed Editor

Open a project

Use the Unity command-line interface (CLI)

Common Unity CLI tasks

Install the Unity CLI

Install with Homebrew

Install from the Linux package repositories

Update the Unity CLI

Install a Unity Editor

Add modules to an installed Editor

Open a project

Sign in