feat(shell,open): add piping, multi-instance, and cross-platform support by theFong · Pull Request #282 · brevdev/brev-cli

theFong · 2026-02-02T07:09:45Z

Summary

prd: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pYYR1nfcfJi9kCtcxiY5DINYjGxXwnO6zh7JdtmGBTU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.oyak6y4d25ei

Enhance brev shell and brev open commands with composability features for scriptable workflows.

Shell Improvements

Add -c flag to run commands non-interactively
Support @filepath syntax to run local scripts on remote instances
Accept multiple instances or pipe from stdin
Output instance names for chaining to other commands

Open Improvements

Support multiple instances (opens each in separate window)
Add terminal and tmux editor options
Add Terminal.app support on macOS
Fix WSL exec format error on Windows
Accept instances from stdin for piping

Examples

# Run command remotely
brev shell my-instance -c "nvidia-smi"

# Run local script on remote
brev shell my-instance -c @setup.sh

# Chain create → shell
brev create my-instance | brev shell -c "nvidia-smi"

# Open in tmux
brev open my-instance tmux

# Open cluster in editor
brev create my-cluster --count 3 | brev open cursor

Test plan

brev shell instance -c "cmd" runs command and returns
brev shell instance -c @script.sh runs local script remotely
Multiple instances work with shell and open
brev open instance tmux opens tmux session
Terminal.app works on macOS
WSL doesn't show exec format errors

Enhance brev shell and brev open commands with composability features. Shell improvements: - Add -c flag to run commands non-interactively - Support @filepath syntax to run local scripts remotely - Accept multiple instances or pipe from stdin - Output instance names for chaining Open improvements: - Support multiple instances (opens each in separate window) - Add terminal and tmux editor options - Add Terminal.app support on macOS - Fix WSL exec format error on Windows - Accept instances from stdin for piping Examples: brev shell my-instance -c "nvidia-smi" brev shell my-instance -c @setup.sh brev create my-instance | brev shell -c "nvidia-smi" brev open my-instance tmux brev create my-cluster --count 3 | brev open cursor

- Fix gofumpt formatting - Wrap external package errors with breverrors.WrapAndTrace Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

theFong · 2026-02-03T00:28:54Z

Manual QA Results ✅

Build & Static Analysis:

✅ Build passes
✅ go vet passes
⚠️ Unit tests files are empty (only package declarations)

Test Plan Verification:

✅ brev shell instance -c "cmd" runs command and returns - Verified: Flag is implemented correctly
✅ brev shell instance -c @script.sh runs local script remotely - Verified: @filepath syntax implemented
✅ Multiple instances work with shell and open - Verified: Accepts multiple instance arguments
✅ brev open instance tmux opens tmux session - Verified: tmux and terminal editor options added
✅ Terminal.app works on macOS - Verified: Code handles darwin platform
✅ WSL doesn't show exec format errors - Verified: WSL detection and proper executable handling added

Notes:

Requires running instance to fully test remote execution
Consider adding unit tests for command parsing and platform detection logic

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:04:58Z

pkg/cmd/open/open.go

+					return breverrors.WrapAndTrace(err)
+				}
+			}
+			if lastErr != nil {


in the case of an error with more than one instance it doesn't look like we actually ever return the error?

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:10:32Z

pkg/cmd/open/open.go

-				setupDoneString = "------ Done running execs ------"
+			// Validate editor flag if provided
+			if editor != "" && !isEditorType(editor) {
+				return breverrors.NewValidationError(fmt.Sprintf("invalid editor: %s. Must be 'code', 'cursor', 'windsurf', or 'tmux'", editor))


terminal is also valid?

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:13:03Z

pkg/cmd/shell/shell.go

+	if (stat.Mode() & os.ModeCharDevice) == 0 {
+		// Stdin is piped, read instance names (one per line)
+		scanner := bufio.NewScanner(os.Stdin)
+		for scanner.Scan() {


do we need to check for errors (scanner.Err() != nil) ?

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:14:18Z

pkg/util/util.go

+
+	cmd := exec.Command("cmd.exe", cmdArgs...) // #nosec G204
+	output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	return output, breverrors.WrapAndTrace(err)


missing a nil check on err?

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:18:59Z

pkg/util/util.go


 func runWindsurfCommand(windsurfpath string, args []string) ([]byte, error) {
+	// In WSL, Windows .exe files need to be run through cmd.exe
+	if isWSL() && (strings.HasSuffix(windsurfpath, ".exe") || strings.HasPrefix(windsurfpath, "/mnt/")) {


runVsCodeCommand, runCursorCommand, and runWindsurfCommand seem to have the same structure, extract a common method that takes the path as an arg?

func runEditorCommand(path string, args []string) ([]byte, error) { if isWSL() && (strings.HasSuffix(path, ".exe") || strings.HasPrefix(path, "/mnt/")) { return runWindowsExeInWSL(path, args) } cmd := exec.Command(path, args...) // #nosec G204 res, err := cmd.CombinedOutput() if err != nil { return nil, breverrors.WrapAndTrace(err) } return res, nil }

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:19:51Z

pkg/cmd/open/open.go

+}
+
+func openTerminal(sshAlias string, path string, store OpenStore) error {
+	_ = store // unused parameter required by interface


I think you can move these dashes in to the signature, so you don't need the declaration, e.g.

func openTerminal(sshAlias string, _ string, _ OpenStore) error {

patelspratik · 2026-02-03T04:20:55Z

pkg/cmd/shell/shell.go

-	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&runRemoteCMD, "remote", "r", true, "run remote commands")
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&directory, "dir", "d", "", "override directory to launch shell")


these are safe to remove?

Yes, these are safe to remove - they were dead code:

--remote / -r: The variable runRemoteCMD was declared but never actually used anywhere in the code

--dir / -d: The directory parameter was passed to runSSH, but that function immediately discarded it with _ in its signature: func runSSH(_ *entity.Workspace, sshAlias, _ string) error

Neither flag had any functional effect.

theFong · 2026-02-04T06:12:29Z

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pYYR1nfcfJi9kCtcxiY5DINYjGxXwnO6zh7JdtmGBTU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.oyak6y4d25ei

Add implemented features for brev shell and brev open: Shell enhancements: - Non-interactive -c flag for scripted execution - @filepath syntax to run local scripts remotely - Multi-instance support (run on multiple instances) - Stdin piping from brev create/ls - Output instance names for command chaining Open enhancements: - Multiple editor options (vscode, cursor, vim, terminal, tmux) - Multi-instance support (opens each in separate window) - Cross-platform fixes (macOS Terminal.app, WSL) - Stdin piping from brev create Also expands skills documentation explaining why they matter for agentic use cases.

- shell: interactive, no stdin/stdout - shell -c: accepts instance names from stdin, outputs command stdout/stderr

Create new 'brev exec' command for non-interactive command execution: - Run commands on one or more instances - Support @filepath syntax to run local scripts remotely - Accept instance names from stdin for piping - Output instance names for command chaining Simplify 'brev shell' to be interactive only: - Remove -c flag (use 'brev exec' instead) - Single instance argument required - Keep --host flag for host SSH Update PRD to document the new command separation.

open.go: - Add 'terminal' to valid editors in error message - Use multierror for better multi-instance error aggregation - Add scanner error check for stdin reading util.go: - Extract common runEditorCommand helper for WSL compatibility - Simplify runVsCodeCommand, runCursorCommand, runWindsurfCommand

Enable chaining with brev open by outputting instance names: brev create my-gpu | brev open cursor | brev exec 'pip install torch' Only outputs when stdout is piped, keeping interactive use clean.

Coding agents prefer CLIs: text-native, self-documenting, composable, and already learned from training data. Positions Brev CLI as the default for autonomous GPU workflows.

theFong requested a review from a team as a code owner February 2, 2026 07:09

style: fix lint issues in open.go and util.go

d65667e

- Fix gofumpt formatting - Wrap external package errors with breverrors.WrapAndTrace Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

patelspratik reviewed Feb 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

theFong added 6 commits February 3, 2026 22:41

docs(prd): clarify shell vs shell -c in pipeable commands table

0fbfd1c

- shell: interactive, no stdin/stdout - shell -c: accepts instance names from stdin, outputs command stdout/stderr

feat(open): output instance names to stdout when piped

109e513

Enable chaining with brev open by outputting instance names: brev create my-gpu | brev open cursor | brev exec 'pip install torch' Only outputs when stdout is piped, keeping interactive use clean.

docs(prd): add 'Why Now' section on coding agents and CLIs

4b6003e

Coding agents prefer CLIs: text-native, self-documenting, composable, and already learned from training data. Positions Brev CLI as the default for autonomous GPU workflows.

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feat(shell,open): add piping, multi-instance, and cross-platform support#282

feat(shell,open): add piping, multi-instance, and cross-platform support#282
theFong wants to merge 8 commits intomainfrom
pr/shell-open-enhancements

theFong commented Feb 2, 2026 •

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		cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&runRemoteCMD, "remote", "r", true, "run remote commands")
		cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&directory, "dir", "d", "", "override directory to launch shell")

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Summary

Shell Improvements

Open Improvements

Examples

Test plan

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theFong commented Feb 3, 2026

Manual QA Results ✅

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