Vana CLI

The Vana CLI puts your data under your control from a terminal. With it you:

log in with your Vana account
run your own Personal Server on your machine, reachable by apps you approve
collect data from sources such as GitHub, LinkedIn, ChatGPT and Spotify into that server
read your data from Claude, Claude Code, Cursor and other AI tools over MCP
give your own agent, such as OpenClaw or Hermes Agent, scoped and paid access that you can revoke

Reading your own data is free. Apps and agents you grant access to pay a small fee per read.

Before you start

You need	Why
Node.js 20 or later	Runs the CLI. The first `vana server start` installs Node 24 for the server if you don’t have it
A Vana account	You sign in with it at account.vana.org
macOS, Linux or Windows	The CLI runs on all three

Install

npm install -g vana-cli
vana -v

Every command runs on Vana mainnet by default. Add --network moksha to any command to use the testnet. The two networks don’t share servers, data grants or balances. See Choose your network.

Get started

vana login

Approve in the browser that opens. The CLI logs in as the account the browser is signed in to on account.vana.org, and prints its address.If you don’t run a Personal Server yet, the CLI asks: Start your Personal Server now? Answer yes and continue with the next step.

Start your Personal Server

vana server start

The first start installs the server once and opens a browser page that asks you to confirm the server is yours. Approve it. The CLI then registers the server for your account, connects it to Vana’s relay and prints its public URL:

Registered https://0x....server.vana.org.
Personal Server running at http://localhost:8080
Reachable by apps at https://0x....server.vana.org
Running in the background (pid ...). Stop it with `vana server stop`.

The first start can take up to a minute. The server keeps running in the background, and your terminal is free again. Later starts take a few seconds and open no browser.If you already run the Vana desktop app, the CLI uses the desktop app’s server and doesn’t start a second one.

Connect a source

vana sources
vana connect github

sources lists everything you can connect. connect opens a browser; sign in to the source there. The CLI collects your data and stores it in your Personal Server. Your credentials stay in the browser on your machine.

Look at your data

vana data show github
vana server data

data show prints what was collected. server data lists the scopes your Personal Server holds, such as github.repositories.

Read your data from AI tools

Your Personal Server speaks MCP, so AI tools can search and read your data. Reads by you, the owner, are free.

Claude Code, Cursor and other local tools
claude.ai

Add the CLI as a local MCP server. For Claude Code:

claude mcp add vana -- vana mcp

For other tools, add an MCP server with the command vana mcp. Then ask, for example, “What are my GitHub repos about?”

vana server status

Copy the MCP URL, for example https://0x....server.vana.org/mcp. In claude.ai, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste the URL and click Connect.A Vana page opens on your machine and asks you to approve Claude’s access. Untick any scopes you don’t want to share, then click Approve. The connector then works in claude.ai on the web and on your phone, as long as your server is running.

Where your data lives

vana server status

  Public URL:    https://0x....server.vana.org (mainnet, reachable)
  MCP URL:       https://0x....server.vana.org/mcp
  Local URL:     http://localhost:8080 (vana server start)
  Data on disk:  ~/.vana/cli/personal-server/mainnet
  Backup:        encrypted in Vana storage, follows your account

Line	Meaning
Public URL	The address apps use to reach your server, through Vana’s relay. It answers only while your server runs
MCP URL	The address to give an AI tool, such as the claude.ai connector
Local URL	The server on your machine, and what runs it: `vana server start` or the Vana desktop app
Data on disk	Your data, on this machine
Backup	An encrypted copy in Vana storage. Only your account can decrypt it. A server you start on another machine restores from it

Manage your server

Command	What it does
`vana server start`	Starts your server in the background. Does nothing if it’s already running
`vana server stop`	Stops it. Apps can’t reach your data until you start it again
`vana server start --foreground`	Keeps the server in the terminal with its logs. Stop it with Ctrl+C
`vana server start --local`	Runs the server on this machine only, with no public URL. Apps and claude.ai can’t reach it
`vana server status --all`	Also lists servers you registered before that no longer answer

The server answers only while your machine is on and the server runs. To collect new data regularly, use vana schedule add.

Give your agent scoped access

Apps and agents don’t get your data just because they can reach your server. Each one asks for specific scopes, you approve them in your Vana account, and it pays a fee per read from its own escrow. You can revoke its access at any time. That is how you hand data to a personal agent without letting it act as you. The CLI gives the agent its own app identity, and the agent uses the same vana commands as any app.

OpenClaw
Hermes Agent

OpenClaw is an open-source personal agent you talk to from chat apps.

npm install -g openclaw@latest
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
vana skills install builder

onboard asks for your model provider key and starts OpenClaw in the background. OpenClaw loads skills from ~/.agents/skills, where vana skills install puts them, so there is nothing more to set up.

Hermes Agent is an open-source agent by Nous Research, with a terminal UI and sandboxed terminal backends.

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
hermes setup
vana skills install builder

setup asks for your model provider. Hermes loads skills from ~/.hermes/skills, so add the shared directory to ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

skills:
  external_dirs:
    - ~/.agents/skills

Start a new session with hermes and check that hermes skills list shows builder.

Then, from the agent:

vana app register --app-url <your agent's homepage> creates the agent’s own key. vana app whoami prints its app address.
Fund that address in Vana Account → Developers with Fund escrow. On mainnet you deposit USDC.e.
Ask the agent for something that needs your data, for example “Use Vana to read my GitHub repositories and summarize what I worked on this month”. It runs vana app request and sends you an approval link. Approve only the scopes it needs.
The agent reads with vana app read --pay and each read settles from its escrow. Your own reads stay free.
In the Vana app, Settings → Access history lists every read. Revoke cuts the agent off on its next read.

The full walkthrough, including running the agent in a sandbox, is in Give an agent scoped access to your data.

Use it from an agent or a script

Every command accepts:

Flag	Effect
`--json`	Prints machine-readable output
`--no-input`	Never prompts. Fails, or prints a URL for you to open, instead
`--yes`	Answers yes to confirmation prompts

The CLI also ships skills that teach a coding agent to use it. Run vana skills list to see them and vana skills install <name> to install one.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Logged in as an unexpected address	Your browser is signed in to another account on account.vana.org. Sign out there, then run `vana logout` and `vana login`
`vana server status` says Public URL: none	Your server has no public URL, so apps can’t reach it. Run `vana server stop`, then `vana server start` without `--local`
`connect` collected data but says sync failed	Your server hasn’t approved the CLI yet. Run `vana login` again and approve the page it opens
A `connect` shows no progress for a minute	Some sources report no progress while they collect. Wait for them to finish
Anything else	Run `vana doctor` for a full diagnosis

Overview

Protocol reference

Applications

Security

Network

Resources

Before you start

Install

Get started

Read your data from AI tools

Where your data lives

Manage your server

Give your agent scoped access

Use it from an agent or a script

Troubleshooting

​Before you start

​Install

​Get started

​Read your data from AI tools

​Where your data lives

​Manage your server

​Give your agent scoped access

​Use it from an agent or a script

​Troubleshooting

Before you start

Install

Get started

Read your data from AI tools

Where your data lives

Manage your server

Give your agent scoped access

Use it from an agent or a script

Troubleshooting