Yc

YC CLI — YC Startup School, a16z Speedrun, SPC & Startup Discovery

CLI tool for managing your YC Startup School journey, submitting a16z Speedrun and SPC applications, and discovering 24+ accelerators, fellowships, and incubators — all from the terminal.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• For YC commands: Logged into startupschool.org in Chrome, macOS
• For Speedrun commands: No auth required (public API)
• For SPC commands: Chrome browser (for form auto-fill via Chrome automation)

Quick Reference

# YC Startup School
yc whoami                    # Test connection, show user info
yc dashboard                 # Show streak, curriculum, weekly status
yc updates                   # List all weekly updates
yc show <id>                 # Show a single update in detail
yc new                       # Submit new weekly update (interactive)
yc new --metric 5 --morale 7 --talked-to 3   # Non-interactive

# a16z Speedrun
yc speedrun template         # Generate JSON template
yc speedrun apply            # Interactive application
yc speedrun apply --from-json app.json   # Submit from JSON file
yc speedrun apply --from-json app.json --dry-run  # Validate without submitting
yc speedrun upload-deck deck.pdf   # Upload pitch deck

# South Park Commons
yc spc info                  # Show form URLs and program details
yc spc template              # Generate JSON template (fellowship)
yc spc template --type membership  # Template for community membership
yc spc apply                 # Interactive application
yc spc apply --from-json app.json  # Fill from JSON file
yc spc apply --from-json app.json --dry-run --headed  # Preview
yc spc open                  # Open form in browser

# Discover Programs
yc discover                  # Overview — deadlines + rolling programs
yc discover list             # Browse all 24+ programs
yc discover list --type fellowship   # Filter by type
yc discover list --stage pre-seed    # Filter by stage
yc discover deadlines        # Upcoming deadlines sorted by date
yc discover show yc          # Full details for a program
yc discover search "deep tech"       # Search by name/focus/description
yc discover open yc          # Open application page in browser

YC Startup School Commands

yc whoami

Test your connection and display user info (name, track, slug).

yc dashboard

Show your Startup School dashboard:

• Current streak (consecutive weeks of updates)
• Curriculum progress (completed/required)
• Next curriculum item
• Recent weekly update status (submitted/missing)

yc updates

List all your weekly updates with metric values, morale scores, and highlights.

yc show <id>

Display a single update in full detail including goals and their completion status.

yc new

Submit a new weekly update. Runs in interactive mode by default (prompts for each field).

Interactive mode:

yc new
# Prompts for: metric value, morale, users talked to, changes, blockers, goals

Flag mode (for automation):

yc new \
  --metric 10 \
  --morale 8 \
  --talked-to 5 \
  --change "Shipped MVP to first 10 users" \
  --blocker "Payment integration delayed" \
  --learned "Users want simpler onboarding" \
  --goal "Launch public beta" \
  --goal "Set up analytics"

a16z Speedrun Commands

yc speedrun template

Generate a JSON template for a Speedrun application. Save it, fill in your details, then submit with --from-json.

yc speedrun apply

Submit a Speedrun application. Two modes:

Interactive mode (prompts for all fields):

yc speedrun apply

From JSON file (for automation / repeat submissions):

# Generate template, edit it, submit
yc speedrun template > my-app.json
# ... edit my-app.json with your details ...
yc speedrun apply --from-json my-app.json

# Dry run first to validate
yc speedrun apply --from-json my-app.json --dry-run

yc speedrun upload-deck <file>

Upload a pitch deck PDF and get the GCS URL to include in your application.

yc speedrun upload-deck pitch.pdf

Speedrun Categories

B2B / Enterprise Applications
Consumer Applications
Deep Tech
Gaming / Entertainment Studio
Infrastructure / Dev Tools
Healthcare
GovTech
Web3
Other

Global Options

YC Startup School commands support:

• --cookie-source <browser> — Browser to read cookies from (chrome, safari, firefox). Default: chrome
• --chrome-profile <name> — Specific Chrome profile directory name
• --json — Output raw JSON (for scripting)

South Park Commons Commands

SPC uses Airtable Interface forms. The CLI fills and submits via Playwright (headless Chromium).

yc spc info

Show available SPC programs and their Airtable form URLs.

yc spc template

Generate a JSON template for an SPC application.

yc spc template                    # Founder Fellowship (default)
yc spc template --type membership  # Community Membership

yc spc apply

Fill and submit an SPC application via Playwright (headless browser).

yc spc apply                                          # Interactive
yc spc apply --from-json my-app.json                  # From JSON file
yc spc apply --from-json my-app.json --dry-run        # Fill but don't submit
yc spc apply --from-json my-app.json --headed         # Show browser window
yc spc apply --from-json my-app.json --dry-run --headed  # Visual review

yc spc open

Open the SPC application form in your default browser.

yc spc open                    # Founder Fellowship
yc spc open --type membership  # Community Membership

SPC Programs

Discover Commands

Browse 24+ curated accelerators, fellowships, and incubators with deadlines, terms, and application links.

yc discover

Overview of programs with open/upcoming deadlines plus rolling programs. Default command.

yc discover list

Browse all programs in a table format. Filter with options:

• --type <type> — Filter: accelerator, fellowship, incubator, community
• --stage <stage> — Filter: pre-idea, pre-seed, seed
• --focus <focus> — Filter by focus area: ai, deep-tech, fintech, etc.
• --tier <tier> — Filter: 1 (elite), 2 (major), 3 (notable)
• --json — Output as JSON

yc discover deadlines

All upcoming deadlines sorted by closing date.

yc discover show <slug>

Full details for a specific program — investment terms, equity, deadlines, focus areas, application URL.

yc discover search <query>

Search programs by name, focus area, or description.

yc discover open <slug>

Open a program's application page in the default browser.

Workflows

Weekly Update Routine

yc dashboard            # Check status
yc new                  # Submit if needed
yc updates              # Verify

Speedrun Application via Claude Code

When the user asks to apply to a16z Speedrun, generate a JSON template, fill it with their info, and submit:

yc speedrun template > /tmp/speedrun-app.json
# ... Claude fills in the JSON ...
yc speedrun apply --from-json /tmp/speedrun-app.json --dry-run  # Validate first
yc speedrun apply --from-json /tmp/speedrun-app.json            # Submit

SPC Application via Claude Code

yc spc template > /tmp/spc-app.json                        # Generate template
# ... Claude fills in the JSON ...
yc spc apply --from-json /tmp/spc-app.json --dry-run --headed  # Preview in browser
yc spc apply --from-json /tmp/spc-app.json                     # Submit

Program Discovery

yc discover                         # What's open right now?
yc discover list --type fellowship  # Browse fellowships
yc discover show yc                 # Deep dive on YC
yc discover open yc                 # Open YC application

Authentication

• YC Startup School: Extracts session cookies from Chrome — log in at startupschool.org first.
• a16z Speedrun: No authentication needed. The API is public.
• South Park Commons: No auth needed. Uses Playwright (headless Chromium) to fill Airtable forms.