Unity CLI

Unity CLI

Drive a running Unity Editor (if one is open)

If a Unity Editor is open on this machine, this CLI can control it live — create and modify GameObjects, edit scenes and assets, inspect the hierarchy, and run arbitrary C# — through the project's Pipeline package (com.unity.pipeline). This runs entirely on your local machine, in your own user account, against your own open Editor: it is not remote access and grants no privilege you don't already have at your own terminal. When an Editor is available, drive it instead of hand-editing scene or asset files.

unity status                    # confirm a connected Editor (look for state "ready")
unity command                   # list the commands the Editor exposes
unity command editor_play       # run one — e.g. enter Play mode
# Run arbitrary C# — e.g. add a GameObject named "Joe" — when the Editor exposes eval:
unity command eval 'new UnityEngine.GameObject("Joe");'

More than one Editor open? Pass --project-path

Every Editor-driving command takes --project-path <path>. Pass it whenever more than one Editor may be running — without it the CLI targets the Editor whose project contains the current directory, so the target follows the shell's cwd:

unity command editor_play --project-path /path/to/MyProject

A unity status instance's project field is what --project-path takes. For unity command/list/job/mcp, matching no running project fails with AMBIGUOUS_EDITOR and lists the candidates. Details.

Requires the project's com.unity.pipeline package (Unity 6.0+) — add it once with unity pipeline install. Full details — launching a headless Editor to drive, unity list tool discovery, and authoring custom [CliCommand] tools — are in integration-advanced.md.

The package also ships a deeper unity-pipeline agent skill, invisible to clients inside Library/PackageCache — in a project with the package, run unity skill install <client> --local once to mirror it beside this skill.

Can't connect / commands time out? Check for Safe Mode first. When a project has C# compile errors, the Editor boots into Safe Mode, where the Pipeline package doesn't load — so unity command, unity status, and unity list can't connect at all. Don't fall back to blind file-editing: run unity pipeline list to confirm, then fix the compile errors and restart Unity. Full recovery loop in integration-advanced.md → Recovering from Safe Mode.

Install the CLI (if not already installed)

First check if the CLI is available:

which unity && unity --version

If not found, install it:

macOS / Linux

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

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:UNITY_CLI_CHANNEL='beta'; irm https://public-cdn.cloud.unity3d.com/hub/prod/cli/install.ps1 | iex

After installing, open a new shell so unity is on PATH, then verify with unity --version. If the install script fails or the binary is still not found, tell the user and stop; if the command itself fails with a permissions error or crash, the installation may be broken — suggest re-running the install script.

Global flags

These work on every command:

Always use --format json when you need to parse output programmatically.

unity projects list is the only command that pages IN-PROCESS. It shows 10 projects per screen and waits for a keypress between screens, and only when stdout is a terminal. Paging is off for redirected stdout, under --format json and --format ndjson, and under --all, --watch, or --no-pager / UNITY_NO_PAGER.

Not every machine format bypasses that one. Only json and ndjson get their own non-interactive rendering; on a terminal, --format tsv and --format github fall through to the human table and page like human does — so --format tsv on a TTY yields neither TSV nor unpaged output. Redirect stdout (the usual case for a machine format) or pass --no-pager. Note this is the opposite of the external pager below, which is human-only: the two mechanisms differ here, and projects list is the surprising one.

The long listings page through an external pager, like git log. unity command (the bare listing), unity releases, unity editors, unity changelog, and unity logs pipe human output through less -RFX on a terminal — colors kept, no screen clear, and -F quits by itself when the output already fits one screen, so short listings show no pager UI. $UNITY_PAGER then $PAGER override the choice and run through a shell, so PAGER="less -S" works; a blank value is ignored rather than treated as an opt-out. Quitting with q exits cleanly with the command's own exit code. Unlike projects list's pager this one is human-only, and it never engages for redirected stdout, any machine format (json, tsv, ndjson, github), --quiet, TERM=dumb, the streaming modes (editors --watch, logs --follow), a named unity command <name>, or inside unity shell. A broken pager costs the paging, not the output: a $PAGER naming something that is not there is resolved before anything spawns, and one that spawns and then dies has its output reprinted to the terminal, decided from the pager's exit status (a clean exit is a normal q and discards; a failure status reprints). The exception is a pager that exits successfully without reading — PAGER=true, or anything that lingers and then exits 0 — which nothing distinguishes from a q, and which git loses too. A pager that starts and merely waits is not treated as broken, so the CLI waits with it.

A branded Unity header (logo, wordmark, CLI version) renders on the landing surfaces — bare unity, unity --help / -h, unity help, and above the first-run consent prompt. It's shown only on a TTY, prints at most once, and degrades to compact, uncolored text on narrow terminals, without Unicode, or under NO_COLOR. Piped output is unaffected. Use --no-banner to suppress it in scripts. Bare unity prints usage and exits 0.

Environment variables

All CLI env vars use the UNITY_ prefix. A CLI flag always overrides the corresponding env var.

CI service account auth: Set both UNITY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ID and UNITY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_SECRET to skip the browser OAuth flow — this keeps the secret out of the process argument list and shell history. These map to the --client-id / --secret-from-stdin inputs of unity auth login, but reading the credentials from the environment isn't a full login: it doesn't run the interactive flow or persist credentials to the keyring.

Getting help

Append -h or --help to any command or subcommand, at any level: unity --help, unity projects create --help.

Exit codes

The cloud and auth commands map an authentication failure (expired/missing session, rejected sign-in) to 3, and any other operational failure (network, server error) to 6 — so scripts can reliably tell "sign in again" apart from a genuine command failure.

Commands

The full per-command reference — syntax, flags, and examples — lives in grouped files under references/. Read the file for the command group you need; all the global flags, environment variables, and exit codes above apply throughout. Every command also supports -h / --help (see Getting help).

Common workflows

Edit a scene, GameObject, or asset — unity status first

Before editing any scene, GameObject, prefab, or asset, run unity status to detect a connected Editor. If one is reachable, drive it with live commands instead of touching project files — the Editor applies changes to the actual active scene and keeps its in-memory state in sync.

unity status                       # is an Editor connected? (look for state "ready")
unity command                      # discover the scene/GameObject commands THIS Editor exposes
# then drive it with the commands it lists — for example, if your Editor exposes them:
unity command create_gameobject    # act on the live, active scene
unity command save_scene           # persist the active scene

Command names are defined by the Editor, so run unity command (or unity list) to see the exact set — don't assume a name.

Never hand-edit .unity, .prefab, or .asset YAML while a live Editor is reachable. Raw-file edits are:

• error-prone — fileIDs and GUIDs are assigned by hand and easy to get wrong;
• invisible to the running Editor until a reimport, so the change silently fails to take effect; and
• prone to hitting the wrong file — e.g. writing to SampleScene.unity while the Editor's active scene is actually Demo2.unity, producing valid-looking YAML that changes nothing the user sees.

Only fall back to editing files directly when unity status shows no reachable Editor — and say so explicitly ("no live Editor detected, editing the file directly").

One exception worth ruling out first: if an Editor is running for this project but unity status / unity command won't connect, it may be stuck in Safe Mode from a compile error rather than genuinely absent. Run unity pipeline list — if it reports Safe Mode, editing the C# source to fix the compile errors (and then restarting Unity) is the correct move, not a fallback. See integration-advanced.md → Recovering from Safe Mode.

Bootstrap a new project from scratch

For a guided end-to-end experience — concept questions, installing the Editor in the background while you plan, package selection, and monetization handoff — use the new-unity-project skill. This section is the raw CLI recipe that skill builds on; use it directly when you just want the commands.

Take an idea to a running, version-controlled project using only the CLI. Decide the target platforms first — they determine which Editor modules you install in step 2. You can add modules later (unity install-modules), but a project can't build for a platform until that platform's module is installed, so it's simplest to decide up front.

# 1. Confirm the CLI works and you're signed in and licensed (see references/auth-license-cloud.md).
unity --version
unity auth status --format json      # if signed out:      unity auth login
unity license status --format json   # if none active:      unity license activate

# 2. Pick and install an Editor with the modules your target platforms need.
#    Default to the latest LTS (most stable, ~2 years of patches). Reach for a Tech-stream
#    release (--stream tech) only for a feature not yet in LTS; treat --stream beta/alpha as
#    evaluation-only, never for a project you intend to ship. A deadline argues for LTS.
#    (lts / latest aliases work wherever a version is accepted.)
unity releases --stream lts --limit 5 --format json
unity install lts --module android --module ios --yes --accept-eula   # add --module webgl, etc.
unity editors --installed --format json                               # confirm it landed

# 3. List the real template ids this Editor offers — don't guess them.
unity templates list --editor lts --format json
#    Common ids: com.unity.template.3d, com.unity.template.2d, and a URP template (id varies by version).

# 4. Create the project. The first positional arg is the NAME; --path sets the parent directory.
#    All options supplied, so it won't prompt; add --non-interactive in CI.
unity projects create "MyGame" --path ~/UnityProjects \
  --editor-version lts --template com.unity.template.3d

Source control — let the user choose. The CLI publishes the new project to a fresh remote in one step for any provider. Always pass tokens on stdin (--git-token-stdin) so secrets never land in shell history or the process list. Pick based on the project — don't default to one:

• Git — GitHub / GitLab (--vcs github / --vcs gitlab). Ubiquitous. For asset-heavy games add Git LFS (--git-lfs) so large binaries don't bloat history.
• Unity Version Control — UVCS (--vcs uvcs). Unity's own VCS, built for large binary game assets: it handles them natively (no LFS needed) and supports file locking — often the better fit for art-heavy projects or larger teams. Auth uses your Unity sign-in; --vcs-region selects the region.

# Git (GitHub) — drop --git-lfs if the game isn't asset-heavy. Add --no-initial-commit if you
# want to add packages/assets BEFORE the first commit (see the new-unity-project flow).
unity projects create "MyGame" --path ~/UnityProjects \
  --editor-version lts --template com.unity.template.3d \
  --vcs github --git-namespace my-org --git-repo my-game \
  --git-visibility private --git-default-branch main --git-token-stdin --git-lfs

# Unity Version Control (UVCS) — handles binaries natively, so no LFS:
unity projects create "MyGame" --path ~/UnityProjects \
  --editor-version lts --template com.unity.template.3d \
  --vcs uvcs --git-namespace my-org --git-repo my-game --vcs-region <region>

Feed the token to --git-token-stdin from a secret store, never a literal — e.g. … --git-token-stdin <<<"$GIT_TOKEN" where $GIT_TOKEN comes from your CI/secret manager (UVCS uses your Unity sign-in, so no token is needed).

Working with a UVCS workspace day to day: two wrapped reads, everything else straight through to cm. The split is deliberate and worth teaching, because guessing wrong wastes a user's time:

• unity vcs uvcs locks [path] — who holds a lock, and which locks cover files you have already changed. That join is the only thing here cm cannot do for you: it knows the repository's locks and it knows your workspace's changes, but nothing puts them side by side, so without this you learn a teammate holds a scene when your check-in is refused. Read-only, stamped with the time it was taken (locks are shared state, so never treat a reading as current), and it prints the exact unity uvcs lock command for anything worth acting on.
• unity vcs uvcs changesets [path] [--limit <n>] — recent history in a stable envelope for CI and agents. Use it when something parses the output; use unity uvcs log when a human reads it.
• Everything else is unity uvcs <args>, which forwards the whole command line to cm verbatim, --help and --format included. That is the supported route, not a workaround: cm owns and versions this vocabulary, so wrapping it would pin a paraphrase that goes stale. Reach for it for partial checkout, shelves, and taking or releasing a lock.

# Partial checkout (Gluon): work on part of a huge repository. cm's own flags, unchanged.
unity uvcs partial configure
unity uvcs partial update /Assets/Levels

# Shelve work in progress, then bring it back. Again, cm's own vocabulary.
unity uvcs shelve -c "wip: lighting pass"
unity uvcs shelve --apply sh:12

# Locks: read them through the wrapper (it adds the join), mutate them through cm.
unity vcs uvcs locks                       # who holds what, and what collides with your changes
unity uvcs lock list                       # the raw listing, cm's own flags and output
unity uvcs lock unlock itemid:42@my-game   # release someone's lock, if you are entitled to

unity cm <args> is the same passthrough under cm's own name. Both need the cm client; install it with unity plugin install plastic if a command says it is missing.

Git tokens belong to the user's credential manager, not the CLI. When no token flag or env var is given, the CLI asks git credential fill and uses whatever the configured helper returns; it stores nothing it is passed or told. Don't suggest the CLI can save a Git token, and don't reach for a token flag when the user already has a working credential helper. If they want a different token per organization, that is git config --global credential.useHttpPath true plus a multi-account helper such as Git Credential Manager. The CLI passes the full repo URL so the helper can discriminate, but it never installs or reconfigures a helper. UNITY_GITHUB_TOKEN / UNITY_GITLAB_TOKEN are one token per provider, so a CI job spanning several orgs should pass --git-token-stdin per invocation instead. See references/projects-templates.md for the full source-control flag set. For a purely local Git repository instead, initialize git with a Unity-appropriate ignore so the multi-GB Library/ and other generated folders are never committed:

cd ~/UnityProjects/MyGame
git init -b main
# Download (do not pipe to a shell) a maintained Unity .gitignore:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/main/Unity.gitignore -o .gitignore

# Asset-heavy game? Keep large binaries out of git history with Git LFS:
git lfs install
git lfs track "*.psd" "*.fbx" "*.wav" "*.mp3" "*.png"   # adjust to your asset types
git add .gitattributes

git add -A
git status                             # sanity-check: Library/ Temp/ obj/ Build/ must NOT be staged
git commit -m "Initial Unity project: MyGame"
git ls-files | grep -c '^Library/'     # must print 0

What the CLI does and doesn't cover. The CLI handles editor, project, and source control. It does not manage UPM (Unity Package Manager) packages — to add packages beyond the template headlessly, use the unity-package-management skill (C# PackageManager Client API). For monetization/backend, hand off to the dedicated skills: implement-in-app-purchases (IAP), levelplay-unity-integration (ads), or build-live-game (accounts, cloud save, economy, remote config, leaderboards). Open the project to start working: unity open ~/UnityProjects/MyGame.

Find and install a missing editor

# 1. Check what's installed
unity editors --installed --format json

# 2. Browse available LTS versions
unity releases --lts --limit 5 --format json

# 3. Install
unity install 6000.0.47f1 --yes --accept-eula

Open a project with the correct editor

# 1. Check the project's required editor version
unity projects info /path/to/MyProject --format json
# Look at "editorVersion" in the result

# 2. Confirm that editor is installed
unity editors --installed --format json

# 3. Open (warns if the editor version is missing)
unity open /path/to/MyProject

CI: activate a license, then build

# 1. Sign in non-interactively with a service account
unity auth login --client-id "$UNITY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ID" --secret-from-stdin <<<"$UNITY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_SECRET"

# 2. Activate the entitlement license (or use --serial / --floating)
unity license activate

# 3. Build
unity build /path/to/MyProject \
  --editor-version 6000.0.47f1 \
  --target StandaloneLinux64 \
  --execute-method Builder.PerformBuild \
  --allow-install
echo "Exit code: $?"

# 4. Return the seat when done (floating/assigned)
unity license return --yes

CI: headless build

Prefer the dedicated unity build command (handles batch mode, logging, and CI flags):

unity build /path/to/MyProject \
  --editor-version 6000.0.47f1 \
  --target StandaloneLinux64 \
  --execute-method Builder.PerformBuild \
  --allow-install
echo "Exit code: $?"

Or use unity run (batch mode is automatic — never pass -batchmode/-quit):

unity run /path/to/MyProject \
  --editor-version 6000.0.47f1 \
  --allow-install \
  -- -executeMethod Builder.PerformBuild -logFile build.log
echo "Exit code: $?"

CI: run tests and publish results

unity test /path/to/MyProject \
  --editor-version 6000.0.47f1 \
  --mode EditMode \
  --report-format junit \
  --output ./test-results.xml \
  --allow-install \
  --timeout 600
case $? in
  0) echo "All tests passed" ;;
  8) echo "Tests failed — report to developers, do not retry" ;;
  *) echo "Run did not complete — infrastructure failure, safe to retry" ;;
esac

Exit 8 means the run finished and reported failing tests; any other non-zero code means it never produced a verdict. Under --format json the same split is errors[0].code: TESTS_FAILED versus TEST_RUN_ERROR / TEST_TIMED_OUT.

--report-format junit makes --output a JUnit-schema report, which GitHub Actions and GitLab ingest as native test results with no converter step. It is written even when tests fail. Drop the flag for the NUnit3 default, or use --report-format nunit,junit to get both from one run. Add --coverage to collect coverage via the Unity Code Coverage package — it warns and carries on if the project doesn't have the package. See build-run-test.md.

Debug the CLI

# Check auth + installed editors + recent errors in one command
unity doctor --format json

# Follow live logs during an install
unity logs --follow --level info

Notes

• --non-interactive and --yes together suppress all prompts — use both in CI.
• --format json always produces machine-readable output; prefer it over parsing human text. Error envelopes are pretty-printed with the same 2-space indent as success envelopes.
• Read failures from stdout, not stderr. A failed command still writes a complete document to stdout: under --format json an envelope with success: false and a populated errors array (errors[0].code is the stable token to branch on); under --format ndjson the usual terminal {"type":"result","success":false,…} frame. Branch on success, never on data — data is usually null on a failure, but not always: a partial unity editors add failure carries a row per path, and an ambiguous unity auth switch carries data.candidates for you to disambiguate with. Check success and the exit code — never treat empty stdout as a failure signal, and do not parse stderr, which carries only human diagnostics in these formats. A handful of commands have not migrated yet and still print {"error": "…"} to stderr with empty stdout; if stdout is empty on a non-zero exit, that is a known bug in that command rather than a shape you should code against.
• unity <version> [path] is a shorthand for unity open [path] --editor-version <version>. Works with lts, latest, or a full version string like 6000.0.47f1.
• The CLI supports kubectl-style plugins: any unity-<name> binary on PATH is callable as unity <name>.
• Terminal output is hardened against control-character / escape-sequence injection from server-provided values (project titles, editor versions, module names) — C0 controls and non-SGR escape sequences are stripped from table/list/tree output, and now also from Commander usage errors, the unity bug log-archive warning, and unity projects add/remove machine (tsv) output, while SGR color/style codes are preserved.
• The CLI reports anonymous crashes and errors via Sentry to help fix bugs (no IP address or hostname; home-directory paths and token-like values scrubbed before send), aligned with the Unity Hub. Opting in to analytics additionally attaches an anonymized machine id; opted-out users stay fully anonymous. Set UNITY_NO_CRASH_REPORT to disable reporting entirely.
• The CLI is currently in beta (latest: 1.0.0-beta.8). It moved to 1.0 versioning at 1.0.0-beta.1; it's still a beta, so keep UNITY_CLI_CHANNEL=beta in the install command until GA ships, after which that part can be dropped.
• As of 0.1.0-beta.8 the CLI checks in the background for a newer version and prints an unobtrusive "update available" notice (interactive sessions only; never delays a command). Turn it off with unity config update-check off or the UNITY_NO_UPDATE_CHECK env var.
• Outbound HTTP from every CLI command honors the resolved proxy (see unity config proxy). An invalid --proxy value (malformed URL or unsupported scheme) fails with a usage error (exit 2) instead of being silently ignored. Inspect what the CLI actually resolved with unity env --format json or unity doctor --format json — both surface the active proxy URL, its source, and auth source.