Get started with Jump CLI Beta#

Jump CLI (jump-cli) is a command-line tool for automating Jump Desktop tasks from a terminal or script. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Jump CLI is in beta. Most commands work with a personal Jump Desktop account, so a team is not required. Use Jump CLI to:

• Set up computers for remote access: install Jump Desktop Connect and add a computer to your personal account or your team with one command, either on this computer or on a host over SSH.
• Let an AI agent use your hosts: agents such as Claude Code and Codex use the MCP server in Jump CLI to connect to, view, and control the hosts your account can access. You monitor the sessions and take control in Mission Control.
• Manage a Jump Desktop for Teams team: find computers and users, check online status, and produce JSON output for automation.

To integrate Jump Desktop into your own software, use the REST API instead.

Install#

$env:JUMP_COMPONENT = 'cli'; irm https://jumpdesktop.com/downloads/install.ps1 | iex

curl -fsSL https://jumpdesktop.com/downloads/install.sh | sh -s -- --component cli

curl -fsSL https://jumpdesktop.com/downloads/install.sh | sh -s -- --component cli

To verify the installation, run:

jump-cli version

Sign in#

Jump CLI uses two types of token:

Each login command prints a sign-in URL. Open the URL in a browser and sign in. Jump CLI saves the token in the system keyring.

• Tokens from auth api login are valid for a few hours. When run in a terminal, a command that requires an API token signs you in again automatically.
• To create a token in the Teams dashboard, go to Security > API Tokens and click Generate new token. Dashboard tokens do not expire by default and can be read-only. To save a dashboard token, run jump-cli auth login and paste the token when prompted. For scripts and CI, set JUMP_TOKEN instead.
• JUMP_TOKEN takes precedence over saved tokens. If authorization errors occur after you sign in, verify that JUMP_TOKEN is not set to an outdated token.
• Jump CLI never accepts a token as a command-line argument.
• To view the tokens saved on this computer, run jump-cli config show. The output does not include JUMP_TOKEN.

To sign out of both tokens on this computer, run jump-cli auth logout. To list the tokens on your account, run jump-cli tokens list; to revoke one, run jump-cli tokens revoke <token-id>.

Set up a computer for remote access#

jump-cli connect bootstrap installs Jump Desktop Connect and adds the computer to your account, so you can connect to it when no one is at the computer (see unattended access). By default, it prints a single command for you to review. To run the command instead, add --run.

jump-cli connect bootstrap --personal --run                 # this computer, your personal account
jump-cli connect bootstrap --personal --ssh user@host        # a Mac or Linux (alpha) host over SSH
jump-cli connect bootstrap --team <team-id>                 # pick one of the team's installers

• If your account has no team, the computer is added to your personal account. If you belong to a team, Jump CLI shows the exact --personal and --team commands so you can choose between them.
• --personal reuses your personal Connect Code, or creates a single-use code that expires after 1 hour.
• The printed command runs Jump Desktop's official installer script, which checks signatures, installs Connect, and applies the code. The installation may prompt for your sudo password.
• With --run, if Connect is already installed, only the code is applied. Setup is refused for a computer that is already added to an account or team.
• For a Windows host over SSH, Jump CLI always prints the command; run the command in an elevated PowerShell window on the host.
• On a Mac host, a person at the Mac must still grant Connect its macOS permissions.

Check your computers#

To view the online status of your personal and team computers, run:

jump-cli viewer status            # online or offline status of your computers
jump-cli viewer status --watch    # keep updating

Use Jump CLI with AI agents#

jump-cli mcp runs an MCP server that enables an AI agent to connect to and control the hosts your Jump Desktop account can access. For details, see Jump CLI MCP server.

Before you start#

• Each host must have Jump Desktop Connect installed, and your Jump Desktop account must have access to the host.
• On a Mac host, a person at the Mac must grant Connect its macOS permissions. Without the Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions, the agent cannot view the screen or control the mouse and keyboard.
• Jump CLI must be installed on the computer that runs your MCP client. See Install.

Set up#

1. Sign in with jump-cli auth viewer login. To restrict the agent to viewer access, see Security.

2. Add Jump CLI as an MCP server in your agent:

   Claude CodeCodex CLI

   claude mcp add jump-cli -- jump-cli mcp
   

   codex mcp add jump-cli -- jump-cli mcp
   

   To configure OpenCode, Cline, Continue, Goose, Zed, and other clients, see Add the server to an MCP client.

3. Ask the agent to list your computers and connect to one. If the agent returns the list, the setup is working.

Watch and take over with Mission Control#

Mission Control is a local web dashboard for monitoring agent sessions live. It runs on the computer that runs your MCP client. To open Mission Control, ask the agent for its link. The agent can work on up to 8 hosts simultaneously.

• On a session's page, Activity lists each action the agent takes.
• When the agent requests a password, enter the password in Mission Control rather than in chat; the password is not sent to the agent.
• To use the host yourself, click Take control. When you finish, click Give back control.

For details, see Mission Control.

For the actions an agent can perform, see Jump CLI MCP server.

Security#

An agent connected through Jump CLI can perform any action available to the signed-in user on the host. Before you connect an agent:

• Use only a viewer token. An API token also permits team administration. Run jump-cli auth api logout, do not set JUMP_TOKEN for the MCP client, and then run jump-cli auth viewer login.
• Restrict the hosts the account can access, for example with a separate Jump Desktop account or, on a team, with Access Groups.

For the full checklist, see MCP server security.

Manage a team#

team commands require a Jump Desktop for Teams team, the Admin or Admin (Read-Only) role, and an API token. The Admin (Read-Only) role can run only commands that do not change anything. If you belong to several teams, select one:

jump-cli team list                  # list your teams and their IDs
jump-cli team select <team-id>      # set the default team

To run a single command against a different team, add --team <team-id>.

For machine-readable output, add --json to any command:

jump-cli team devices find '^office-'       # computers whose names start with "office-"
jump-cli team users list --json             # users as JSON

The command reference documents every team command, including the commands for users, Access Groups, access lists, history, and billing.

Next steps#

• Jump CLI command reference
• Jump CLI MCP server
• Let AI agents control computers
• Check in on AI agents and long-running work
• Set up unattended access
• Get started with Jump Desktop for Teams