Local vs Cloud

What ByteRover CLI does offline, what requires a cloud account, and how to upgrade from local to team sync

ByteRover CLI runs entirely on your machine with no cloud account required. Cloud features layer on top — adding team sync, multi-machine access, and backup — without changing the core local workflow.

Commands: local vs cloud

TUI slash commands

Commands available in the interactive REPL (brv):

Works locally (no auth)	Requires cloud auth
/status — show local project state	/login — authenticate with ByteRover
/locations — list registered projects	/logout — clear authentication
/curate — add context to local knowledge tree	/vc push — push commits to cloud
/query — query local context tree	/vc pull — pull commits from cloud
/connectors — manage agent connectors	/vc clone — clone a remote space
/hub — browse and install skills & bundles	/vc fetch — fetch remote refs
/providers — connect and switch LLM providers *
/model — select a model *
/vc init — initialize version control
/vc config — set commit author identity
/vc add — stage files
/vc commit — save staged changes
/vc status — show working tree status
/vc diff — show context tree changes
/vc log — show commit history
/vc branch — manage branches
/vc checkout — switch branches
/vc merge — merge branches
/vc reset — unstage files or undo commits
/vc remote — manage remote connection
/new — start a fresh session

CLI commands

Standalone commands available from any terminal:

Works locally (no auth)	Requires cloud auth
brv — start interactive REPL	brv login — authenticate with API key
	brv logout — clear cloud credentials
brv status — show CLI status and context tree	brv vc push — push commits to cloud
brv locations — list registered projects	brv vc pull — pull commits from cloud
brv query — query context tree	brv vc clone — clone a remote space
brv curate — add context to knowledge tree	brv vc fetch — fetch remote refs
brv providers / list / connect / disconnect *
brv model / list / switch *
brv connectors / list / install
brv hub / list / install
brv vc init — initialize version control
brv vc config — set commit author identity
brv vc add — stage files
brv vc commit — save staged changes
brv vc status — show working tree status
brv vc diff — show context tree changes
brv vc log — show commit history
brv vc branch — manage branches
brv vc checkout — switch branches
brv vc merge — merge branches
brv vc reset — unstage files or undo commits
brv vc remote — manage remote connection
brv restart — restart the daemon

NOTE

* Provider and model commands work locally for third-party providers. However, selecting or switching to the ByteRover built-in provider requires a logged-in ByteRover account (/login or brv login).

Upgrade from local to cloud

TUI

Step 1: Authenticate

Run /login inside the REPL to authenticate via browser:

/login

Step 2: Add a remote

Point your space to a remote on ByteRover cloud:

/vc remote add origin https://byterover.dev/<team>/<space>.git

Find the URL on the space's page in the ByteRover Dashboard.

Step 3: Push local context to cloud

Push your commits to the remote space. Use -u to set upstream tracking:

/vc push -u origin main

Step 4: Pull on other machines

On any machine where you're authenticated, clone the space:

/vc clone https://byterover.dev/<team>/<space>.git

After the initial clone, use /vc pull to sync subsequent changes from teammates.

CLI

Step 1: Authenticate

# Default: opens your browser for OAuth
brv login

# CI / SSH / non-interactive: pass an API key from
# https://app.byterover.dev/settings/keys
brv login --api-key <your-api-key>

Step 2: Add a remote

Point your space to a remote on ByteRover cloud:

brv vc remote add origin https://byterover.dev/<team>/<space>.git

Step 3: Push local context to cloud

Push your commits to the remote space. Use -u to set upstream tracking:

brv vc push -u origin main

Step 4: Pull on other machines

On any new machine where you're authenticated, clone the space:

brv vc clone https://byterover.dev/<team>/<space>.git

After the initial clone, use brv vc pull to sync subsequent changes from teammates.

When to use cloud

Use case	Why
Team collaboration	Share a space with teammates — everyone queries the same knowledge base
Multi-machine sync	Push from your laptop, pull on a server or a new machine
Backup	Persist your context tree outside the local repo

NOTE

All local features — curate, query, version control, provider selection, hub, connectors — work without a cloud account and without an internet connection when using a third-party or local LLM provider. The ByteRover built-in provider requires a logged-in ByteRover account.

Next steps

• Team Context Sync — Full walkthrough of the shared context workflow for teams

• Local Context Tree — Understand the local knowledge store before pushing it to cloud

• Git-Semantic VC — Full guide to branching, merging, and remote sync

• CLI Reference — Complete flag reference for all commands