hcloud

name	hcloud
description	Manage Hetzner Cloud infrastructure via the hcloud CLI. Trigger: "hcloud", "hetzner", any Hetzner task.

hcloud CLI

Official CLI for Hetzner Cloud. Commands follow hcloud <resource> <action> pattern.

Setup

# Install
brew install hcloud              # macOS/Linux
winget install hetznercloud.cli  # Windows
go install github.com/hetznercloud/cli/cmd/hcloud@latest

# Create context (prompts for API token from https://console.hetzner.cloud)
hcloud context create <name>

# Shell completions
source <(hcloud completion bash)   # or zsh, fish, powershell

Command Pattern

All resources share consistent subcommands:

Action	Pattern
Create	hcloud <resource> create --name <n> [flags]
List	hcloud <resource> list [-l selector] [-o json|yaml|columns=...]
Describe	hcloud <resource> describe <name-or-id>
Delete	hcloud <resource> delete <name-or-id>
Update	hcloud <resource> update <name-or-id> --name <new>
Labels	hcloud <resource> add-label <id> key=val / remove-label <id> key
Protection	hcloud <resource> enable-protection <id> delete / disable-protection

Quick Reference

Server Lifecycle

hcloud server create --name my-srv --type cx22 --image ubuntu-24.04 --ssh-key my-key
hcloud server list
hcloud server ssh my-srv
hcloud server describe my-srv
hcloud server poweron|poweroff|reboot|shutdown|reset my-srv
hcloud server rebuild --image ubuntu-24.04 my-srv
hcloud server delete my-srv

Networking

hcloud network create --name my-net --ip-range 10.0.0.0/16
hcloud network add-subnet my-net --type cloud --network-zone eu-central --ip-range 10.0.0.0/24
hcloud server attach-to-network --network my-net my-srv
hcloud firewall create --name my-fw
hcloud firewall add-rule my-fw --direction in --protocol tcp --port 443 --source-ips 0.0.0.0/0 --source-ips ::/0
hcloud firewall apply-to-resource my-fw --type server --server my-srv

Storage

hcloud volume create --name my-vol --size 50 --server my-srv --automount --format ext4
hcloud volume resize my-vol --size 100
hcloud volume detach my-vol
hcloud floating-ip create --type ipv4 --home-location fsn1
hcloud floating-ip assign <id> my-srv

Load Balancing

hcloud load-balancer create --name my-lb --type lb11 --location fsn1
hcloud load-balancer add-target my-lb --server my-srv --use-private-ip
hcloud load-balancer add-service my-lb --protocol https --http-certificates my-cert --listen-port 443 --destination-port 80

DNS

hcloud zone create --name example.com --type primary
hcloud zone add-records example.com --type A --name @ --value 1.2.3.4
hcloud zone list

Output Formatting

hcloud server list -o json                    # JSON output
hcloud server list -o yaml                    # YAML output
hcloud server list -o columns=id,name,status  # Select columns
hcloud server list -o noheader                # No header
hcloud server list -l env=production          # Filter by label
hcloud server list -s name:asc               # Sort

Global Flags

--config <path>       Config file (default ~/.config/hcloud/cli.toml)
--context <name>      Active context
--debug               Debug output
--quiet               Only errors
-o json|yaml          Output format (on create/describe)

Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose
HCLOUD_TOKEN	API token (bypasses context)
HCLOUD_CONTEXT	Active context
HCLOUD_CONFIG	Config file path
HCLOUD_DEFAULT_SSH_KEYS	Default SSH keys for server create
HCLOUD_QUIET	Suppress non-error output

Detailed References

• Full command reference: See references/commands.md for every resource, subcommand, and flag
• Common workflows: See references/workflows.md for end-to-end infrastructure patterns
• Automation patterns: See references/automation.md for scripting, CI/CD, and infrastructure-as-code