tower

name	tower
description	Use Tower to build, run, and deploy Python data apps, pipelines, and AI agents. Covers MCP tools, Towerfile setup, local development, cloud deployment, scheduling, and secrets management.

Tower Skill

Tower is a compute platform for Python data apps, pipelines, and AI agents.

The Tower CLI is not in AI training data — always use MCP tools when running inside an agent.

Setup

First, check if Tower is already installed and authenticated:

tower teams list

If that works, skip to the workflow. Otherwise, install and log in.

Install

Preferred — uvx runs Tower with no global install (requires uv):

uvx tower login

If you don't have uvx, install with pip (Python ≥ 3.9):

pip install tower
tower login

Or with nix:

nix run nixpkgs#tower -- login

MCP server

The MCP server gives Claude structured access to Tower tools. If it's not already running (you'll see tower_* tools available), start it:

uvx tower mcp-server          # if using uvx
tower mcp-server              # if installed via pip/nix

If you installed Tower via the Claude Code plugin, this is already configured. Otherwise, copy plugin/.mcp.json from the tower-cli repo into your project root.

If MCP tools are unavailable, fall back to the CLI equivalents — every MCP tool has a direct CLI counterpart (e.g. tower apps list, tower deploy).

MCP-First, CLI as Fallback

Use MCP tools when running inside an agent — they return structured data and are easier to compose. Fall back to the CLI for scripting or debugging outside an agent.

MCP tool names mirror the CLI: tower apps list → tower_apps_list, tower deploy → tower_deploy.

WORKING_DIRECTORY Parameter

All MCP tools accept an optional working_directory parameter.

• Default: current working directory
• Use it when managing multiple projects or when the project isn't in the current directory

tower_file_generate({})                                    # current directory
tower_file_generate({"working_directory": "/path/to/app"}) # explicit path
tower_run_local({"working_directory": "../other-app"})

Workflow

0. Python project (if new)

uv init

Creates pyproject.toml, main.py, README.md. Keep pyproject.toml minimal — [project] metadata and dependencies only. No [build-system], [tool.hatchling], or similar. Skip if a pyproject.toml already exists.

1. Towerfile

tower_file_generate → tower_file_update → tower_file_add/edit/remove_parameter → tower_file_validate

Always use tower_file_update or tower_file_add/edit/remove_parameter to modify. Never edit the TOML directly.

2. Local development (preferred)

tower_run_local

Runs the app locally with access to Tower secrets. Use this to test before deploying.

3. Cloud deployment

tower_apps_create → tower_deploy → tower_run_remote

Deploy pushes source code to Tower cloud — no build step needed.

4. Scheduling (recurring jobs)

tower_schedules_create   # set up cron-based recurring runs
tower_schedules_list     # view existing schedules
tower_schedules_update   # modify timing or parameters
tower_schedules_delete   # remove a schedule

5. Management & monitoring

tower_apps_list                              # list all apps
tower_apps_show                              # details and recent runs
tower_apps_logs                              # logs from a specific run
tower_teams_list, tower_teams_switch         # manage team context
tower_secrets_create, tower_secrets_list     # store credentials and API keys

Reminders

• Tower deploys source code directly — no build tools needed
• Use Tower secrets for sensitive data (database credentials, API keys)
• Prefer tower_run_local during development — faster, and has secret access
• Always use MCP tools to modify Towerfiles (never edit TOML files manually)

Command Reference

This section is generated from the CLI's built-in help.

tower login

Create a session with Tower

Arguments:

• -n, --no-browser — Do not attempt to open the browser automatically

tower apps

Manage the apps in your current Tower account

tower apps list

List all apps in your Tower account

Arguments:

• -e, --environment — Filter apps by environment

tower apps show

Show details for a Tower app and its recent runs

Arguments:

• <app_name> (required) — Name of the app
• -e, --environment — The environment to resolve the app against

tower apps logs

Get the logs from a previous Tower app run

Arguments:

• <app_name> (required) — app_name#run_number
• <run_number>
• -f, --follow — Follow logs in real time

tower apps create

Create a new app in Tower

Arguments:

• -n, --name (required)
• --description

tower apps delete

Delete an app in Tower

Arguments:

• <app_name> (required) — Name of the app

tower apps cancel

Cancel a running app run

Arguments:

• <app_name> (required) — Name of the app
• <run_number> (required) — Run number to cancel

tower catalogs

Interact with the catalogs in your Tower account

tower catalogs list

List all of your catalogs

Arguments:

• -e, --environment — List catalogs in this environment
• -a, --all — List catalogs across all environments
• --type — Filter catalogs by type, e.g. tower-catalog
• --storage — List Tower-managed storage catalogs

tower catalogs show

Show the details of a catalog, including its property names

Arguments:

• <catalog_name> (required) — Name of the catalog
• -e, --environment — Environment the catalog belongs to

tower catalogs credentials

Vend short-lived catalog credentials for external tools

Arguments:

• <catalog_name> (required) — Name of the catalog
• -e, --environment — Environment the catalog belongs to
• --mode — Credential access mode
• --format — Snippet format to print
• --show-token — Print the vended OAuth token in normal output

tower schedules

Manage schedules for your Tower apps

tower schedules list

List all schedules

Arguments:

• -a, --app — Filter schedules by app name
• -e, --environment — Filter schedules by environment

tower schedules create

Create a new schedule for an app

Arguments:

• -a, --app (required) — The name of the app to schedule
• -e, --environment — The environment to run the app in
• -c, --cron (required) — The cron expression defining when the app should run
• -p, --parameter — Parameters (key=value) to pass to the app

tower schedules delete

Delete a schedule

Arguments:

• <schedule_id> (required) — The schedule ID to delete

tower schedules update

Update an existing schedule

Arguments:

• <id_or_name> (required) — ID or name of the schedule to update
• -c, --cron — The cron expression defining when the app should run
• -p, --parameter — Parameters (key=value) to pass to the app

tower secrets

Interact with the secrets in your Tower account

tower secrets list

List secrets in your Tower account

Arguments:

• -s, --show — Show secrets in plain text
• -e, --environment — List secrets in this environment
• -a, --all — List secrets across all environments

tower secrets create

Create a new secret in your Tower account

Arguments:

• -n, --name (required) — Secret name to create
• -e, --environment — Environment to store the secret in
• -v, --value (required) — Secret value to store

tower secrets delete

Delete a secret in Tower

Arguments:

• <secret_name> (required) — secret name, or environment/secret_name
• -e, --environment — environment to delete the secret from

tower environments

Manage the environments in your current Tower account

tower environments list

List all of your environments

tower environments delete

Delete an environment

Arguments:

• -n, --name (required)

tower environments create

Create a new environment in Tower

Arguments:

• -n, --name (required)

tower deploy

Deploy your latest code to Tower

Arguments:

• -d, --dir — The directory containing the app to deploy
• -f, --create — Automatically force creation of the app if it doesn't already exist
• -e, --environment — The environment to deploy to
• --all — Deploy to all environments

tower run

Run your code in Tower or locally

Arguments:

• <app_name> — Name of a deployed app to run (uses ./Towerfile if omitted)
• --dir — The directory containing the Towerfile
• --local — Run this app locally
• -e, --environment — The environment to invoke the app in
• -p, --parameter — Parameters (key=value) to pass to the app
• -d, --detached — Don't follow the run output in your CLI

tower version

Print the current version of Tower

tower teams

View information about team membership and switch between teams

tower teams list

List teams you belong to

tower teams switch

Switch context to a different team

Arguments:

• <team_name> (required) — Name of the team to switch to

tower mcp-server

Runs an MCP server for LLM interaction

Arguments:

• -t, --transport — Transport mode
• -p, --port — Port for HTTP/SSE server (default: 34567)

tower skill

Generate Claude Code skill files for AI agent integration

tower skill generate

Generate a SKILL.md describing how to use Tower with AI agents