Outline CLI

A command-line interface for managing Outline servers. This CLI allows you to store and manage multiple Outline server configurations locally and perform basic operations on them. Inspired by https://github.com/JMCFTW/outline-cli/
Motivation: the official outline Electron app is unreliable.

Installation

Build from source

git clone github.com/art-shutter/outline-cli
cd outline-cli
just build

Using nix flake

nix shell 'github:art-shutter/outline-cli/main#outline-cli'

Installing binaries

There are pre-built binaries for macos and linux attached to releases. Just download and run them, or use a tool like bin to do that for you.

Configuration

The CLI stores configuration in ~/.config/outline-cli/config.yaml. The configuration file is automatically created when you add your first server.

Security Note: The CLI requires the certificate SHA256 hash for each server to verify the server's identity. This prevents man-in-the-middle attacks by ensuring you're connecting to the correct server.

Example configuration:

servers:
  my-server:
    name: my-server
    url: https://myserver.com/SecretPath
    certSha256: 34B3C8EB1C6EC9B5335556D7E8DC73A30152D27C66B054BAB8ACF5D11AE0C810
  production:
    name: production
    url: https://prod-server.com/AnotherSecretPath
    certSha256: 1234567890ABCDEF1234567890ABCDEF1234567890ABCDEF1234567890ABCDEF

Usage

Server Management

List all servers

outline-cli servers list

Add a new server

outline-cli servers add <server-name> <server-url> --cert-sha256 <certificate-hash>

Example:

outline-cli servers add my-server https://myserver.com/SecretPath --cert-sha256 34B3C8EB1C6EC9B5335556D7E8DC73A30152D27C66B054BAB8ACF5D11AE0C810

Add a server from JSON

outline-cli servers add <server-name> --json '{"apiUrl": "https://server.com:port/path", "certSha256": "certificate-hash"}'

Example:

outline-cli servers add production --json '{"apiUrl": "https://vpn.drunkcoding.net:60000/b782eecb-bb9e-58be-614a-d5de1431d6b3", "certSha256": "34B3C8EB1C6EC9B5335556D7E8DC73A30152D27C66B054BAB8ACF5D11AE0C810"}'

Get server details

outline-cli servers get <server-name>

Update server URL

outline-cli servers update <server-name> --url <new-url>

Delete a server

outline-cli servers delete <server-name>

Access Key Management

List access keys for a server

outline-cli servers keys list <server-name>

Create a new access key

outline-cli servers keys create <server-name> [--name <key-name>] [--method <encryption-method>] [--port <port>] [--data-limit <size>]

Example:

outline-cli servers keys create my-server --name "My Key" --method aes-192-gcm --port 12345

Example with data limit (1GB):

outline-cli servers keys create my-server --name "Limited Key" --data-limit 1GB
# supports human-readable sizes like `1GB`, `500MB`, `2TB`, `1.5GB`, etc.

Edit an access key

outline-cli servers keys edit <server-name> [--key-id <key-id> | --key-name <key-name>] [--new-name <new-name>] [--data-limit <size>] [--remove-limit]

Examples:

# Rename a key by ID
outline-cli servers keys edit my-server --key-id "1" --new-name "Updated Key"

# Change data limit by name
outline-cli servers keys edit my-server --key-name "My Key" --data-limit 2GB

# Remove data limit
outline-cli servers keys edit my-server --key-name "My Key" --remove-limit

# Rename and set new limit
outline-cli servers keys edit my-server --key-name "Old Name" --new-name "New Name" --data-limit 1.5GB

Delete an access key

outline-cli servers keys delete <server-name> --key-id <key-id>

Or delete by name:

outline-cli servers keys delete <server-name> --key-name <key-name>

Note: Key ID and Key Name are different:

• Key ID: A unique identifier assigned by the server (e.g., "1", "2", "abc123")
• Key Name: A human-readable name you assigned when creating the key (e.g., "My Key", "Production Key")

Server Metrics

View transfer metrics

outline-cli servers metrics <server-name>

Help

Get help for any command:

outline-cli --help
outline-cli servers --help
outline-cli servers add --help

Development

Building

just build

or

nix build

Running tests

just lint
just test

Setup an Outline Shadowsocks VPN Server

1. Get a machine outside of firewall (VMs, VPS, etc.)
2. Install outline using official script (read the script before running)
3. Add the server to outline-cli using json key from the script
4. Generate keys for your clients
5. ???
6. PROFIT

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. The author is not affiliated with Jigsaw or Google, all respective trademarks are reserved.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.