Use when installing or running the Inngest CLI and Dev Server for local development, local testing, serve endpoint debugging, Docker or Docker Compose setup, MCP configuration, self-hosted `inngest start`, or deployment workflow checks. Covers `inngest dev`, `inngest start`, auto-discovery, config f

Inngest CLI Master the Inngest CLI for local development, testing, and self hosted production. The CLI provides the Dev Server — a fully featured, open source local version of the Inngest Platform. These skills are focused on TypeScript. For Python or Go, refer to the [Inngest documentation](https://www.inngest.com/llms.txt) for language specific guidance. Core concepts apply across all languages. Use this skill for CLI setup, Dev Server workflows, local testing, Docker, MCP, and self hosted server operations. For run/trace inspection through inngest api , use inngest api cli when available. Installation If your npm configuration disables lifecycle scripts and the binary is missing, retry with npx ignore scripts=false inngest cli@latest dev . Bun does not support lifecycle scripts by default, so prefer npx for the CLI even in Bun projects. inngest dev — Local Dev Server Starts an in memory local version of Inngest with a browser UI at http://localhost:8288 . CLI Flags Flag Short Default Description sdk url u http://localhost:3000/api/inngest App serve endpoint URL(s) port p 8288 Dev Server port host Dev Server host no discovery false Disable auto discovery of apps no poll false Disable polling apps for changes config Path to configuration file connect gateway port 8289 Connect gateway endpoint port persist false Persist data between restarts poll interval 5 Seconds between app polling checks queue workers 100 Number of executor workers retry interval 0 Linear retry interval in seconds tick 150 Executor queue polling interval in milliseconds Auto Discovery Without no discovery , the Dev Server scans common ports and endpoints automatically: Ports scanned: Common development ports including 3000, 3030, and others Endpoints scanned: /api/inngest /x/inngest /.netlify/functions/inngest /.redwood/functions/inngest Configuration File Create an inngest.json (or .yaml , .toml ) in your project root. The CLI walks up directories to find it. Environment Variables Variable Description INNGEST DEV =1 enables Dev Mode (disables signature verification). =0 forces Cloud mode. Accepts a URL (e.g., http://localhost:8288 ). Defaults to Cloud mode if unset. INNGEST BASE URL Host for SDK to Inngest communication (e.g., http://localhost:8288 ). Leave unset in most cases. INNGEST EVENT KEY Authentication key for sending events. Use any dummy value locally — Dev Server does not validate. INNGEST SIGNING KEY Secures requests between Inngest and your app. Required in production. Determines which Inngest environment receives syncs. INNGEST SIGNING KEY FALLBACK Fallback key for signing key rotation (v3.18.0+). INNGEST SERVE ORIGIN Full origin URL for Inngest to reach your app (e.g., https://my app.com ). Auto inferred from request headers; set explicitly for AWS Lambda, proxies, or tunnels. INNGEST SERVE PATH URL path to your serve endpoint (e.g., /api/inngest ). Auto inferred in most cases. INNGEST STREAMING Enable response streaming ( true / false ). Extends timeout limits on Vercel and edge runtimes. INNGEST ENV Target Inngest Environment. Auto detected on some platforms. Debugging Your Serve Endpoint Verify your serve() endpoint is configured correctly: If functionsFound is 0 , check that your functions are passed to the serve() call. Testing Functions Locally Send Events via SDK Send Events via curl The event key in the URL path ( test above) can be any value locally. Unit Testing with @inngest/test Requires inngest@ =4.0.0 . Mock external dependencies with your test framework's standard mocking ( jest.mock , vi.mock , etc.) — @inngest/test handles only Inngest specific mocking. Docker Setup Standalone Use host.docker.internal to reach your app running on the host machine (works out of the box on Docker Desktop). On Linux, add add host=host.docker.internal:host gateway or use an equivalent host access method. Docker Compose Port 8288 is the main server and UI. Port 8289 is the connect() WebSocket gateway. Critical: Set INNGEST DEV=1 on your app — the TypeScript SDK defaults to Cloud mode, which will skip the Dev Server. MCP Server (AI Dev Tools) The Dev Server exposes an MCP server at http://127.0.0.1:8288/mcp (HTTP transport). Available MCP Tools Tool Description send event Send events to trigger functions list functions List all registered functions and triggers invoke function Execute a function synchronously (default 30s timeout) get run status Get detailed status of a function run poll run status Poll multiple runs until completion grep docs Search Inngest documentation by regex pattern read doc Read a specific documentation page list docs List available documentation structure inngest start — Self Hosted Production Runs Inngest as a self hosted production server. Not the same as inngest dev — this is for production workloads. Flag Short Default Description port p 8288 Server port signing key Hex key for request signing (even character count) event key Authentication key for apps (repeatable) sdk url u App serve URLs (repeatable) redis uri External Redis connection postgres uri External PostgreSQL connection sqlite dir SQLite database directory poll interval 0 App sync polling interval (seconds) queue workers 100 Number of executor workers connect gateway port 8289 Connect gateway port retry interval 0 Linear retry interval in seconds tick 150 Executor queue polling interval in milliseconds no ui Disable web UI and GraphQL API postgres conn max idle time 5 PostgreSQL idle connection lifetime in minutes postgres conn max lifetime 30 PostgreSQL maximum connection reuse time in minutes postgres max idle conns 10 PostgreSQL max idle connections postgres max open conns 100 PostgreSQL max open connections Global flags such as log level , verbose , and json are also available. For environment variables, follow the current CLI and deployment docs; do not assume every flag has an INNGEST environment variable equivalent. Default persistence: in memory Redis + SQLite at ./.inngest/main.db . For production, use external Redis and PostgreSQL. Deployment Workflow Local Development → Production 1. Develop locally with inngest dev — no keys needed, no code changes for production 2. Deploy your app to your hosting platform 3. Sync with Inngest using one of three methods: 4. Set environment variables in production: No code changes are needed when moving from local dev to production. The SDK automatically detects the environment. Platform Specific Gotchas Platform Gotcha Express Requires express.json() middleware; default body limit is 100kb — increase to handle Inngest payloads (up to 4MB) AWS Lambda Set INNGEST SERVE ORIGIN and INNGEST SERVE PATH explicitly — auto inference fails Firebase Cloud Functions Must set INNGEST SERVE PATH env var DigitalOcean Functions Both serveOrigin and servePath required in serve() config Cloudflare Workers (Wrangler remote ) Requires tunnel (ngrok/localtunnel) for Dev Server connection Supabase Edge Functions servePath must match function name — Supabase rewrites request paths Google Cloud Run (1st gen) Not officially supported; may cause signature verification errors Docker Must set INNGEST DEV=1 — SDK defaults to Cloud mode External webhooks (Stripe, Clerk) Require tunnel solution (ngrok, localtunnel) for local testing Quick Reference Troubleshooting Issue Cause Solution Dev Server doesn't find functions App not running or wrong port Start your app first; use u to specify the correct URL functionsFound: 0 in debug output Functions not passed to serve() Verify all functions are in the array passed to serve() SDK connects to Cloud instead of Dev Server INNGEST DEV not set Set INNGEST DEV=1 in your environment Functions sync to wrong Inngest environment Wrong signing key Check INNGEST SIGNING KEY matches target environment Duplicate app in Inngest dashboard App id was changed Keep the id in new Inngest({ id }) stable across deploys Webhook events not reaching Dev Server No tunnel configured Use ngrok or localtunnel for external webhook sources "Unattached sync" in dashboard Auto sync failed silently Check integration logs; resync manually See [inngest setup](../inngest setup/SKILL.md) for SDK installation and [inngest durable functions](../inngest durable functions/SKILL.md) for function configuration.

inngest-cli