Ship, promote, roll back, and clean up Capgo OTA bundles from the CLI.
Facts below were checked against @capgo/cli 8.77 (October 2026). Every command accepts -a, --apikey. The appId can be omitted inside a Capacitor project.
When to Use
TRIGGER when:
- The user uploads, lists, deletes, or cleans up bundles, or asks which version a channel serves.
- The user creates or configures channels, promotes staging to production, starts, pauses, or rolls back a progressive rollout, or rolls back a bad release.
- The user asks whether a change is OTA-safe (
bundle compatibility,bundle releaseType). - The user sets up bundle encryption (
key create,key save,--key-v2).
Do not use when:
- The work is app-side updater code or config (
notifyAppReady,autoUpdate,setChannel). Usecapgo-live-updates. - A native binary is needed. Use
capgo-native-builds. - The user manages organizations, members, 2FA, or API-key policy. Use
capgo-organization-management. - The user wants an end-to-end release pipeline design. Use
capgo-release-workflows.
Command Map
| Goal | Command |
|---|---|
| Upload and link | bundle upload [appId] --path ./dist --channel production (comma-separate several channels) |
| Is it OTA-safe? | bundle releaseType [appId] --channel production prints OTA or native |
| Detailed native diff | bundle compatibility [appId] --channel production [--text] |
| What is live | channel currentBundle production [appId] --quiet |
| Promote | channel promote staging production [appId] |
| Roll back | channel set production [appId] --bundle <previous-version> |
| Rollout | bundle upload ... --rollout 10, then channel set ... --rollout-percentage 50 / --rollout-promote / --rollout-rollback |
| Create channel | channel add beta [appId] [--default] [--self-assign] |
| Channel policy | channel set <ch> --disable-auto-update major|minor|patch|metadata|none plus --ios/--android/--dev/--prod/--emulator/--device toggles |
| List | bundle list [appId], channel list [appId] |
| Clean up | bundle cleanup [appId] --bundle 1.0 --keep 3 |
| Delete | bundle delete <version> [appId], channel delete <ch> [appId] |
| Preview QR | app set [appId] --preview once, then get-qr [appId] --channel beta or bundle upload ... --qr-preview |
| Encryption keys | key create, key save --key ./.capgo_key_v2.pub, key delete_old |
| Custom zip / external | bundle zip [appId] --json, bundle encrypt <zip> <checksum>, bundle upload --external <url> |
All of these are npx @capgo/cli@latest <command>. Commands that do not exist (they come from old docs or other tools): channel create, bundle revert, upload --sign, key verify, and a top-level capgo upload without bundle.
Procedure
1. Inspect first
npx @capgo/cli@latest channel list com.example.app
npx @capgo/cli@latest channel currentBundle production com.example.app --quiet
npx @capgo/cli@latest bundle releaseType com.example.app --channel production
Report the current live version and the OTA/native verdict before you change anything. If the verdict is native, stop and hand off to capgo-native-builds (or the user's native pipeline).
2. Upload
npm run build
npx @capgo/cli@latest bundle upload com.example.app --path ./dist --channel staging --comment "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
- The version comes from
package.jsonunless you pass--bundle <semver>. It must be unique, greater than0.0.0, and never a previously deleted version. - Use
--deltafor instant-apply apps. The CLI refuses delta uploads with more than 10,000 files. Use--no-deltain that case. - Use
--fail-on-incompatiblein CI. Use--accept-incompatibleonly when the JS guards missing plugins. These two flags and--ignore-metadata-checkcannot be combined.
3. Promote and roll out
- Promote:
npx @capgo/cli@latest channel promote staging production com.example.app. It runs the same compatibility checks aschannel set --bundle. - Gradual rollout: upload with
--rollout <pct>, then watch the stats before you run--rollout-promote. - Only change which channel is the default (
channel set <ch> --state default, orchannel add --default) when the user explicitly wants to move production traffic.
4. Roll back
npx @capgo/cli@latest bundle list com.example.app
npx @capgo/cli@latest channel set production com.example.app --bundle 1.4.2
# or, during a rollout:
npx @capgo/cli@latest channel set production com.example.app --rollout-rollback
Devices pick up the change on their next update check.
5. Encryption (optional, for sensitive apps)
npx @capgo/cli@latest key create # writes .capgo_key_v2 (private) + .capgo_key_v2.pub, saves the public key to config
npx cap sync # the public key must ship in the native app
npx @capgo/cli@latest bundle upload com.example.app --key-v2 ./.capgo_key_v2 --channel production
In CI, keep the private key in the CI secret store, write it to ./.capgo_key_v2 in the job, and pass the same --key-v2 ./.capgo_key_v2. The private key never leaves the runner. Add .capgo_key_v2 to .gitignore and never commit it. A changed key needs a new native build: devices with the old publicKey fail with key_id_mismatch.
Traps
- On a channel that has a rollout configured, a plain
bundle upload --channel productionsets the rollout target, and stable is unchanged. Replace stable explicitly withchannel set --bundle. bundle cleanup --ignore-channelalso deletes the linked channels. Never add it without asking.bundle deleteis permanent, and the deleted version cannot be reused. Prefer relinking an older bundle to roll back.releaseTypeonly sees native package metadata, not rawios/orandroid/edits.--self-assignon upload changes the channel's settings, not just this bundle.
Verification
npx @capgo/cli@latest channel currentBundle production com.example.app --quietprints the expected version.npx @capgo/cli@latest probe --platform ios(run in the project) reports whether an update would be served.npx @capgo/cli@latest app debug com.example.appshows a test device downloading and setting the bundle.- For encrypted uploads, a device on the new native build applies the update with no
key_id_mismatcherror.
Error Handling
| String | Fix |
|---|---|
❌ Version X already exists |
Bump --bundle, use --auto-bump patch, or pass --version-exists-ok in CI re-runs |
Cannot upload the same bundle content |
The checksum is already on that channel. Rebuild with changes, or pass --ignore-checksum-check |
Bundle NOT compatible with <channel> channel |
Native packages differ. Do a native build first, or use --accept-incompatible if the code guards it |
notifyAppReady() is missing in the build folder (...) |
Fix the app entry point (see capgo-live-updates) |
index.html is missing in the root folder of <dir> |
Wrong --path |
Cannot find channel <name> |
Check channel list. Names are case sensitive |
Channel strategy <x> is not known |
Use major, minor, patch, metadata, or none |
No Capgo API key found. Run ... first, then retry this command. |
npx @capgo/cli@latest login, set CAPGO_TOKEN, or pass -a |
Insufficient permissions for <key> |
The API key role is too low for this app. Ask an admin for an upload-capable key |
Cannot upload bundle ( try again with --tus option) |
Retry with --tus, and raise --timeout for large bundles |
Resources
- Bundle reference: https://capgo.app/docs/cli/reference/bundle/
- Channel reference: https://capgo.app/docs/cli/reference/channel/
- Progressive rollouts: https://capgo.app/docs/live-updates/progressive-rollouts/
- Encryption: https://capgo.app/docs/live-updates/encryption/
- Compatibility: https://capgo.app/docs/live-updates/compatibility/