tmphost.ioCLI
The tmphost command uploads files from disk to a temporary public folder and prints their URLs. Its file commands mirror the actions of the MCP file tool.
LLM-friendly version (Markdown): https://tmphost.io/docs/cli.md
The CLI reads and writes files on disk, so file content never enters the model's context: uploading a 5 MB PDF or a whole dist/ folder costs a command and a few lines of output. Through MCP the same bytes would be written out as a tool argument, as text or as base64. Whenever the agent can run shell commands, use the CLI.
Local paths
The CLI works with paths on disk in both directions: upload takes any number of local files and directories, from anywhere on disk, and download writes to the local path given with -o. The bytes go straight between the disk and tmphost.io, never through the model.
Upload: where local files land in the folder
| Command | Paths in the folder |
|---|---|
| tmphost file upload build/out/report.pdf | report.pdf (the base name) |
| tmphost file upload ~/notes/a.md ./b.txt | a.md, b.txt |
| tmphost file upload site | site/index.html, site/css/app.css |
| tmphost file upload site/ | index.html, css/app.css |
| tmphost file upload site/ --path v2 | v2/index.html, v2/css/app.css |
| tmphost file upload out.txt --path logs --name today.txt | logs/today.txt |
Symlinks to files are followed; other non-regular files are skipped.
Download: to any local path
$ tmphost file download --id p3n8w1cd --path assets style.css -o build/cache/style.css Downloaded assets/style.css (3.0 KiB) to build/cache/style.css $ tmphost file download --id p3n8w1cd index.html Downloaded index.html (1.3 KiB) to index.html
--path is the file's directory inside the folder; -o is where it goes on disk, and its directory must already exist. Without -o the file is written to ./<fileName>. An existing file is kept unless --force is given.
Install
$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tmphost/tmphost/main/install.sh | sh
> irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tmphost/tmphost/main/install.ps1 | iex
Both download the latest release, check it against checksums.txt and install tmphost to /usr/local/bin when writable, or ~/.local/bin (Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\tmphost\bin, added to the user PATH). Set TMPHOSTIO_VERSION=v1.2.3 for a specific release or TMPHOSTIO_INSTALL_DIR for another directory.
Sign in
$ tmphost login --server https://app.tmphost.io Logged in to https://app.tmphost.io as [email protected] (250/250 credits)
login opens the browser to approve the CLI (OAuth 2.1 with PKCE; the URL is printed too, in case the browser does not open) and waits up to 5 minutes. The tokens are saved to $TMPHOSTIO_CONFIG, or tmphost/config.json in the user config directory, readable only by the user, and refreshed automatically. Later commands use the same server.
Upload
One file, in a new folder
$ tmphost file upload report.pdf Uploading 1 files (cost: 3 credits) https://k7q2m9xa.file.tmphost.io/report.pdf id: k7q2m9xa url: https://k7q2m9xa.file.tmphost.io/ expires: 2026-10-19 21:38 UTC (in 30m)
A new folder lives 30 minutes by default. A 2.4 MB file costs 3 credits per started 30 minutes.
A directory, with a TTL
$ tmphost file upload dist/ --ttl 2h Uploading 3 files (cost: 12 credits) https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/index.html https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/app.js https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/style.css id: p3n8w1cd url: https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/ expires: 2026-10-19 23:08 UTC (in 2h0m)
dist/ (or .) uploads the directory's contents, like rsync, so index.html lands at the root and the folder URL serves the site. dist without the slash keeps the name as a prefix: dist/index.html. Directories are uploaded recursively.
Into an existing folder
$ tmphost file upload notes.txt --id p3n8w1cd --path docs --name readme.txt Uploading 1 files (cost: 4 credits) https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/docs/readme.txt id: p3n8w1cd url: https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/ expires: 2026-10-19 23:08 UTC (in 1h56m)
--id adds to a folder, and a file already at the same path is replaced in place: same URL, same expiry. --path puts files in a directory inside the folder; --name renames a single file. --ttl only applies to a new folder.
JSON output, for agents
Add --json to any command to print the same fields as the MCP tool, with no progress lines:
$ tmphost file upload dist/ --ttl 2h --json { "id": "p3n8w1cd", "url": "https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/", "expiresAt": "2026-10-19T23:08:00Z", "creditsSpent": 12, "files": [ { "fileName": "index.html", "path": "", "size": 1342, "url": "https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/index.html" }, { "fileName": "app.js", "path": "assets", "size": 20480, "url": "https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/app.js" }, { "fileName": "style.css", "path": "assets", "size": 3120, "url": "https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/style.css" } ] }
For a single file, url, fileName, path and size describe that file, as in the MCP upload result.
List a folder
$ tmphost file get --id p3n8w1cd FILE NAME PATH SIZE URL index.html 1.3 KiB https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/index.html app.js assets 20.0 KiB https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/app.js style.css assets 3.0 KiB https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/style.css readme.txt docs 28 B https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/docs/readme.txt id: p3n8w1cd url: https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/ expires: 2026-10-19 23:08 UTC (in 1h52m)
Print a URL
$ tmphost file url --id p3n8w1cd --path docs readme.txt https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/docs/readme.txt $ tmphost file url --id p3n8w1cd --path assets https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/assets/
A folder (--id), a directory (--path, ending with /) or a file. The file does not have to exist yet.
Download
$ tmphost file download --id p3n8w1cd --path docs readme.txt -o readme.txt Downloaded docs/readme.txt (28 B) to readme.txt $ tmphost file download --id p3n8w1cd --path docs readme.txt -o - --json --format textContent { "id": "p3n8w1cd", "fileName": "readme.txt", "path": "docs", "size": 28, "textContent": "Build notes: see index.html\n" }
Download to a file with -o so the content stays on disk; an existing file is kept unless --force is given. -o - writes to stdout, and with --json the content goes in base64Content, or in textContent with --format textContent.
Manage folders and the account
$ tmphost file ls ID EXPIRES IN URL p3n8w1cd 1h50m https://p3n8w1cd.file.tmphost.io/ k7q2m9xa 18m https://k7q2m9xa.file.tmphost.io/ $ tmphost file rm --id p3n8w1cd docs/readme.txt Deleted docs/readme.txt from folder p3n8w1cd. $ tmphost file rm --id k7q2m9xa Deleted folder k7q2m9xa. $ tmphost whoami Email: [email protected] Name: Agent Credits: 231/250 Renews at: 2026-11-18 00:00 UTC $ tmphost logout Logged out.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| tmphost login [--server URL] | Sign in with the browser. |
| tmphost logout | Forget the saved tokens. |
| tmphost whoami | Show the user, credits and renewal time. |
| tmphost file upload <local path>... [--id ID | --ttl 30m] [--path DIR] [--name NAME] | Upload files and print their URLs and the folder id. |
| tmphost file download --id ID [--path DIR] <fileName> [-o OUT] [--force] [--format FORMAT] | Download a file (-o - for stdout). |
| tmphost file get --id ID | List a folder's files. |
| tmphost file url --id ID [--path DIR] [fileName] | Print a folder, directory or file URL. |
| tmphost file ls | List live folders. |
| tmphost file rm --id ID [path] | Delete a folder, or one file. |
Global flags: --json prints JSON, --server (or TMPHOSTIO_SERVER) picks the server, --version prints the version. Tokens are only sent to the server that issued them.
Paths and cost
Paths are at most 5 directories deep, with no . or .. segments and no backslashes; the CLI checks them before anything is sent. Each file costs 1 credit per started MB of its size per started 30 minutes of the folder's lifetime, and upload checks the total against the account's credits before it uploads anything.