unity-cli

A powerful command line utility for the Unity Game Engine. Automate Unity project setup, editor installation, license management, building, and more—ideal for CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Usage
  • Common Commands
    • Auth
      • License Version
      • Activate License
      • Return License
      • License Context
      • Licensing Client Logs
      • Licensing Audit Logs
    • Unity Hub
      • Hub Version
      • Hub Path
      • Hub Logs
      • Package Manager Logs
      • Unity Hub Install
      • Run Unity Hub Commands
      • Setup Unity Editor
      • Uninstall Unity Editor
    • Unity Editor
      • Run Unity Editor Commands
      • List Project Templates
      • Create Unity Project
      • Open Unity Project
      • Unity Editor Logs
    • Unity Package Manager
      • Sign a Unity Package
• Logging
  • Local cli
  • Github Actions

Features

• Install and manage Unity Hub and Unity Editors (multi-platform)
• Activate and return Unity licenses (personal, professional, floating)
• Create new Unity projects from templates
• Run Unity Editor commands and builds from the CLI
• Supports all modules, architectures, and build targets
• Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Designed for automation and CI/CD

Installation

npm install -g @rage-against-the-pixel/unity-cli

Important

Requires Node v22.12 or higher.

Usage

In general, the command structure is:

unity-cli [command] {options} <args...>

With options always using double dashes (--option) and arguments passed directly to Unity or Unity Hub commands as they normally would with single dashes (-arg). Each option typically has a short alias using a single dash (-o), except for commands where we pass through arguments, as those get confused by the command parser.

Common Commands

• unity-cli --help for a full list of commands and options.
• unity-cli [command] --help for details on a specific command.
• unity-cli [command] --json to get the output in JSON format (if supported).
• unity-cli [command] --verbose <args...> to enable verbose logging for debugging.

Important

<args...> must always be the last parameters passed to the command when using any command options.

unity-cli --help

Auth

License Version

license-version: Print the Unity License Client version.

unity-cli license-version

Activate License

activate-license [options]: Activate a Unity license.

• -l, --license: License type (personal, professional, floating). Required.
• -e, --email: Email associated with the Unity account. Required when activating a personal or professional license.
• -p, --password: Password for the Unity account. Required when activating a personal or professional license.
• -s, --serial: License serial number. Required when activating a professional license.
• -c, --config: Path to the configuration file, raw JSON, or base64 encoded JSON string. Required when activating a floating license.
• --json: Prints the last line of output as JSON string.
• --verbose: Enable verbose output.

unity-cli activate-license --license personal --email <your-email> --password <your-password>

Return License

return-license [options]: Return a Unity license.

• -l, --license: License type (personal, professional, floating)
• -t, --token: Floating license token. Required when returning a floating license.
• --verbose: Enable verbose output.

unity-cli return-license --license personal

License Context

license-context: Prints the current license context information.

unity-cli license-context

Licensing Client Logs

licensing-client-logs: Prints the path to the Unity Licensing Client log file.

unity-cli licensing-client-logs

Licensing Audit Logs

licensing-audit-logs: Prints the path to the Unity Licensing Client audit log.

unity-cli licensing-audit-logs

Unity Hub

Hub Version

hub-version: Print the Unity Hub version.

unity-cli hub-version

Hub Path

hub-path: Print the Unity Hub executable path.

unity-cli hub-path

Hub Logs

hub-logs: Prints the path to the Unity Hub log file.

unity-cli hub-logs

Package Manager Logs

package-manager-logs: Prints the path to the Unity Package Manager log file.

unity-cli package-manager-logs

Unity Hub Install

hub-install [options]: Install or update the Unity Hub

• --auto-update: Automatically updates the Unity Hub if it is already installed. Cannot be used with --hub-version.
• --hub-version: Specify to install a specific version of Unity Hub. Cannot be used with --auto-update.
• --verbose: Enable verbose output.
• --json: Output installation information in JSON format.

unity-cli hub-install

Run Unity Hub Commands

hub [options] <args...>: Run Unity Hub command line arguments (passes args directly to the hub executable).

• --verbose: Enable verbose output.
• --json: Prints the last line of output as a json string, which contains the operation results.
• <args...>: Arguments to pass directly to the Unity Hub executable.

Lists available Unity Hub commands:

unity-cli --verbose hub help

Gets a list of installed editors:

unity-cli hub editors --installed

Setup Unity Editor

setup-unity [options]: Find or install the Unity Editor for a project or specific version.

• -p, --unity-project <unityProject> The path to a Unity project or none to skip project detection.
• -u, --unity-version <unityVersion> The Unity version to get (e.g. 2020.3.1f1, 2021.x, 2022.1.*, 6000). If specified, it will override the version read from the project.
• -c, --changeset <changeset> The Unity changeset to get (e.g. 1234567890ab).
• -a, --arch <arch> The Unity architecture to get (e.g. x86_64, arm64). Defaults to the architecture of the current process.
• -b, --build-targets <buildTargets> The Unity build target to get/install as comma-separated values (e.g. iOS,Android).
• -m, --modules <modules> The Unity module to get/install as comma-separated values (e.g. ios,android).
• -i, --install-path <installPath> The path to install the Unity Editor to. By default, it will be installed to the default Unity Hub location.
• --verbose Enable verbose logging.
• --json Prints the last line of output as JSON string.

Installs the latest Unity 6 version with Android and iOS modules:

unity-cli setup-unity --unity-version 6000 --modules android,ios

Uninstall Unity Editor

uninstall-unity [options]: Uninstall a Unity Editor version.

• -e, --unity-editor <unityEditor> The path to the Unity Editor executable. If unspecified, -u, --unity-version or the UNITY_EDITOR_PATH environment variable must be set.
• -u, --unity-version <unityVersion> The Unity version to get (e.g. 2020.3.1f1, 2021.x, 2022.1.*, 6000). If unspecified, then --unity-editor must be specified.
• -c, --changeset <changeset> The Unity changeset to get (e.g. 1234567890ab).
• -a, --arch <arch> The Unity architecture to get (e.g. x86_64, arm64). Defaults to the architecture of the current process.
• --verbose Enable verbose logging.

unity-cli uninstall-unity --unity-version 6000

Unity Editor

Run Unity Editor Commands

run [options] <args...>: Run Unity Editor command line arguments (passes args directly to the editor).

• --unity-editor <unityEditor> The path to the Unity Editor executable. If unspecified, --unity-project or the UNITY_EDITOR_PATH environment variable must be set.
• --unity-project <unityProject> The path to a Unity project. If unspecified, the UNITY_PROJECT_PATH environment variable will be used, otherwise no project will be specified.
• --log-name <logName> The name of the log file.
• --log-level <logLevel> Override the logger verbosity (debug, info, minimal, warning, error). Defaults to info.
• --verbose Enable verbose logging. (Deprecated, use --log-level <value> instead)
• <args...> Arguments to pass directly to the Unity Editor executable.

Note

When setting the --log-level option to minimal, only the unity telemetry logs will be shown in the console output. All other logs will be written to the log file. This option is only supported when running the command locally in the terminal. This options is still experimental and may change in future releases.

When running in CI environments the logger will automatically print the full logs to the console no matter the log level.

unity-cli run --unity-project <path-to-project> -quit -batchmode -executeMethod StartCommandLineBuild

List Project Templates

Note

Regex patterns are supported for the --template option. For example, to create a 3D project with either the standard or cross-platform template, you can use com.unity.template.3d(-cross-platform)?.

list-project-templates [options]: List available Unity project templates for an editor.

• -e, --unity-editor <unityEditor> The path to the Unity Editor executable. If unspecified, -u, --unity-version or the UNITY_EDITOR_PATH environment variable must be set.
• -u, --unity-version <unityVersion> The Unity version to get (e.g. 2020.3.1f1, 2021.x, 2022.1.*, 6000). If unspecified, then --unity-editor must be specified.
• -c, --changeset <changeset> The Unity changeset to get (e.g. 1234567890ab).
• -a, --arch <arch> The Unity architecture to get (e.g. x86_64, arm64). Defaults to the architecture of the current process.
• --verbose Enable verbose logging.
• --json Prints the last line of output as JSON string.

Lists available project templates for Unity 6:

unity-cli list-project-templates --unity-version 6000

Create Unity Project

create-project [options]: Create a new Unity project from a template.

• -n, --name <projectName> The name of the new Unity project. If unspecified, the project will be created in the specified path or the current working directory.
• -p, --path <projectPath> The path to create the new Unity project. If unspecified, the current working directory will be used.
• -t, --template <projectTemplate> The name of the template package to use for creating the unity project. Supports regex patterns. (default: com.unity.template.3d(-cross-platform)?)
• -u, --unity-version <unityVersion> The Unity version to get (e.g. 2020.3.1f1, 2021.x, 2022.1.*, 6000). If unspecified, then --unity-editor must be specified.
• -e, --unity-editor <unityEditor> The path to the Unity Editor executable. If unspecified, -u, --unity-version, or the UNITY_EDITOR_PATH environment variable must be set.
• --verbose Enable verbose logging.
• --json Prints the last line of output as JSON string.

Creates a new Unity project named "MyGame" using the latest version of Unity 6 and the 3D template:

unity-cli create-project --name "MyGame" --template com.unity.template.3d(-cross-platform)? --unity-version 6000

Open Unity Project

open-project [options]: Open a Unity project in the Unity Editor.

• -p, --unity-project <unityProject> The path to a Unity project. If unspecified, the UNITY_PROJECT_PATH environment variable or the current working directory will be used.
• -u, --unity-version <unityVersion> The Unity version to get (e.g. 2020.3.1f1, 2021.x, 2022.1.*, 6000). If specified, it will override the version read from the project.
• -t, --build-target <buildTarget> The Unity build target to switch the project to (e.g. StandaloneWindows64, StandaloneOSX, iOS, Android, etc).
• --verbose Enable verbose logging.

Opens a specific Unity project with the latest Unity 6 version and switches the active platform to Android:

unity-cli open-project --unity-project <path-to-project> --unity-version 6000 --build-target Android

Tip

If you run this command in the same directory as your Unity project, you can omit the --unity-project, --unity-version, and --unity-editor options.

unity-cli open-project

Unity Editor Logs

editor-logs: Prints the path to the Unity Editor log files.

unity-cli editor-logs

Unity Package Manager

Sign a Unity Package

Warning

This command feature is in beta and may change in future releases.

sign-package [options]: Sign a Unity package for distribution.

• --package <package> Required. The fully qualified path to the folder that contains the package.json file for the package you want to sign. Note: Don’t include package.json in this parameter value.
• --output <output> Optional. The output directory where you want to save the signed tarball file (.tgz). If unspecified, the package contents will be updated in place with the signed .attestation.p7m file.
• --email <email> Email associated with the Unity account. If unspecified, the UNITY_USERNAME environment variable will be used.
• --password <password> The password of the Unity account. If unspecified, the UNITY_PASSWORD environment variable will be used.
• --organization <organization> The Organization ID you copied from the Unity Cloud Dashboard. If unspecified, the UNITY_ORGANIZATION_ID environment variable will be used.
• --verbose Enable verbose logging.

Note

The --output option is optional. If not specified, the package contents will be updated in place with the signed .attestation.p7m file. Otherwise a signed .tgz file will be created in the specified output directory.

unity-cli sign-package --package <path-to-package-folder> --email <your-email> --password <your-password> --organization <your-organization-id>

Logging

Local cli

unity-cli keeps regular terminal runs simple:

• Writes everything to stdout with ANSI colors (yellow warnings, red errors) so you can scan logs quickly.
• startGroup/endGroup just print headers and content, and don't include any foldouts or collapsing behavior and is meant for CI environments only.

Github Actions

When GITHUB_ACTIONS=true, the logger emits GitHub workflow commands automatically:

• Defaults to info level; add --verbose (or temporarily set ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG=true) to surface debug lines.
• Logger.annotate(...) escapes %, \r, and \n, then includes file, line, endLine, col, endColumn, and title metadata so annotations are clickable in the Checks UI.
• startGroup/endGroup become ::group:: / ::endgroup:: blocks.
• Helper methods (CI_mask, CI_setEnvironmentVariable, CI_setOutput, CI_appendWorkflowSummary) write to the corresponding GitHub-provided files, so secrets stay masked and workflow outputs update automatically.

The same command line you run locally therefore produces colorized console output on your machine and rich annotations once it runs inside Actions.

Additional CI Environments

At the moment, only GitHub Actions is supported for enhanced logging. If you would like to see support for additional CI environments, please open a pull request or feature request on the GitHub repository.

Roadmap

• Support Azure DevOps logging commands
• Support GitLab CI logging commands
• Support Bitbucket Pipelines logging commands
• Support Jenkins logging commands
• Support CircleCI logging commands
• Support Travis CI logging commands
• Support TeamCity logging commands