open-nomad/website/source/docs/commands/index.html.md.erb

---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Commands (CLI)"
sidebar_current: "docs-commands"
description: >
  Nomad can be controlled via a command-line interface. This page documents all
  the commands Nomad accepts.
---

# Nomad Commands (CLI)

Nomad is controlled via a very easy to use command-line interface (CLI).
Nomad is only a single command-line application: `nomad`. This application
then takes a subcommand such as "agent" or "status". The complete list of
subcommands is in the navigation to the left.

The Nomad CLI is a well-behaved command line application. In erroneous cases,
a non-zero exit status will be returned. It also responds to `-h` and `--help`
as you'd most likely expect.

To view a list of the available commands at any time, just run Nomad
with no arguments. To get help for any specific subcommand, run the subcommand
with the `-h` argument.

Each command has been conveniently documented on this website. Links to each
command can be found on the left.

### Command Contexts

Nomad's CLI commands have implied contexts in their naming convention. Because
the CLI is most commonly used to manipulate or query jobs, you can assume that
any given command is working in that context unless the command name implies
otherwise.

For example, the `nomad run` command is used to run a new job, the `nomad
status` command queries information about existing jobs, etc. Conversely,
commands with a prefix in their name likely operate in a different context.
Examples include the `nomad agent-status` or `nomad node-drain` commands,
which operate in the agent or node contexts respectively.