Install the SmartTouch CLI¶

Keyword: How do I install the SmartTouch CLI? Part of: Set up local development — Step 1 of 3

The SmartTouch CLI (stctl) is the primary tool for managing remote device access from your terminal. The stctl remote-access command group lets you open sessions, list active sessions, close sessions, view audit logs, and probe the session broker — without opening a browser.

Goal¶

Install stctl and verify that the remote-access command group is available with all its subcommands.

Prerequisites¶

A SmartTouch account
Internet access

Steps¶

Step 1 — Install stctl¶

macOS (Homebrew)¶

brew tap smarttouch/tap && brew install stctl

Linux¶

curl -sSL https://get.smarttouch.io/stctl | bash

Windows (WSL2 only)¶

Run the Linux command above inside your WSL2 terminal.

Step 2 — Verify the installation¶

stctl version

Expected output:

stctl version 2.4.1 (linux/amd64)
SmartTouch CLI — https://docs.smarttouch.io/cli

Step 3 — Authenticate¶

stctl auth login

A browser window opens. Log in with your SmartTouch credentials and return to the terminal.

Expected output:

✔  Authenticated as alex@example.com
Token expires: 2026-06-07 (renewable)

Step 4 — Verify the remote-access command group¶

stctl remote-access --help

Expected output lists every remote access subcommand:

Manage SmartTouch remote device access sessions.

Usage:
  stctl remote-access [command]

Available Commands:
  status          Show session broker availability and active session count
  open            Open a remote access session to a device
  list            List all active sessions (your sessions or all, with --all)
  close           Close an active session by session ID
  probe           Run a connectivity probe against the session broker
  audit           View and export session audit logs
  install-agent   Generate and print Remote Access Agent install instructions for a device

Step 5 — Explore key remote-access commands¶

Familiarise yourself with the three commands you will use most during development:

Check broker status:

stctl remote-access status --env dev

Open a session (once a device is connected):

stctl remote-access open \
  --device <device-id> \
  --protocol diagnostics \
  --env dev

View audit log entries from the last hour:

stctl remote-access audit list \
  --since 1h \
  --env dev

Validation¶

stctl version                    # Returns version string
stctl auth status                # Returns your email and organisation
stctl remote-access --help       # Lists all remote-access subcommands

Troubleshooting¶

stctl remote-access not found Your stctl is older than version 2.3.0. Upgrade:

brew upgrade stctl               # macOS
curl -sSL https://get.smarttouch.io/stctl | bash   # Linux

remote access not enabled for your account Remote access is a licensed feature. Contact your SmartTouch Administrator to enable it.

Error: token expired Run stctl auth refresh or stctl auth login to renew.

Next steps¶

→ Continue to Step 2: Configure your local Kubernetes context