title: 'Cloud Connect on a Development Machine' sidebar_label: 'Development machine' description: 'Connect a development machine to Spice Cloud and run the instance in the foreground.' keywords: [spice.ai, cloud connect, spice cloud link, development] sidebar_position: 1 tags:
spice cloud link enrolls an instance and attaches it to a project. spice run then runs it in the terminal that started it. This method works on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
member cannot enroll an instance.spice cloud link attaches to a project that already exists; create one with spice cloud project create <name>, or in the Spice Cloud portal.Log in first. spice cloud link needs a Spice Cloud user session and does not create one:
The directory the command runs from is the instance:
spice cloud link enrolls the directory and attaches it to the named project. Omit the argument to choose from the projects available to you. Either way it needs an interactive terminal.
link does not start the runtime; spice run does, and Ctrl-C stops it.
An enrollment key (opens in a new tab) is the alternative when a login cannot enroll into the wanted organization, or when there is no interactive terminal. Pass it to spiced --token; an instance enrolled that way is connected but unattached, and the portal link in the output creates its project. See Headless Cloud Connect (opens in a new tab).
The identity stays in the instance directory, so any of these reconnect the same instance from there rather than enrolling a second one:
A deployment from the portal reconciles into the running process. When it changes a section that only a start reads, the runtime names those sections and keeps serving the configuration it already has:
The project in Spice Cloud reports the same pending set. In a terminal, Ctrl-C followed by spice run is what applies it. See Deployments and restarts (opens in a new tab).
spice cloud unlink releases the instance and clears the local identity, and refuses while the runtime is running:
The project stays. Delete it from the Spice Cloud portal, or with spice cloud project delete <org>/<project>.