Run & SSH

Two commands let you execute commands with a service’s context. They look similar but run in different places — know which one you want.

lizard run — locally with injected env

Runs a command on your machine with the service’s environment variables and secrets injected:

lizard run --service api -- node scripts/migrate.js
lizard run --service api -- printenv DATABASE_URL

Skip env injection for a specific service with --no-service. This is the right tool when the command needs to reach the same resources your app does but should run from your environment (e.g. a migration tool installed locally).

lizard ssh — inside the live VM

Executes a command inside the running service’s micro-VM, streams its output, and returns the remote exit code:

lizard ssh --service api -- env            # what the running app sees
lizard ssh --service api -- ls -la /app
lizard ssh --service api -- cat /etc/os-release

Use this to confirm references resolved, check files in the deployed image, or debug a live process.

Which one for “did my secret land”?

To check what the running app sees, use ssh:

lizard ssh --service api -- env | grep DATABASE_URL

lizard run would show your local injected copy, which is usually the same — but ssh is authoritative for the live container.