Usage

Complete reference for all vt commands. Run vt --help or vt <command> --help at any time for inline help.

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Global Flags

Flag	Shorthand	Default	Description
--verbosity	-v	info	Log level: debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic
--help			Show help and the banner
--version			Print the current version

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vt template — Manage the Template Catalog

List all templates

vt template --list
# or
vt template -l

Example output:

+------------------+--------------------------------------+--------+-------+------+
| ID               | NAME                                 | TYPE   | CVSS  | TAGS |
+------------------+--------------------------------------+--------+-------+------+
| vt-dvwa          | Damn Vulnerable Web App              | Lab    |       | php  |
| vt-juice-shop    | OWASP Juice Shop                     | Lab    |       | owasp|
| vt-2025-29927    | Next.js Middleware Bypass            | CVE    | 9.1   | ...  |
| vt-xbow-001      | XBow Benchmark 001                   | Bench  |       | ...  |
+------------------+--------------------------------------+--------+-------+------+

Filter templates by keyword or tag

vt template --list --filter <keyword>
# or
vt template -l -f <keyword>

Examples:

# Show only PHP-based templates
vt template --list --filter php

# Show only OWASP projects
vt template --list --filter owasp

# Find SQL-related templates
vt template --list --filter sql

# Find CVE templates for Next.js
vt template --list --filter nextjs

Sync templates from the remote repository

Clones the vt-templates repo on first run. Subsequent calls do a git pull.

vt template --update
# or
vt template -u

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vt inspect — View Template or Playbook Details

Displays full metadata for a template or playbook as a formatted table.

vt inspect --id <template-id>

Examples:

vt inspect --id vt-juice-shop
vt inspect --id vt-2025-29927
vt inspect --id vt-pb-0001

Fields shown:

Field	Description
ID	Unique identifier
Name	Human-readable name
Description	Purpose and background
Author	Template author
Type	Lab, CVE, or Benchmark
Targets	Attack surface categories
Affected Versions	Vulnerable version ranges
CVE / CWE	CVE and CWE identifiers
CVSS	Score and metrics string
Tags	Searchable keywords
References	External links
PoC	Proof-of-concept tool files (Nuclei, Semgrep)
Remediation	Suggested fixes
Providers	Deployment methods available
Post-Install	Access URLs and setup notes

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vt start — Deploy a Vulnerable Environment

vt start --id <template-id>

# Optional: specify provider (only docker-compose is available today)
vt start --id <template-id> --provider docker-compose
# or
vt start --id <template-id> -p docker-compose

Examples:

vt start --id vt-dvwa
vt start --id vt-juice-shop
vt start --id vt-2025-29927

After startup, VT prints any post-install instructions (access URLs, default credentials, configuration steps) defined in the template.

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vt stop — Shut Down an Environment

vt stop --id <template-id>

# Optional: specify provider
vt stop --id <template-id> --provider docker-compose

Examples:

vt stop --id vt-dvwa
vt stop --id vt-2025-29927

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vt ps — List Running Deployments

Shows all environments currently running, across all providers.

vt ps

Example output:

+----------------+------------------+---------+---------------------+
| PROVIDER       | TEMPLATE ID      | STATUS  | CREATED AT          |
+----------------+------------------+---------+---------------------+
| docker-compose | vt-dvwa          | running | 2026-05-17 10:23:41 |
| docker-compose | vt-juice-shop    | running | 2026-05-17 10:25:02 |
+----------------+------------------+---------+---------------------+

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vt playbook — Run Groups of Templates

Playbooks let you start or stop multiple templates with a single command. See the Playbooks page for the full guide.

List available playbooks

vt playbook list

Run a playbook

vt playbook run --id <playbook-id>
# or with provider flag
vt playbook run --id <playbook-id> --provider docker-compose

Stop a playbook

vt playbook stop --id <playbook-id>

VT starts (or stops) every template in the playbook sequentially. If one template fails, it logs the error and continues. A summary is printed at the end.

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Verbosity Examples

# Debug mode — shows internal steps
vt start --id vt-dvwa --verbosity debug

# Suppress info messages
vt template --list --verbosity warn

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Default File Paths

Path	Purpose
~/vt-templates/	Local clone of the vt-templates repository
~/.vt-cli/	VT state and storage