hugging-face-cli

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Execute Hugging Face Hub operations using the `hf` CLI. Use when the user needs to download models/datasets/spaces, upload files to Hub repositories, create repos, manage local cache, or run compute jobs on HF infrastructure. Covers authentication, file transfers, repository creation, cache operations, and cloud compute.

patchy631 By patchy631 schedule Updated 1/23/2026

name: hugging-face-cli

description: Execute Hugging Face Hub operations using the hf CLI. Use when the user needs to download models/datasets/spaces, upload files to Hub repositories, create repos, manage local cache, or run compute jobs on HF infrastructure. Covers authentication, file transfers, repository creation, cache operations, and cloud compute.


Hugging Face CLI

The hf CLI provides direct terminal access to the Hugging Face Hub for downloading, uploading, and managing repositories, cache, and compute resources.

Quick Command Reference

| Task | Command |

|------|---------|

| Login | hf auth login |

| Download model | hf download <repo_id> |

| Download to folder | hf download <repo_id> --local-dir ./path |

| Upload folder | hf upload <repo_id> . . |

| Create repo | hf repo create <name> |

| Create tag | hf repo tag create <repo_id> <tag> |

| Delete files | hf repo-files delete <repo_id> <files> |

| List cache | hf cache ls |

| Remove from cache | hf cache rm <repo_or_revision> |

| List models | hf models ls |

| Get model info | hf models info <model_id> |

| List datasets | hf datasets ls |

| Get dataset info | hf datasets info <dataset_id> |

| List spaces | hf spaces ls |

| Get space info | hf spaces info <space_id> |

| List endpoints | hf endpoints ls |

| Run GPU job | hf jobs run --flavor a10g-small <image> <cmd> |

| Environment info | hf env |

Core Commands

Authentication


hf auth login                    # Interactive login

hf auth login --token $HF_TOKEN  # Non-interactive

hf auth whoami                   # Check current user

hf auth list                     # List stored tokens

hf auth switch                   # Switch between tokens

hf auth logout                   # Log out

Download


hf download <repo_id>                              # Full repo to cache

hf download <repo_id> file.safetensors             # Specific file

hf download <repo_id> --local-dir ./models         # To local directory

hf download <repo_id> --include "*.safetensors"    # Filter by pattern

hf download <repo_id> --repo-type dataset          # Dataset

hf download <repo_id> --revision v1.0              # Specific version

Upload


hf upload <repo_id> . .                            # Current dir to root

hf upload <repo_id> ./models /weights              # Folder to path

hf upload <repo_id> model.safetensors              # Single file

hf upload <repo_id> . . --repo-type dataset        # Dataset

hf upload <repo_id> . . --create-pr                # Create PR

hf upload <repo_id> . . --commit-message="msg"     # Custom message

Repository Management


hf repo create <name>                              # Create model repo

hf repo create <name> --repo-type dataset          # Create dataset

hf repo create <name> --private                    # Private repo

hf repo create <name> --repo-type space --space_sdk gradio  # Gradio space

hf repo delete <repo_id>                           # Delete repo

hf repo move <from_id> <to_id>                     # Move repo to new namespace

hf repo settings <repo_id> --private true          # Update repo settings

hf repo list --repo-type model                     # List repos

hf repo branch create <repo_id> release-v1         # Create branch

hf repo branch delete <repo_id> release-v1         # Delete branch

hf repo tag create <repo_id> v1.0                  # Create tag

hf repo tag list <repo_id>                         # List tags

hf repo tag delete <repo_id> v1.0                  # Delete tag

Delete Files from Repo


hf repo-files delete <repo_id> folder/             # Delete folder

hf repo-files delete <repo_id> "*.txt"             # Delete with pattern

Cache Management


hf cache ls                      # List cached repos

hf cache ls --revisions          # Include individual revisions

hf cache rm model/gpt2           # Remove cached repo

hf cache rm <revision_hash>      # Remove cached revision

hf cache prune                   # Remove detached revisions

hf cache verify gpt2             # Verify checksums from cache

Browse Hub


# Models

hf models ls                                        # List top trending models

hf models ls --search "MiniMax" --author MiniMaxAI  # Search models

hf models ls --filter "text-generation" --limit 20  # Filter by task

hf models info MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.1               # Get model info



# Datasets

hf datasets ls                                      # List top trending datasets

hf datasets ls --search "finepdfs" --sort downloads # Search datasets

hf datasets info HuggingFaceFW/finepdfs             # Get dataset info



# Spaces

hf spaces ls                                        # List top trending spaces

hf spaces ls --filter "3d" --limit 10               # Filter by 3D modeling spaces

hf spaces info enzostvs/deepsite                    # Get space info

Jobs (Cloud Compute)


hf jobs run python:3.12 python script.py           # Run on CPU

hf jobs run --flavor a10g-small <image> <cmd>      # Run on GPU

hf jobs run --secrets HF_TOKEN <image> <cmd>       # With HF token

hf jobs ps                                         # List jobs

hf jobs logs <job_id>                              # View logs

hf jobs cancel <job_id>                            # Cancel job

Inference Endpoints


hf endpoints ls                                     # List endpoints

hf endpoints deploy my-endpoint \

  --repo openai/gpt-oss-120b \

  --framework vllm \

  --accelerator gpu \

  --instance-size x4 \

  --instance-type nvidia-a10g \

  --region us-east-1 \

  --vendor aws

hf endpoints describe my-endpoint                   # Show endpoint details

hf endpoints pause my-endpoint                      # Pause endpoint

hf endpoints resume my-endpoint                     # Resume endpoint

hf endpoints scale-to-zero my-endpoint              # Scale to zero

hf endpoints delete my-endpoint --yes               # Delete endpoint

GPU Flavors: cpu-basic, cpu-upgrade, cpu-xl, t4-small, t4-medium, l4x1, l4x4, l40sx1, l40sx4, l40sx8, a10g-small, a10g-large, a10g-largex2, a10g-largex4, a100-large, h100, h100x8

Common Patterns

Download and Use Model Locally


# Download to local directory for deployment

hf download meta-llama/Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct --local-dir ./model



# Or use cache and get path

MODEL_PATH=$(hf download meta-llama/Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct --quiet)

Publish Model/Dataset


hf repo create my-username/my-model --private

hf upload my-username/my-model ./output . --commit-message="Initial release"

hf repo tag create my-username/my-model v1.0

Sync Space with Local


hf upload my-username/my-space . . --repo-type space \

  --exclude="logs/*" --delete="*" --commit-message="Sync"

Check Cache Usage


hf cache ls                      # See all cached repos and sizes

hf cache rm model/gpt2           # Remove a repo from cache

Key Options

  • --repo-type: model (default), dataset, space

  • --revision: Branch, tag, or commit hash

  • --token: Override authentication

  • --quiet: Output only essential info (paths/URLs)

References

Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/patchy631/ai-engineering-hub --skill hugging-face-cli
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