Zero to Hero (Host Mode, CLI)

First installation

Initialise norsk-ctl

Run norsk-ctl init to create the configuration file with your license and default working directory. Host mode runs Norsk directly on the host — no proxy, no Docker networking.

$ norsk-ctl init --network-mode host --license-file /home/parallels/internal_dev_license.json --working-directory /tmp/workspace

Config written to /tmp/nix-shell.DOxv4h/norsk-ctl-guide-zero-to-hero-host-cli-grQoM5/config.yaml
Equivalent command: norsk-ctl init --network-mode host --license-file /home/parallels/internal_dev_license.json --working-directory /tmp/workspace

Launch an instance

$ norsk-ctl instance launch my-studio --hardware none --working-directory /tmp/workspace

Instance launched

Check instance status

$ norsk-ctl instance list

instances:
  - id: my-studio
    name: norsk-studio
    port: 8001
    workflow: ""
    status: healthy
    uptime: 11 seconds ago
    studioTag: 1.27.0-2026-05-08-d0e01eea
    studioImage: norskvideo/norsk-studio
    media:
      name: norsk-inst-my-studio-media
      image: norskvideo/norsk
      tag: 1.0.402-2026-05-08-5d5644d3
      status: healthy
      uptime: 11 seconds ago
proxy:
  name: norsk-proxy
  image: nginx
  tag: 1.29.7-alpine
  status: running
  uptime: 13 seconds ago
runMode: standard

$ norsk-ctl instance describe my-studio

id: my-studio
name: norsk-studio
port: 8001
workflow: ""
status: healthy
uptime: 11 seconds ago
studioTag: 1.27.0-2026-05-08-d0e01eea
studioImage: norskvideo/norsk-studio
media:
  name: norsk-inst-my-studio-media
  image: norskvideo/norsk
  tag: 1.0.402-2026-05-08-5d5644d3
  status: healthy
  uptime: 11 seconds ago
studioUrl: http://localhost/instance/my-studio/studio/
visualiserUrl: http://localhost/instance/my-studio/visualiser/
configDirectory: /tmp/nix-shell.DOxv4h/norsk-ctl-guide-zero-to-hero-host-cli-grQoM5/instances/my-studio
workingDirectory: /tmp/workspace
logsDirectory: /tmp/nix-shell.DOxv4h/norsk-ctl-guide-zero-to-hero-host-cli-grQoM5/log/instances/my-studio

Open Norsk Studio

In host mode, the studio is accessible directly on the instance port — no proxy required.

Clean up

Delete the instance to stop its containers and free resources.

$ norsk-ctl instance delete my-studio

Instance my-studio removed

The daemon can be stopped and restarted at any time — running instances are unaffected.

$ norsk-ctl shutdown --daemon-only

Daemon stopped (pid 637624)