# modal shell | Modal Docs

- **URL:** https://modal.com/docs/cli/latest/shell
- **Summary:** Run a command or interactive shell inside a Modal container.

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`modal shell`
=============

Run a command or interactive shell inside a Modal container.

Examples:

Start an interactive shell inside the default Debian-based image:

    modal shell

Start an interactive shell with the spec for `my_function` in your App (uses the same image, volumes, mounts, etc.):

    modal shell hello_world.py::my_function

Or, if you’re using a [modal.Cls](https://modal.com/docs/sdk/py/latest/modal.Cls)
 you can refer to a `@modal.method` directly:

    modal shell hello_world.py::MyClass.my_method

Start a `python` shell:

    modal shell hello_world.py --cmd=python

Run a command with your function’s spec and pipe the output to a file:

    modal shell hello_world.py -c 'uv pip list' > env.txt

Connect to a running Sandbox by ID:

    modal shell sb-abc123xyz

**Usage**:

    modal shell [OPTIONS] [REF]

**Options**:

*   `-c, --cmd TEXT`: Command to run inside the Modal image.
*   `-e, --env TEXT`: Environment to interact with. If unspecified, defers to `MODAL_ENVIRONMENT`, your active local profile, or your workspace default, in that order.
*   `--image TEXT`: Container image tag for inside the shell (if not using REF).
*   `--add-python TEXT`: Add Python to the image (if not using REF).
*   `--volume TEXT`: Name of a modal.Volume to mount inside the shell at /mnt/`{name}` (if not using REF). Can be used multiple times.
*   `--add-local TEXT`: Local file or directory to mount inside the shell at /mnt/`{basename}` (if not using REF). Can be used multiple times.
*   `--secret TEXT`: Name of a modal.Secret to mount inside the shell (if not using REF). Can be used multiple times.
*   `--cpu INTEGER`: Number of CPUs to allocate to the shell (if not using REF).
*   `--memory INTEGER`: Memory to allocate for the shell, in MiB (if not using REF).
*   `--gpu TEXT`: GPUs to request for the shell, if any. Examples are `any`, `a10g`, `a100:4` (if not using REF).
*   `--cloud TEXT`: Cloud provider to run the shell on. Possible values are `aws`, `gcp`, `oci`, `auto` (if not using REF).
*   `--region TEXT`: Region(s) to run the container on. Can be a single region or a comma-separated list to choose from (if not using REF).
*   `--pty / --no-pty`: Run the command using a PTY.
*   `-m`: Interpret argument as a Python module path instead of a file/script path
*   `--help`: Show this message and exit.

[modal shell](https://modal.com/docs/cli/latest/shell#modal-shell)