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This guide walks you through pulling an existing Xano workspace to your local machine so you can edit XanoScript locally, use AI tools, and push changes back.

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Prerequisites

  • An existing Xano workspace with tables, APIs, or functions already built
  • Node.js 18 or later
  • A code editor (VS Code or Cursor recommended)
1

Install the Xano CLI (if needed)

If you haven’t installed the CLI yet:
Terminal
npm install -g @xano/cli
Already have it? Make sure you’re on the latest version:
Terminal
npm update -g @xano/cli
2

Authenticate (if needed)

If you haven’t set up a profile yet, authenticate with your Xano account:
Terminal
xano auth
Select your instance and the workspace you want to work with during the setup flow.
For self-hosted or beta environments, add -o https://your-environment-url.com. See Get Started for details.
If you already have a profile but need to point it to a different workspace:
Terminal
xano profile edit -w WORKSPACE_ID
3

Pull your workspace

Download your entire workspace as XanoScript files:
Terminal
xano workspace pull ./my-workspace
This creates a local directory with all of your resources organized by type:
my-workspace/
├── table/
│   ├── user.xs
│   └── product.xs
├── function/
│   └── calculate_total.xs
├── api/
│   ├── user/
│   │   ├── api_group.xs
│   │   └── get_user_get.xs
│   └── product/
│       ├── api_group.xs
│       └── list_products_get.xs
├── task/
│   └── daily_cleanup.xs
└── ...
API endpoints are grouped under api/{group_name}/ directories, with filenames in {name}_{verb}.xs format. See Push & Pull for the full directory structure reference.To include environment variables and records:
Terminal
xano workspace pull ./my-workspace --env --records
4

Install the VS Code Extension

For the best editing experience, install the XanoScript VS Code Extension:
Terminal
code --install-extension xano.xanoscript
This gives you syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and inline error detection for .xs files.
5

Develop locally with AI

With your workspace files on disk, you can use AI tools to understand, modify, and extend your backend:With the Xano MCP Server + an AI assistant (Claude, Cursor, etc.):Connect your AI assistant to the Xano MCP Server for workspace-aware code generation. The AI can read your existing XanoScript, understand your data model, and generate new APIs, functions, or modifications that fit your existing architecture.Editing directly:Open the .xs files in your editor and make changes. The directory structure makes it easy to find what you need — tables in table/, APIs in api/, functions in function/, and so on.
When making significant changes, consider creating a development branch first so your live environment isn’t affected.
6

Push your changes

When you’re ready to deploy your changes:
Terminal
xano workspace push ./my-workspace
Your updated XanoScript is sent to Xano and applied to the workspace.
7

Verify

Check the Xano dashboard to confirm your changes. Test your APIs, review updated functions, and validate that everything works as expected.

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Keeping in Sync

If you or your teammates also make changes in the Xano dashboard, pull regularly to stay up to date:
Terminal
xano workspace pull ./my-workspace
A good habit is to pull before you push to avoid overwriting dashboard changes.

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Working on a Branch

For larger changes, work on a dedicated branch to avoid impacting the live environment:
Terminal
# Create a development branch
xano branch create -l dev -s v1

# Pull the branch
xano workspace pull ./my-workspace -b dev

# ... make changes ...

# Push to the branch
xano workspace push ./my-workspace -b dev

# When ready, promote to live
xano branch set_live dev

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Version Control with Git

Initialize a Git repository in your workspace directory to track changes over time:
Terminal
cd my-workspace
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Pull from Xano workspace"
After each pull or local edit, commit to keep a clean history of what changed and when.