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Sometimes logs and metrics aren’t enough and you need to look inside a live runner — inspect the filesystem, check GPU utilization, or verify that model weights downloaded correctly. The fal runners CLI gives you direct access to any running container. First, find the runner you want to inspect: 
fal runners list
Then either open an interactive shell or run a one-off command.

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Interactive shell

fal runners shell opens an interactive session inside the runner’s container, giving you full shell access to explore: 
fal runners shell runner_abc123xyz
Press Ctrl+D or type exit to disconnect. Use this for exploratory debugging sessions where you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for yet.

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One-off commands

fal runners exec runs a single command on the runner without opening a shell. Pass the command after a -- separator so its arguments aren’t parsed as fal CLI flags: 
# Verify model weights downloaded to persistent storage
fal runners exec runner_abc123xyz -- ls -lh /data/models

# Print environment variables on the runner
fal runners exec runner_abc123xyz -- env

# Tail a log file inside the container
fal runners exec runner_abc123xyz -- tail -f /var/log/my-app.log

# Start an interactive Python REPL (allocate a TTY with -it)
fal runners exec runner_abc123xyz -it -- python
Use exec for quick checks or scripted inspection; add -it when the command needs a TTY and stdin, like a REPL. Both commands attach to the runner’s container environment, so anything your app can see — environment variables, mounted persistent storage, GPU devices — is available to you.

Understanding Runners

What runners are, their lifecycle states, and how they start and shut down

CLI: fal runners

Full reference for list, logs, stop, kill, shell, and exec