# gel instance link

Authenticate a connection to a remote Gel instance and assign an instance name to simplify future connections.

```cli-synopsis
gel instance link [<options>] <name>
```

## Description

`gel instance link` is a terminal command used to bind a set of connection credentials to an instance name. This is typically used as a way to simplify connecting to remote Gel database instances. Usually there's no need to do this for local instances as [gel project init](https://docs.geldata.com/reference/using/cli/gel_project/gel_project_init.md#ref-cli-gel-project-init) will already set up a named instance.

> Note: Unlike other `gel instance` sub-commands, `gel instance link` is recommended to link self-hosted instances. This can make other operations like migrations, dumps, and restores more convenient.
> 
> Linking is not required for Gel Cloud instances. They can always be accessed via CLI using `<org-name>/<instance-name>`.

## Options

The `instance link` command uses the standard [connection options](https://docs.geldata.com/reference/using/cli/gel_connopts.md#ref-cli-gel-connopts) for specifying the instance to be linked.

`<name>`:
Specifies a new instance name to associate with the connection options. If not present, the interactive mode will ask for the name.



`--non-interactive`:
Run in non-interactive mode (accepting all defaults).



`--quiet`:
Reduce command verbosity.



`--trust-tls-cert`:
Trust peer certificate.



`--overwrite`:
Overwrite existing credential file if any.