r-cli

RethinkDB command-line client. Execute ReQL queries, manage databases, tables, indexes, users, and permissions -- all from the terminal. Includes an interactive REPL with tab completion and multiline input.

Installation

Homebrew

brew install iatsiuk/tap/r-cli

From releases

Download the binary from the GitHub Releases page.

Quick Usage

# interactive REPL (starts automatically when no args given)
r-cli

# execute a ReQL expression
r-cli 'r.db("test").tableList()'

# pipe-friendly
echo 'r.db("test").table("users").count()' | r-cli

# database management
r-cli db list
r-cli db create mydb
r-cli db drop mydb --yes

# table management
r-cli table list --db mydb
r-cli table create users --db mydb

# query with output format
r-cli -d mydb -f table 'r.table("users")'

# bulk insert from JSONL
cat data.jsonl | r-cli insert mydb.users
r-cli insert mydb.users -F data.json

# server status
r-cli status

# connect to remote host with auth
r-cli -H db.example.com -P 28015 -u admin -p secret 'r.dbList()'

# TLS connection
r-cli --tls-cert ca.pem -H db.example.com 'r.dbList()'

Commands

Command	Description
(default)	Execute expression (arg or stdin) or start REPL on TTY
query [expr]	Execute a ReQL expression
run [term]	Execute a raw ReQL JSON term
repl	Start interactive REPL
db list|create|drop	Database management
table list|create|drop|info|reconfigure|rebalance|wait|sync	Table management (requires --db)
index list|create|drop|rename|status|wait	Index management (requires --db)
user list|create|delete|set-password	User management
grant <user>	Grant/revoke permissions
insert <db.table>	Bulk insert documents
status	Show server info
completion bash|zsh|fish	Generate shell completions

query

r-cli query 'r.db("test").table("users").filter(r.row("age").gt(21))'

# from file (multiple queries separated by ---)
r-cli query -F queries.reql
r-cli query -F queries.reql --stop-on-error

insert

# JSONL from stdin (default)
cat users.jsonl | r-cli insert mydb.users

# JSON array from file
r-cli insert mydb.users -F users.json

# options
r-cli insert mydb.users -F data.jsonl --batch-size 500 --conflict replace

Conflict strategies: error (default), replace, update.

grant

# global permission
r-cli grant alice --read

# database-level
r-cli grant alice --read --write --db mydb

# table-level
r-cli grant alice --read --db mydb --table users

# revoke
r-cli grant alice --read=false --db mydb

table reconfigure

r-cli table reconfigure users --db mydb --shards 2 --replicas 3
r-cli table reconfigure users --db mydb --dry-run

index create

r-cli index create users email --db mydb
r-cli index create users location --db mydb --geo
r-cli index create users tags --db mydb --multi

Interactive REPL

When invoked with no arguments on a TTY, r-cli starts an interactive REPL:

r> r.dbList()
["test", "mydb"]
r> .use mydb
r> r.tableList()
["users", "posts"]
r> r.table("users").count()
42

Features:

• Tab completion for databases, tables, and ReQL methods
• Multiline input (auto-detected by unbalanced brackets/parens)
• History saved to ~/.r-cli_history

Dot-commands:

• .use <db> -- switch default database
• .format <fmt> -- switch output format (json, jsonl, raw, table)
• .help -- list commands
• .exit / .quit -- exit REPL

Global Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--host	-H	localhost	RethinkDB host
--port	-P	28015	RethinkDB port
--db	-d		Default database
--user	-u	admin	RethinkDB user
--password	-p		Password
--password-file			Read password from file
--timeout	-t	30s	Connection timeout
--format	-f	(auto)	Output: json, jsonl, raw, table
--profile		false	Enable query profiling
--time-format		native	native converts TIME pseudo-types, raw passes through
--binary-format		native	native converts BINARY pseudo-types, raw passes through
--quiet		false	Suppress non-data stderr output
--verbose		false	Show connection info and query timing
--tls-cert			CA certificate PEM file
--tls-client-cert			Client certificate PEM file
--tls-key			Client private key PEM file
--insecure-skip-verify		false	Skip TLS certificate verification

Output Formats

Format is auto-detected: json (pretty-printed) on TTY, jsonl (one JSON per line) when piped. Override with -f:

• json -- pretty-printed JSON; single value as-is, multiple values wrapped in an array
• jsonl -- one compact JSON document per line
• raw -- strings unquoted, other values as compact JSON
• table -- aligned ASCII table (for object results)

Environment Variables

Variable	Overrides
RETHINKDB_HOST	--host
RETHINKDB_PORT	--port
RETHINKDB_USER	--user
RETHINKDB_PASSWORD	--password
RETHINKDB_DATABASE	--db

CLI flags always take precedence over environment variables.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Connection error
2	Query error
3	Authentication error
130	Interrupted (SIGINT/SIGTERM)