CLI Reference

Complete reference for all cqlsh-rs command-line flags and arguments.

Synopsis

cqlsh-rs [OPTIONS] [host] [port]

Argument	Description	Default
`host`	Contact point hostname or IP address	`127.0.0.1`
`port`	Native transport port	`9042`

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--ssl`		Enable SSL/TLS connection	off
`--connect-timeout SECONDS`		Connection timeout in seconds	5
`--request-timeout SECONDS`		Per-request timeout in seconds	10
`--protocol-version VERSION`		Native protocol version (1-6)	auto-negotiate
`--secure-connect-bundle BUNDLE`	`-b`	Secure connect bundle for Astra DB

Flag	Short	Description
`--username USERNAME`	`-u`	Authentication username
`--password PASSWORD`	`-p`	Authentication password

Flag	Short	Description
`--execute STATEMENT`	`-e`	Execute a CQL statement and exit
`--file FILE`	`-f`	Execute CQL statements from a file
`--keyspace KEYSPACE`	`-k`	Set the initial keyspace

Note: --execute and --file are mutually exclusive.

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--color`	`-C`	Force colored output	auto-detect
`--no-color`		Disable colored output
`--encoding ENCODING`		Character encoding	`utf-8`
`--tty`	`-t`	Force TTY mode	auto-detect

Note: --color and --no-color are mutually exclusive.

Flag	Description	Default
`--cqlshrc FILE`	Path to cqlshrc configuration file	`~/.cassandra/cqlshrc`
`--cqlversion VERSION`	CQL version to use	auto-detect
`--consistency-level LEVEL`	Initial consistency level	`ONE`
`--serial-consistency-level LEVEL`	Initial serial consistency level	`SERIAL`

Flag	Description
`--no-file-io`	Disable file I/O commands (COPY, SOURCE, CAPTURE)
`--no_compact`	Disable compact storage interpretation
`--disable-history`	Disable saving of command history
`--debug`	Show additional debug information
`--browser BROWSER`	Browser for CQL HELP (unused in modern cqlsh)

Flag	Description
`--completions SHELL`	Generate shell completion script (bash, zsh, fish, elvish, powershell)
`--version`	Show version and exit
`--help`	Show help and exit

Variable	Description	Equivalent flag
`CQLSH_HOST`	Default contact point hostname	`host` positional
`CQLSH_PORT`	Default native transport port	`port` positional
`SSL_CERTFILE`	SSL certificate file path	`--ssl` + cqlshrc `[ssl] certfile`
`SSL_VALIDATE`	Enable/disable certificate validation	cqlshrc `[ssl] validate`
`CQLSH_DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	Default connect timeout	`--connect-timeout`
`CQLSH_DEFAULT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	Default request timeout	`--request-timeout`
`CQL_HISTORY`	Override history file path

Configuration values are resolved in this order (highest priority first):