CLI Reference

May 19, 2026 · View on GitHub

dbc

Usage

$ dbc [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Commands

dbc search: Search for a driver to install
dbc install: Install a driver
dbc uninstall: Uninstall a driver
dbc list: List installed drivers
dbc info: Get information about a driver
dbc docs: Open driver documentation in a web browser
dbc init: Create a driver list file
dbc add: Add a driver to the driver list
dbc remove: Remove a driver from the driver list
dbc sync: Install the drivers from the driver list
dbc auth: Manage driver registry credentials

search

Search for a driver to install.

Usage

$ dbc search [PATTERN]

Arguments

PATTERN

: Optional. A pattern to restrict the list of drivers returned by. Driver names are matched by wildcard so substrings may be used.

Options

--json {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Print output as JSON instead of plaintext

--pre {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Include pre-release drivers and versions (hidden by default unless already installed)

--verbose, -v

: Enable verbose output

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

: Name of the driver to install. This can be a plain driver name like bigquery, a driver name with a version constraint like bigquery=1.0.0 or bigquery>=1,<2, or a path to a local driver archive.

For the full version-constraint syntax and more examples, see [Installing Drivers: Version Constraints](../guides/installing.md#version-constraints). For local archives, see [Installing Drivers: From Local Archive](../guides/installing.md#from-local-archive).

Options

--json {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Print output as JSON instead of plaintext

--level LEVEL, -l LEVEL

: The configuration level to install the driver to (user, or system). See Config Level.

--no-verify

: Allow installation of drivers without a signature file

--pre {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Allow implicit installation of pre-release versions

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

uninstall

Uninstall a driver.

Usage

$ dbc uninstall [OPTIONS] <DRIVER>

Arguments

DRIVER

: Name of the driver to uninstall.

Options

--json {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Print output as JSON instead of plaintext

--level LEVEL, -l LEVEL

: The configuration level to uninstall the driver from (user, or system). See Config Level.

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

list

List installed drivers across every configuration level (system, user, and from environment variables). Use --level to restrict the output to drivers installed at a single level.

Usage

$ dbc list [OPTIONS]

Options

--json

: Print output as JSON instead of plaintext

--level LEVEL, -l LEVEL

: Only list drivers installed at the given configuration level (user, or system). See Config Level.

--quiet, -q

: Suppress all output

init

Create a driver list file.

Usage

$ dbc init [PATH]

Arguments

PATH

: Optional. A path to create a driver list under. Defaults to the current working directory.

Options

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

add

Add one or more drivers to the current driver list.

Usage

$ dbc add <DRIVER>

Arguments

DRIVER

: Name of one or more drivers to add. Can be a short driver name or a driver name with version requirement. Examples: bigquery, bigquery=1.0.0, bigquery>1.

Options

--path FILE, -p FILE

: Driver list to add to [default: ./dbc.toml]

--pre {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Allow pre-release versions implicitly

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

remove

Remove a driver from the current driver list.

Usage

$ dbc remove <DRIVER>

Arguments

DRIVER

: Name of the driver to remove.

Options

--path FILE, -p FILE

: Driver list to remove from [default: ./dbc.toml]

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

sync

Install drivers from a driver list. Also creates a dbc.lock file next to the driver list. If dbc.lock exists, driver versions from it will be used when this subcommand is run.

Usage

$ dbc sync
dbc sync --file dbc.toml

Options

--path FILE, -p FILE

: Path to a driver list file to sync. Defaults to dbc.toml in the current working directory.

--level LEVEL, -l LEVEL

: The configuration level to install drivers to (user, or system). See Config Level.

--no-verify

: Allow installation of drivers without a signature file

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

info

Get information about a driver. Shows information about the latest version of the driver with the given name.

Usage

$ dbc info <DRIVER>

Arguments

DRIVER

: Name of the driver to get information for.

Options

--json {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Print output as JSON instead of plaintext

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

docs

Open driver documentation in a web browser. If no driver is specified, opens the general dbc documentation. If a driver name is provided, opens the documentation for that specific driver.

Usage

$ dbc docs
$ dbc docs <DRIVER>

Arguments

DRIVER

: Optional. Name of the driver to open documentation for. If omitted, opens the general dbc documentation page.

Options

--no-open

: Print the documentation URL instead of opening it in a browser

--quiet, -q {{ since_version('v0.2.0') }}

: Suppress all output

auth

Usage

$ dbc auth login
$ dbc auth logout
$ dbc auth license install # New in v0.3.0

Subcommands

Arguments

REGISTRYURL

: Optional. URL of the driver registry to authenticate with. Defaults to https://dbc-cdn-private.columnar.tech/.

Options

--clientid CLIENTID

: OAuth Client ID (can also be set via DBC_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID)

--api-key API-KEY

: Authenticate using an API key instead of OAuth (use '-' to read from stdin)

logout

Arguments

REGISTRYURL

: Optional. URL of the driver registry to log out from. Defaults to https://dbc-cdn-private.columnar.tech/.

Options

--purge

: Remove all local auth credentials for dbc

!!! warning

    ADBC drivers that require a license (i.e., private drivers) will stop working after you run this command. You can re-download your license with `dbc auth login`. See [Downloading Your License](../guides/private_drivers.md#downloading-your-license).

license

Subcommands

install

Install a license file to the dbc credentials directory.

Arguments

LICENSEPATH

: Path to the license file to install.

Options

--force

: Overwrite an existing license and skip the filename check.