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Kusto CLI

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Applies to: ✅ Microsoft Fabric ✅ Azure Data Explorer

Kusto.Cli is a command-line utility for sending queries and control commands on a Kusto cluster. It can run in one of several modes:

  • REPL mode: The user enters queries and commands, and the tool displays the results, then awaits the next user query/command. ("REPL" stands for "read/eval/print/loop".)

  • Execute mode: The user enters one or more queries and commands to run as command-line arguments. The arguments are automatically run in sequence, and their results output to the console. Optionally, after all the input queries and commands have run, the tool goes into REPL mode.

  • Script mode: Similar to execute mode, but with the queries and commands specified in a file (the "script") instead of through command-line arguments.

Kusto.Cli is primarily provided for automating tasks against a Kusto service that normally requires writing code. For example, a C# program or a PowerShell script.

Get the tool

Kusto.Cli is part of the NuGet package Microsoft.Azure.Kusto.Tools that you can download for .NET. After you download the package, extract the package's tools folder to the target folder. No additional installation is required because it's xcopy-installable.

Run the tool

Kusto.Cli requires at least one command-line argument to run. Usually, that argument is the connection string to the Kusto service that the tool should connect to. For more information, see Kusto connection strings. If you run the tool without command-line arguments, with an unknown set of arguments, or with the /help switch, a help message will display on the console.

For example, use the following command to run Kusto.Cli. The command will connect to the help Kusto service, and set the database context to the Samples database:

Kusto.Cli.exe "https://help.kusto.windows.net/Samples;Fed=true"

Note

Use double-quotes around the connection string to prevent shell applications such as PowerShell from mis-interpreting the semicolon (;) and similar characters.

Command-line arguments

(To get an exhaustive list of command-line arguments, run: Kusto.Cli.exe -help.)

Kusto.Cli.exe ConnectionString [Switches]

ConnectionString

  • The Kusto connection string that holds all the Kusto connection information. Defaults to net.tcp://localhost/NetDefaultDB.

-execute:QueryOrCommand

  • If specified, runs Kusto.Cli in execute mode and the specified query or command is run. This switch can repeat, and the queries/commands are run sequentially in order of appearance. This switch can't be used together with -script or -scriptml.

-keepRunning:EnableKeepRunning

  • If specified, as either true or false, it enables or disables REPL mode after all -script or -execute values have been processed.

-script:ScriptFile

  • If specified, runs Kusto.Cli in script mode. The specified script file is loaded and the queries or commands in it are run sequentially. Newlines are used to delimit queries/commands, except when lines end with a & or && combination, as explained below. This switch can't be used together with -execute.

-scriptml:ScriptFile

  • If specified, runs Kusto.Cli in script mode. The specified script file is loaded and the queries or commands in it are run sequentially. The entire script file is considered a single query or command (ignoring line input mode or block input mode considerations.) This switch can't be used together with -execute.

-scriptQuitOnError:QuitOnFirstScriptError

  • If enabled, Kusto.Cli will quit if a command or query in a script results with an error. If disabled, script execution will continue despite errors. By default this switch is enabled.

-echo:EnableEchoMode

  • If specified, as either true or false, it enables or disables echo mode. When echo mode is enabled, every query or command is repeated in the output.

-transcript:TranscriptFile

  • If specified, writes program output to TranscriptFile.

-logToConsole:EnableLogToConsole

  • If specified, as either true or false, it enables or disables displaying the program output on the console.

-lineMode:EnableLineMode

  • Determines how newlines are treated when inputting queries or command from the console or from scripts. By default (or if set explicitly to true), the tool uses "line input mode". If set to false, scripts are read in "block input mode." See below for an explanation of these two modes.

Example

Kusto.Cli.exe "https://help.kusto.windows.net/Samples;Fed=true" -script:"c:\mycommands.txt"

Note

There should be no space between the colon and the argument value

Directives

Kusto.Cli runs a number of directives in the tool instead of sending them to the service for processing.

Directive Description
?
#h
#help		 Get a short help message
q
#quit
#exit		 Exit the tool
#a
#abort		 Exit the tool abortively
#clip The results of the next query or command will be copied to the clipboard
#cls Clear the console screen
#connect [ConnectionString] Connects to a different Kusto service (if ConnectionString is omitted, the current one will be displayed)
#crp [Name [= Value]] Sets the value of a client request property, or just displays it, or displays all values
#crp (-list | -doc) [Prefix] Lists client request properties, by prefix, or all
#dbcontext [DatabaseName] Changes the "context" database used by queries and commands to DatabaseName. If omitted, the current context displays
ke Text Sends the specified text to a running Kusto.Explorer process
#loop Count Text Runs the text a number of times
#qp [Name [= Value]] Sets the value of a query parameter, or just displays it, or displays all values. Single/double quotes at beginning/end will be trimmed
#save Filename The results of the next query or command will be saved to the indicated CSV file
#script Filename Executes the indicated script
#scriptml Filename Executes the indicated multiline script

Line input mode and block input mode

By default, Kusto.Cli runs in line input mode. Each newline character is interpreted as a delimiter between queries/commands, and the line is immediately sent for execution.

In this mode, you can break a long query or command into multiple lines. The & character as the last character of a line, before the newline, causes Kusto.Cli to continue reading the next line. The && character as the last character of a line, before the newline, causes Kusto.Cli to ignore the newline and continue reading the next line.

Kusto.Cli also supports running in block input mode by specifying -lineMode:false in the command line, or by executing the directive #blockmode. In this mode, Kusto.Cli behaves in a similar way to Kusto.Explorer and Kusto.WebExplorer, in that lines are read together as "blocks", with each block consisting of a single query or command, and blocks are delimited by one or more empty lines between them.

Note

The use of block input mode is highly recommended when queries/commands are read from a script file (-script).

Comments

Kusto.Cli interprets a // string that begins new line as a comment line. It ignores the rest of the line and continues reading the next line.

Tool-only options

Commands Effect Currently
#timeon|#timeoff enable/disable option timing: Display the time requests took TRUE
#tableon|#tableoff enable/disable option tableView: Format results sets as tables TRUE
#marson|#marsoff enable/disable option marsView: Display the second-to-last result sets FALSE
#resultson|#resultsoff enable/disable option outputResultsSet: Display the result sets TRUE
#prettyon|#prettyoff enable/disable option prettyErrors: Clean up errors TRUE
#markdownon|#markdownoff enable/disable option markdownView: Format tables as MarkDown FALSE
#progressiveon|#progressiveoff enable/disable option progressiveView: Ask for and display progressive results FALSE
#linemode|#blockmode enable/disable option lineMode: Single-line input mode TRUE
Commands Effect Default
#cridon|#cridoff (enable|disable option crid: Display the ClientRequestId before sending the request) FALSE
#csvheaderson|#csvheadersoff (enable|disable option csvHeaders: Include headers in CSV output) TRUE
#focuson|#focusoff (enable|disable option focus: Remove all the extra fluff and focus on the right stuff) FALSE
#linemode|#blockmode (enable|disable option lineMode: Single-line input mode) TRUE
#markdownon|#markdownoff (enable|disable option markdownView: Format tables as MarkDown) FALSE
#marson|#marsoff (enable|disable option marsView: Display the second-to-last result sets) FALSE
#prettyon|#prettyoff (enable|disable option prettyErrors: Clean up errors) TRUE
#querystreamingon|#querystreamingoff (enable|disable option queryStreaming: Use the queryStreaming endpoint (Kusto team only)) FALSE
#resultson|#resultsoff (enable|disable option outputResultsSet: Display the result sets) TRUE
#tableon|#tableoff (enable|disable option tableView: Format results sets as tables) TRUE
#timeon|#timeoff (enable|disable option timing: Display the amount of time that the requests took) TRUE
#typeon|#typeoff (enable|disable option typeView: Display the type of each column in table view. Forces Streaming=true) TRUE
#v2protocolon|#v2protocoloff (enable|disable option v2protocol: Use the v2 query protocol, not v1) TRUE

Use Kusto.Cli to export results as CSV

Kusto.Cli has a special client-side command, #save that exports the next query results to a local file in CSV format. For example, the following line will export 10 records out of the StormEvents table into the help.kusto.windows.net cluster, Samples database:

Kusto.Cli.exe @help/Samples -execute:"#save c:\temp\test.log" -execute:"StormEvents | take 10"

Use Kusto.Cli to control a running instance of Kusto.Explorer

You can instruct Kusto.Cli to communicate with the "primary" instance of Kusto.Explorer running on the machine, and send it queries. This mechanism can be useful for programs that want to run a number of queries, but don't want to start the Kusto.Explorer process repeatedly. In the following example, Kusto.Cli is used to run a query against the help cluster:

#connect cluster('help').database('Samples')

#ke StormEvents | count

The syntax is simple: #ke, followed by whitespace, and the query to run. The query is then sent to the primary instance of Kusto.Explorer, if one exists, with the current cluster/database set in Kusto.Cli.