Practical overview
When it fits
Use it when a Weaviate task fits a documented command-line workflow, such as configuring a collection, importing records, searching data or managing backups and tenants.
Who it is for
- Developers and database operators managing local or remote Weaviate instances.
- Teams that want to perform Weaviate configuration, data and administration tasks from a terminal.
Documented uses
- Create, inspect, update and delete collection configurations.
- Import, query, update and delete data using vector, keyword or hybrid search.
- Manage tenants and their states, backups and restores, shards, replication operations, and user roles and permissions.
Requirements & limits
The README lists installation through pip and, on Mac, Homebrew. It requires Python 3.10+ and a local or remote Weaviate instance. The repository lists a BSD-3-Clause license.
- Requires a Weaviate instance and Python 3.10 or later.
- Connection settings can be stored in the default JSON configuration file or selected using
--config-file; API-key authentication is documented for remote connections. - The README names vector, keyword and hybrid search, and lists supported model providers including Transformers, OpenAI, Ollama, Cohere and JinaAI; Weaviate Embeddings Service is listed for WCD clusters only.
- The README’s example workflow uses a
transformersvectorizer and a hybrid query.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Install and connect Weaviate CLI
Install the CLI and configure its connection to a local or remote Weaviate instance.
Before you start
- Python 3.10 or later
- A local or remote Weaviate instance
- Connection details; remote access can use API-key authentication
Steps
Install with pip using the command below, or on Mac use
brew install weaviate-cli.pip install weaviate-cliConfigure the Weaviate host and ports in
~/.config/weaviate/config.json, or select another JSON file with--config-file.For a remote instance using API-key authentication, add the documented
authsettings to the configuration file.Run
weaviate-cli --helpto view available commands.
Expected outcome
The CLI is installed and configured with a Weaviate connection, and its command list can be viewed.
Guide limitations
- The guide covers installation and configuration; it does not verify a connection or demonstrate a completed database operation.
- The README lists Python 3.10+ and a Weaviate instance as requirements.
Create a collection, import data and run a hybrid query
Follow the README’s example terminal sequence for collection creation, data import and hybrid search.
Before you start
- Weaviate CLI installed and configured
- A Weaviate instance
- A collection name to use in the example
Steps
Create a collection with
weaviate-cli create collection --collection movies --vectorizer transformers.Import data with
weaviate-cli create data --collection movies --limit 1000.Search with
weaviate-cli query data --collection movies --search-type hybrid --query "action movies".
Expected outcome
The documented sequence issues commands to create a collection, import data and submit a hybrid-search query.
Guide limitations
- These are README examples, not execution or compatibility tests.
- The import example does not specify a data source; the README labels the input as test data.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 14 October 2026
- Original website title
- weaviate/weaviate-cli · Official homepage title · retained in its source language