# CLI Reference

Meltano provides a command line interface (CLI) that makes it easy to manage your project, plugins, and EL(T) pipelines. To quickly find the meltano subcommand you're looking for, use the Table of Contents in the sidebar.

# `add`

meltano add lets you add plugins to your Meltano project.

Specifically, it will:

add a new plugin definition to your meltano.yml project file under plugins: <type>s:, e.g. plugins: extractors:, and
install the new plugin using meltano install <type> <name>, which will:
1. create a dedicated Python virtual environment for the plugin inside the .meltano directory at .meltano/<type>s/<name>/venv, e.g. .meltano/extractors/tap-gitlab/venv, and
2. install the plugin's pip package into the virtual environment using pip install <pip_url>.

(Some plugin types have slightly different or additional behavior; refer to the plugin type documentation for more details.)

Once the plugin has been added to your project, you can configure it using meltano config, invoke its executable using meltano invoke, and use it in a pipeline using meltano elt.

To learn more about adding a plugin to your project, refer to the Plugin Management guide.

# How to use

The only required arguments are the new plugin's type and unique name:

meltano add <type> <name>

# For example:
meltano add extractor tap-gitlab
meltano add loader target-postgres

Without a --custom or --inherit-from option, this will add the discoverable plugin with the provided name to your meltano.yml project file using a shadowing plugin definition.

If multiple variants of the discoverable plugin are available, the specific variant to add can be identified using the --variant option:

meltano add <type> <name> --variant <variant>

# For example:
meltano add loader target-postgres --variant transferwise

To add a custom plugin using a custom plugin definition, use the --custom flag:

meltano add --custom <type> <name>

# For example:
meltano add --custom extractor tap-covid-19

# If you're using Docker, don't forget to mount the project directory,
# and ensure that interactive mode is enabled so that Meltano can ask you
# additional questions about the plugin and get your answers over STDIN:
docker run --interactive -v $(pwd):/project -w /project meltano/meltano add --custom extractor tap-covid-19

To add a plugin inheriting from an existing one using an inheriting plugin definition, use the --inherit-from option:

meltano add <type> <name> --inherit-from <existing-name>

# For example:
meltano add extractor tap-ga--client-foo --inherit-from tap-google-analytics

# Parameters

--custom: Add a custom plugin. The command will prompt you for the package's base plugin description metadata.
--inherit-from=<existing-name>: Add a plugin inheriting from an existing plugin in the project or a discoverable plugin identified by name.
--as=<new-name>: meltano add <type> <name> --as=<new-name> is equivalent to meltano add <type> <new-name> --inherit-from=<name>, and can be used to add a discoverable plugin to your project with a different name.
--variant=<variant>: Add a specific (non-default) variant of the identified discoverable plugin.
--include-related: Also add transform, dashboard, and model plugins related to the identified discoverable extractor.

# `config`

Enables you to manage the configuration of Meltano itself or any of its plugins, as well as plugin extras.

When no explicit --store is specified, meltano config <plugin> set will automatically store the value in the most appropriate location:

the system database, if the project is deployed as read-only;
the current location, if a setting's default value has already been overwritten;
.env, if a setting is sensitive or environment-specific (defined as kind: password or env_specific: true);
meltano.yml otherwise.

# How to use

To manage the configuration of Meltano itself, specify meltano as the plugin name.

# List all settings for Meltano itself with their names,
# environment variables, and current values
meltano config meltano list

# List all settings for the specified plugin with their names,
# environment variables, and current values
meltano config <plugin> list

# View the plugin's current configuration.
meltano config <plugin>

# Sets the configuration's setting `<name>` to `<value>`.
meltano config <plugin> set <name> <value>

# Values are parsed as JSON, and interpreted as simple strings when invalid
meltano config <plugin> set <name> <string>             # String with no meaning in JSON
meltano config <plugin> set <name> "<word> <word> ..."  # Multi-word string with no meaning in JSON
meltano config <plugin> set <name> <json>               # JSON that fits in a single word
meltano config <plugin> set <name> '<json>'             # JSON in a string argument
meltano config <plugin> set <name> '"<string>"'         # JSON string
meltano config <plugin> set <name> <number>             # JSON number, e.g. 100 or 3.14
meltano config <plugin> set <name> <true/false>         # Boolean True or False
meltano config <plugin> set <name> '[<elem>, ...]'      # Array
meltano config <plugin> set <name> '{"<key>": <value>, ...}' # JSON object

# Remove the configuration's setting `<name>`.
meltano config <plugin> unset <name>

# Clear the configuration (back to defaults).
meltano config <plugin> reset

# Set, unset, or reset in a specific location
meltano config <plugin> set --store=meltano_yml <name> <value> # set in `meltano.yml`
meltano config <plugin> unset --store=dotenv <name> # unset in `.env`
meltano config <plugin> reset --store=db # reset in system database

If multiple plugins share the same name, you can provide an additional --plugin-type argument to disambiguate:

meltano config --plugin-type=<type> <plugin> ...

# Nested properties

Nested properties can be set (and unset) by specifying a list of property names:

meltano config <plugin> set <property> <subproperty> <value>
meltano config <plugin> set <property> <deep> <nesting> <value>

meltano config <plugin> unset <property> <subproperty>

This will result in the following configuration being passed on to the plugin:

{"<property>": {"<subproperty>": "<value>", "<deep>": {"<nesting>": "<value>"}}}

# Dot separator

Note that meltano config <plugin> list always displays full config keys with nesting represented by the . separator, matching the internal flattened representation:

meltano config <plugin> list
# => <property>.<subproperty>
# => <property>.<deep>.<nesting>

You can also set nested properties using the . separator, but specifying a list of names is preferred since this will result in the nesting being reflected in the plugin's config object in your meltano.yml project file:

meltano config <plugin> set <property> <deep> <nesting> <value>
# `meltano.yml`:
#  config:
#    <property>:
#      <deep>:
#        <nesting>: <value>

meltano config <plugin> set <property>.<deep>.<nesting> <value>
# `meltano.yml`:
#  config:
#    <property>.<deep>.<nesting>: <value>

# How to use: Plugin extras

In the context of meltano config, plugin extras are distinguished from regular plugin-specific settings using an underscore (_) prefix, e.g. _example_extra. This also applies in the environment variables that can be used to override them at runtime: since setting names for extras are prefixed with underscores (_), they get an extra underscore to separate them from the plugin name, e.g. TAP_EXAMPLE__EXAMPLE_EXTRA.

By default, meltano config <plugin> and meltano config <plugin> list only take into account regular plugin settings. An --extras flag can be passed to view or list only extras instead.

Be aware that meltano config <plugin> reset resets both regular settings and extras.

# List all extras for the specified plugin with their names,
# environment variables, and current values
meltano config <plugin> list --extras

# View the plugin's current extras
meltano config --extras <plugin>

# Set value of extra `<extra>` to `<value>` through the `_<extra>` setting
meltano config <plugin> set _<extra> <value>

# Unset extra `<extra>`
meltano config <plugin> unset _<extra>

# Reset regular settings _and_ extras
meltano config <plugin> reset

# `discover`

Lists the available discoverable plugins and their variants.

# How to Use

# List all available plugins
meltano discover all

# Only list available extractors
meltano discover extractors

# Only list available loaders
meltano discover loaders

# Only list available models
meltano discover models

# `elt`

This allows you to run your ELT pipeline to Extract, Load, and Transform data using an extractor and loader of your choosing, and optional transformations.

To allow subsequent pipeline runs with the same extractor/loader/transform combination to pick up right where the previous run left off, each ELT run has a Job ID that is used to store and look up the incremental replication state in the system database. If no stable identifier is provided using the --job_id flag or the MELTANO_JOB_ID environment variable, extraction will always start from scratch and a one-off Job ID is automatically generated using the current date and time.

All the output generated by this command is also logged inside the .meltano directory at .meltano/logs/elt/{job_id}/{run_id}/elt.log. The run_id is a UUID autogenerated at each run.

# How to use

meltano elt <extractor> <loader> [--transform={run,skip,only}] [--job_id TEXT]

# Parameters

The --job_id option identifies related EL(T) runs when storing and looking up incremental replication state.
The --transform option can be:
- run: run the Transforms
- skip: skip the Transforms (Default)
- only: only run the Transforms (skip the Extract and Load steps)
A --full-refresh flag can be passed to perform a full refresh, ignoring state left behind by any previous runs with the same job ID.
A --catalog option can be passed to manually provide a catalog file for the extractor, as an alternative to letting one be generated on the fly. This is equivalent to setting the catalog extractor extra.
A --state option can be passed to manually provide a state file for the extractor, as an alternative to letting state be looked up based on the Job ID. This is equivalent to setting the state extractor extra.
One or more --select <entity> options can be passed to only extract records for matching selected entities. Similarly, --exclude <entity> can be used to extract records for all selected entities except for those specified.

Notes:
- The entities that are currently selected for extraction can be discovered using meltano select --list <extractor>.
- Unix shell-style wildcards can be used in entity identifiers to match multiple entities at once.
- Exclusion using --exclude takes precedence over inclusion using --select.
- Specifying --select and/or --exclude is equivalent to setting the select_filter extractor extra.
A --dump option can be passed (along with any of the other options) to dump the content of a pipeline-specific generated file to STDOUT instead of actually running the pipeline. This can aid in debugging extractor catalog generation, incremental replication state lookup, and pipeline environment variables.

Supported values are:
- catalog: Dump the extractor catalog file that would be passed to the tap's executable using the --catalog option.
- state: Dump the extractor state file that would be passed to the tap's executable using the --state option.
- extractor-config: Dump the extractor config file that would be passed to the tap's executable using the --config option.
- loader-config: Dump the loader config file that would be passed to the target's executable using the --config option.
Like any standard output, the dumped content can be redirected to a file using >, e.g. meltano elt ... --dump=state > state.json.

# Examples

meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --transform=run --job_id=gitlab-to-postgres

meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --job_id=gitlab-to-postgres --full-refresh

meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --catalog extract/tap-gitlab.catalog.json
meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --state extract/tap-gitlab.state.json

meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --select commits
meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --exclude project_members

meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --job_id=gitlab-to-postgres --dump=state > extract/tap-gitlab.state.json

# Debugging

If extraction, loading, or transformation is failing, or otherwise not behaving as expected, you can learn more about what's going on behind the scenes by setting Meltano's cli.log_level setting to debug, using the MELTANO_CLI_LOG_LEVEL environment variable or the --log-level CLI option:

MELTANO_CLI_LOG_LEVEL=debug meltano elt ...

meltano --log-level=debug elt ...

In debug mode, meltano elt will log the arguments and environment used to invoke the Singer tap and target executables (and dbt, when running transformations), including the paths to the generated config, catalog, and state files, for you to review:

$ meltano --log-level=debug elt tap-gitlab target-jsonl --job_id=gitlab-to-jsonl
meltano            | INFO Running extract & load...
meltano            | INFO Found state from 2020-08-05 21:30:20.487312.
meltano            | DEBUG Invoking: ['demo-project/.meltano/extractors/tap-gitlab/venv/bin/tap-gitlab', '--config', 'demo-project/.meltano/run/tap-gitlab/tap.config.json', '--state', 'demo-project/.meltano/run/tap-gitlab/state.json']
meltano            | DEBUG Env: {'TAP_GITLAB_API_URL': 'https://gitlab.com', 'GITLAB_API_TOKEN': '', 'GITLAB_API_GROUPS': '', 'GITLAB_API_PROJECTS': 'meltano/meltano', 'GITLAB_API_ULTIMATE_LICENSE': 'False', 'GITLAB_API_START_DATE': '2020-05-01'}
meltano            | DEBUG Invoking: ['demo-project/.meltano/loaders/target-jsonl/venv/bin/target-jsonl', '--config', 'demo-project/.meltano/run/target-jsonl/target.config.json']
meltano            | DEBUG Env: {'MELTANO_EXTRACTOR_NAME': 'tap-gitlab', 'MELTANO_EXTRACTOR_NAMESPACE': 'tap_gitlab', 'MELTANO_EXTRACT_API_URL': 'https://gitlab.com', 'MELTANO_EXTRACT_PRIVATE_TOKEN': '', 'MELTANO_EXTRACT_GROUPS': '', 'MELTANO_EXTRACT_PROJECTS': 'meltano/meltano', 'MELTANO_EXTRACT_ULTIMATE_LICENSE': 'False', 'MELTANO_EXTRACT_START_DATE': '2020-05-01', 'TAP_GITLAB_API_URL': 'https://gitlab.com', 'GITLAB_API_TOKEN': '', 'GITLAB_API_GROUPS': '', 'GITLAB_API_PROJECTS': 'meltano/meltano', 'GITLAB_API_ULTIMATE_LICENSE': 'False', 'GITLAB_API_START_DATE': '2020-05-01', 'TARGET_JSONL_DESTINATION_PATH': 'output', 'TARGET_JSONL_DO_TIMESTAMP_FILE': 'False'}

Note that the contents of these pipeline-specific generated files can also easily be dumped to STDOUT or a file using the --dump option described above.

Additionally, all Singer messages output by the tap and target will be logged, identified by <plugin name> (out) prefixes:

tap-gitlab         | INFO Starting sync
tap-gitlab (out)   | {"type": "SCHEMA", "stream": "projects", "schema": {"type": "object", "properties": {...}}, "key_properties": ["id"]}
tap-gitlab (out)   | {"type": "RECORD", "stream": "projects", "record": {"id": 7603319, "name": "Meltano", ...}, "time_extracted": "2020-08-05T21:30:22.988250Z"}
tap-gitlab (out)   | {"type": "STATE", "value": {"project_7603319": "2020-08-05T21:04:59.158000Z"}}
tap-gitlab         | INFO Sync complete
target-jsonl (out) | {"project_7603319": "2020-08-05T21:04:59.158000Z"}
meltano            | INFO Incremental state has been updated at 2020-08-05 21:30:26.669170.
meltano            | DEBUG Incremental state: {'project_7603319': '2020-08-05T21:04:59.158000Z'}
meltano            | INFO Extract & load complete!

# `init`

Used to create a new Meltano project directory inside the current working directory.

The new project directory will contain:

a meltano.yml project file that will list any plugins you'll add and pipeline schedules you'll create,
stubs for .gitignore, README.md, and requirements.txt for you to edit (or delete) as appropriate, and
empty model, extract, load, transform, analyze, notebook, and orchestrate directories for you to use (or delete) as you please.

The send_anonymous_usage_stats setting will be enabled by default, unless the --no_usage_stats flag is provided or the MELTANO_DISABLE_TRACKING environment variable is enabled.

# How to use

# Format
meltano init [project_name] [--no_usage_stats]

# Parameters

project_name - This determines the folder name for the project

# Options

no_usage_stats - This flag disables the send_anonymous_usage_stats setting.

# Examples

# Initialize a new Meltano project in the
# "demo-project" directory, and...
# - share anonymous usage data with the Meltano team
#   to help them gauge interest in Meltano and its
#   features and drive development time accordingly:
meltano init demo-project
# - OR don't share anything with the Meltano team
#   about this specific project:
meltano init demo-project --no_usage_stats
# - OR don't share anything with the Meltano team
#   about any project I initialize ever:
SHELLRC=~/.$(basename $SHELL)rc # ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc
echo "export MELTANO_DISABLE_TRACKING=1" >> $SHELLRC
meltano init demo-project # --no_usage_stats is implied

# `install`

Installs dependencies of your project based on the meltano.yml file.

Optionally, provide a plugin type argument to only (re)install plugins of a certain type. Additionally, plugin names can be provided to only (re)install those specific plugins.

Use --include-related to automatically install transform, model, and dashboard plugins related to installed extractor plugins.

# How to Use

meltano install

meltano install extractors
meltano install extractor tap-gitlab
meltano install extractors tap-gitlab tap-adwords

meltano install models

meltano install --include-related

# `invoke`

Invoke the plugin's executable with specified arguments.

# How to use

meltano invoke <plugin> PLUGIN_ARGS...

If multiple plugins share the same name, you can provide an additional --plugin-type argument to disambiguate:

meltano invoke --plugin-type=<type> <plugin> PLUGIN_ARGS...

A --dump option can be passed to dump the content of a generated config file or extractor catalog file to STDOUT instead of actually invoking the plugin:

meltano invoke --dump=config <plugin>
meltano invoke --dump=catalog <plugin>

Like any standard output, the dumped content can be redirected to a file using >, e.g. meltano invoke --dump=catalog <plugin> > state.json.

# `schedule`

TIP

An orchestrator plugin is required to use meltano schedule: refer to the Orchestration documentation to get started with Meltano orchestration.

Use the schedule command to define ELT pipelines to be run by an orchestrator at regular intervals. These scheduled pipelines will be added to your meltano.yml project file.

You can run a specific scheduled pipeline's corresponding meltano elt command as a one-off using meltano schedule run <schedule_name>. Any command line options (e.g. --select=<entity> or --dump=config) will be passed on to meltano elt.

# How to use

The interval argument can be a cron expression or one of the following presets: @hourly (0 * * * *), @daily (0 0 * * *), @weekly (0 0 * * 0), @monthly (0 0 1 * *), @yearly (0 0 1 1 *), or @once (for schedules to be triggered manually through the UI).

# Add a schedule
meltano schedule <schedule_name> <extractor> <loader> <interval> [--transform={run,skip,only}]

# List all schedules
meltano schedule list [--format=json]

# Run a schedule
meltano schedule run <schedule_name>

# Examples

meltano schedule gitlab-to-postgres tap-gitlab target-postgres @daily --transform=run
# This specifies that the following command is to be run once a day:
# meltano elt tap-gitlab target-postgres --transform=run --job_id=gitlab-to-postgres

meltano schedule gitlab-to-jsonl tap-gitlab target-jsonl "* * * * *"
# This specifies that the following command is to be run every minute:
# meltano elt tap-gitlab target-jsonl --job_id=gitlab-to-jsonl

meltano schedule run gitlab-to-jsonl --select=commits
# This will run:
# meltano elt tap-gitlab target-jsonl --job_id=gitlab-to-jsonl --select=commits

# `select`

Use the select command to add select patterns to a specific extractor in your Meltano project.

meltano select [--list] [--all] <tap_name> [ENTITIES_PATTERN] [ATTRIBUTE_PATTERN]: Manage the selected entities/attributes for a specific tap.

Selection rules will be stored in the extractor's select extra.

WARNING

Not all taps support this feature. In addition, taps needs to support the --discover switch. You can use meltano invoke tap-... --discover to see if the tap supports it.

# How to use

Unix shell-style wildcards can be used in selection patterns to match multiple entities or attributes at once:

*: matches any sequence of characters
?: matches one character
[abc]: matches either a, b, or c
[!abc]: matches any character but a, b, or c

Use --list to list the current selected tap attributes.

Note: --all can be used to show all the tap attributes with their selected status.

# Examples

# List all available entities and attributes
meltano select --list --all tap-covid-19

# Include all attributes of an entity
meltano select tap-covid-19 eu_ecdc_daily "*"

# Include specific attributes of an entity
meltano select tap-covid-19 eu_daily date
meltano select tap-covid-19 eu_daily country
meltano select tap-covid-19 eu_daily cases
meltano select tap-covid-19 eu_daily deaths

# Exclude matching attributes of all entities
meltano select tap-covid-19 --exclude "*" "git_*"

# List selected (enabled) entities and attributes
meltano select --list tap-covid-19

Example output:

Enabled patterns:
    eu_ecdc_daily.*
    eu_daily.date
    eu_daily.country
    eu_daily.cases
    eu_daily.deaths
    !*.git_*

Selected attributes:
    [automatic] eu_daily.__sdc_row_number
    [automatic] eu_daily.git_path
    [selected ] eu_daily.date
    [selected ] eu_daily.country
    [selected ] eu_daily.cases
    [selected ] eu_daily.deaths
    [automatic] eu_ecdc_daily.__sdc_row_number
    [automatic] eu_ecdc_daily.git_path
    [selected ] eu_ecdc_daily.date
    [selected ] eu_ecdc_daily.datetime
    [selected ] eu_ecdc_daily.country
    [selected ] eu_ecdc_daily.cases
    [selected ] eu_ecdc_daily.deaths

TIP

Most shells parse glob syntax: you must escape the special characters in the select pattern by quoting the pattern.

# Exclude Parameter

Use --exclude to exclude all attributes that match the filter.

Attributes that are automatic are always included, even if they match an exclude pattern. Only attributes that are available can be excluded.

Exclusion takes precedence over inclusion. If an attribute is excluded, there is no way to include it back without removing the exclusion pattern first.

# Examples

meltano select --exclude tap-carbon-intensity '*' 'longitude'

meltano select --exclude tap-carbon-intensity '*' 'latitude'

This will exclude all longitude and latitude attributes.

# `ui`

meltano ui: Start the Meltano UI.

# `start` (default)

Start the Meltano UI.

# `setup`

TIP

This command is only relevant for production-grade setup.

Generate secrets for the ui.secret_key and ui.password_salt settings, that will be stored in your project's .env file along with the specified value for the ui.server_name setting.

In production, you will likely want to move these settings to actual environment variables, since .env is in .gitignore by default.

WARNING

Regenerating secrets will cause the following:

All passwords will be invalid
All sessions will be expired

Use with caution!

# How to use

The --bits flag can be used to specify the size of the secrets, default to 256.

# Format
meltano ui setup [--bits=256] <server_name>

meltano ui setup meltano.example.com

# `user`

TIP

This command is only relevant when Meltano is run with authentication enabled.

# `add`

Create a Meltano user account, active and ready to be used.

# --overwrite, -f

Update the user instead of creating a new one.

# --role, -G

Add the user to the role. Meltano ships with two built-in roles: admin and regular.

# How to use

meltano user add admin securepassword --role admin

# `upgrade`

Upgrade Meltano and your Meltano project to the latest version.

When called without arguments, this will:

Upgrade the meltano package
Update files managed by file bundles
Apply migrations to system database
Recompile models

# How to use

meltano upgrade
meltano upgrade --skip-package # Skip upgrading the Meltano package

meltano upgrade package # Only upgrade Meltano package
meltano upgrade files # Only update files managed by file bundles
meltano upgrade database # Only apply migrations to system database
meltano upgrade models # Only recompile models

# `version`

It is used to check which version of Meltano currently installed.

# How to use

meltano --version

← Meltano UI Settings Reference →

# CLI Reference

# add

# How to use

# Parameters

# config

# How to use

# Nested properties

# Dot separator

# How to use: Plugin extras

# discover

# How to Use

# elt

# How to use

# Parameters

# Examples

# Debugging

# init

# How to use

# Parameters

# Options

# Examples

# install

# How to Use

# invoke

# How to use

# schedule

# How to use

# Examples

# select

# How to use

# Examples

# Exclude Parameter

# Examples

# ui

# start (default)

# setup

# How to use

# user

# add

# --overwrite, -f

# --role, -G

# How to use

# upgrade

# How to use

# version

# How to use

# `add`

# `config`

# `discover`

# `elt`

# `init`

# `install`

# `invoke`

# `schedule`

# `select`

# `ui`

# `start` (default)

# `setup`

# `user`

# `add`

# `upgrade`

# `version`