Zilliz Cloud CLI Skill
Operate Zilliz Cloud through zilliz-cli. All operations are executed via shell commands.
Prerequisite Check (always run first)
Before any operation, verify in order:
# 1. Install or update the CLI
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zilliztech/zilliz-cli/master/install.sh | bash
# 2. Logged in? If not: guide user to login in their terminal
zilliz auth status
# 3. Context set? (only for data-plane ops)
zilliz context currentCRITICAL: zilliz login, zilliz configure, and zilliz auth switch require interactive input — NEVER run them in a non-interactive shell. Instruct the user to run in their own terminal. NEVER ask for API keys in chat.
Command Pattern
zilliz <resource> <action> --flag <value> [--optional-flag <value>]All commands support --output json|table|text (default: text). Use --output json for programmatic parsing.
Cluster Type Capabilities
| Feature | Free | Serverless | Dedicated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collection CRUD & Vector ops | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Database create/drop | No | No | Yes |
| User/role management | No | Limited | Yes |
| Backup management | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cluster modify (CU/replica) | No | No | Yes |
Check cluster type first when a command fails with permission errors.
Reference Files
Each reference covers one resource domain with full command syntax, options, and guidance. Read the relevant reference when handling that domain:
| Domain | Reference | When to read |
|---|---|---|
| Setup & auth | references/setup.md | Install, login, context, config, troubleshooting |
| Clusters | references/cluster.md | Create, list, describe, modify, suspend, resume, delete clusters |
| Collections | references/collection.md | Create, list, describe, drop, rename, load, release, aliases, per-collection metrics |
| Vectors | references/vector.md | Search, query, insert, upsert, get, delete, hybrid search, filters |
| Indexes | references/index.md | Create, list, describe, drop indexes |
| Databases | references/database.md | Create, list, describe, drop databases |
| Partitions | references/partition.md | Create, list, load, release, drop partitions |
| Users & roles | references/user-role.md | RBAC: users, roles, privileges (Dedicated only) |
| Backups | references/backup.md | Create, restore, export backups; manage backup policies |
| Import | references/import.md | Bulk data import from cloud storage |
| Billing | references/billing.md | Usage queries, invoices, payment methods |
| Monitoring | references/monitoring.md | Cluster status, collection stats, load states, cluster and per-collection time-series metrics |
| Projects & regions | references/project-region.md | Projects, volumes, cloud providers, regions |
| Jobs | references/job.md | Track async job status, wait for completion |
Quick-Start Workflow
For new users, guide through setup in order:
- Install CLI:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zilliztech/zilliz-cli/master/install.sh | bash - Authenticate: user runs
zilliz loginin their terminal - Verify:
zilliz auth status - List clusters:
zilliz cluster list - Set context:
zilliz context set --cluster-id <id> - Verify:
zilliz context current && zilliz collection list
Common Workflows
Create collection and prepare for search:
zilliz collection create --name <name> --dimension <dim>— createzilliz index create --collection <name>— index (AUTOINDEX recommended)zilliz collection load --name <name>— load into memoryzilliz vector search --collection <name> --data '[[...]]'— search
Status overview (read references/monitoring.md):
zilliz context current --output jsonzilliz cluster describe --cluster-id <id> --output jsonzilliz database list --output json- For each DB:
collection list,get-stats,get-load-state,index list - Present as formatted table
Async Operations
These return immediately with a jobId; track with job describe (see references/job.md):
| Operation | Poll command |
|---|---|
cluster create | cluster describe --cluster-id <id> until RUNNING |
backup create/export/restore-* | job describe --job-id <jid> or backup describe |
import start | job describe --job-id <jid> |
| Any async op with jobId | job describe --job-id <jid> --wait |
Safety Rules
- Confirm before destructive ops: drop collection/database, delete cluster/backup, drop user/role
- Sensitive commands in user's terminal:
zilliz login,zilliz configure,zilliz billing bind-card - Never expose credentials in chat or command output