Common CLI tasks

The CLI is for one-shot, scriptable analysis: JSON output, stable exit codes, and --fields to shrink payloads for CI and agents.

Commands to learn first

Command	Purpose
`status`	Artifact presence and readiness (`full`, `manifest-only`, `unavailable`)
`summary`	Manifest statistics
`discover`	Ranked search with scores and reasons
`explain`	Structured summary for one `unique_id`
`deps`	Upstream or downstream dependencies
`query-executions`	Filter and sort run executions

JSON for automation (default in non-TTY):

bash

dbt-tools summary --dbt-target ./target --json
dbt-tools discover --dbt-target ./target "orders" --json

Shrink output with --fields:

bash

dbt-tools summary --dbt-target ./target --fields "total_nodes,total_edges" --json

Environment variable instead of repeating the flag:

bash

export DBT_TOOLS_DBT_TARGET=./target
dbt-tools status