Malloy Documentation
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Installing the CLI

VSCode document

The Malloy CLI is a command-line interface for running .malloysql and .malloy files. Use it to automate transformations, build pipelines, or compile Malloy queries to SQL.

Installation Options

Option 1: NPX (No Installation)

Run directly without installing:

npx malloy-cli --help

Option 2: Global Install via npm 

npm install -g malloy-cli
malloy-cli --help

Configure Connections

The CLI stores its own configuration separately from VS Code in ~/.config/malloy/config.json.

Note: The CLI does not support environment variables for connection configuration. Use the CLI commands below to manage connections.

Connection Commands 

# List all connections
malloy connections list

# Create a new connection
malloy connections create-<type> <name>

# Test a connection
malloy connections test <name>

# Show connection details
malloy connections show <name>

# Delete a connection
malloy connections delete <name>

Create a Connection 

# For BigQuery
malloy-cli connections create-bigquery <connection-name>

# For Postgres
malloy-cli connections create-postgres <connection-name>

# For DuckDB
malloy-cli connections create-duckdb <connection-name>

View options for each database type:

malloy-cli connections create-bigquery --help

BigQuery options:

-p, --project <id>                    GCP project ID
-l, --location <region>               Query location (default: "US")
-k, --service-account-key-path <path> Path to service account JSON key
-t, --timeout <milliseconds>          Query timeout
-m, --maximum-bytes-billed <bytes>    Limit bytes scanned

Default Connections

Two connections are created automatically:

  • bigquery: Uses existing gCloud authentication

  • duckdb: Uses a built-in DuckDB instance

If your Malloy files reference these connection names, they work without explicit setup.

BigQuery with gCloud

If you already use gCloud:

gcloud auth login --update-adc
malloy-cli connections create-bigquery my-bq

Basic Commands

Run Queries

Execute a query and return results:

# Run a named query from a Malloy file
malloy-cli run path/to/model.malloy --query query_name

# Run a MalloySQL file
malloy-cli run transforms.malloysql

Compile to SQL

Get the generated SQL without executing:

malloy-cli compile path/to/model.malloy --query query_name

Useful for:

  • Debugging query logic

  • Copying SQL to other tools

  • Understanding what Malloy generates

Get Help 

malloy-cli --help
malloy-cli run --help
malloy-cli compile --help

Next Steps