CLI reference

The single quiver binary is the entrypoint for every component — the server, the terminal cockpit, the MCP server, admin tasks, benchmarks, the self-updater, and a zero-config demo. This page documents every command and flag; it mirrors quiver <command> --help.

Usage: quiver <COMMAND>

Commands:
  serve   Run the server (gRPC + REST)
  tui     Launch the terminal cockpit
  mcp     Run the MCP server for AI agents (JSON-RPC over stdio)
  admin   Administrative commands (imports, collections, keys)
  bench   Run benchmarks
  update  Check for a newer release and optionally install it
  demo    Zero-config demo: seeds vectors, starts the server, opens the cockpit

Global options: -h, --help, -V, --version.

Most configuration is supplied by environment variables / quiver.toml, not flags — see the configuration reference. Flags shown below override or supplement those.

`quiver serve`

Run the server (gRPC + REST). Takes no flags — it is configured entirely from quiver.toml and QUIVER_* environment variables (bind addresses, API keys, encryption, TLS, cluster, rate limits, …). See the configuration reference.

QUIVER_API_KEYS=… QUIVER_ENCRYPTION_KEY=… quiver serve

`quiver tui`

Launch the terminal cockpit against a running server.

Flag	Env	Default	Description
`--url <URL>`	`QUIVER_TUI_URL`	`http://127.0.0.1:6333`	REST base URL of the server to inspect.
`--api-key <API_KEY>`	`QUIVER_API_KEY`	—	API key presented as a bearer token, if the server requires one.

`quiver mcp`

Run the MCP server for AI agents (JSON-RPC over stdio). Opens the embedded database directly (no network server).

Flag	Env	Default	Description
`--data-dir <DATA_DIR>`	`QUIVER_DATA_DIR`	`./data`	Data directory for the embedded database.
`--encryption-key <KEY>`	`QUIVER_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	—	64-hex-character key for encryption-at-rest.
`--insecure`	`QUIVER_INSECURE`	`false`	Run without encryption-at-rest (development only).
`--config <CONFIG>`	`QUIVER_CONFIG`	`quiver.toml`	Config file supplying `[embedding.]`/`[rerank.]` provider tables for the `upsert_text`/`search_text` tools. A missing file is fine — those tools then report no provider configured.

See the MCP server reference for the tool catalog.

`quiver admin`

Administrative commands.

`quiver admin import`

Import an export from another vector database into a collection (ADR-0024; see the migration guide). Offline (--input) or live (--qdrant-url / --chroma-url / --postgres-url).

Usage: quiver admin import [OPTIONS] --source <SOURCE> --collection <COLLECTION>

Flag	Env	Default	Description
`--source <SOURCE>`	—	(required)	Source tool: `qdrant`, `chroma`, or `pgvector`.
`--collection <COLLECTION>`	—	(required)	Target collection (created if absent, appended to otherwise).
`--input <INPUT>`	—	—	Export file (offline): JSON Lines for qdrant/pgvector; a single `collection.get(...)` JSON object for chroma.
`--qdrant-url <URL>`	—	—	Live import: base URL of a running Qdrant, instead of `--input`.
`--chroma-url <URL>`	—	—	Live import: base URL of a running Chroma (v2 API).
`--chroma-tenant <T>`	—	`default_tenant`	Chroma tenant for `--chroma-url`.
`--chroma-database <D>`	—	`default_database`	Chroma database for `--chroma-url`.
`--postgres-url <URL>`	—	—	Live import: Postgres URL (`postgresql://…`) to pull pgvector rows.
`--table <TABLE>`	—	`--collection`	Source table for `--postgres-url`.
`--api-key <KEY>`	`QDRANT_API_KEY`	—	API key for a live import: Qdrant `api-key` or Chroma `x-chroma-token`.
`--metric <METRIC>`	—	`cosine`	Distance metric for a newly created collection (`l2`, `cosine`, `dot`).
`--dim <DIM>`	—	(inferred)	Vector dimensionality (inferred from the export when omitted).
`--filterable <PATH:TYPE>`	—	—	Filterable payload field as `path:type` (`keyword`\|`numeric`); repeatable.
`--id-field <ID_FIELD>`	—	`id`	Id column name (pgvector).
`--vector-field <FIELD>`	—	qdrant `vector`, pgvector `embedding`	Vector column name.
`--vector-name <NAME>`	—	—	Named vector to import (qdrant named vectors).
`--data-dir <DATA_DIR>`	`QUIVER_DATA_DIR`	`./data`	Data directory for the embedded database.
`--encryption-key <KEY>`	`QUIVER_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	—	64-hex master key for encryption-at-rest.
`--insecure`	`QUIVER_INSECURE`	`false`	Import into an unencrypted database (development only).

A live import that sends a credential over a plaintext http:// URL (or a Postgres URL with sslmode=disable) prints a warning: first — see the migration guide’s Security of live import.

`quiver bench`

Run the built-in benchmark harness. See the benchmark methodology in the README.

`quiver update`

Check for a newer release and optionally install it (downloads, verifies the SHA-256 checksum, and atomically replaces the binary).

Flag	Description
`--check`	Only check whether an update is available; do not download or install.

`quiver demo`

Zero-config demo: seeds two collections (a text-searchable articles set and a 1 000-vector demo set for the constellation view), starts the server on :7333 with encryption-at-rest, and opens the cockpit — no config, no network. Override the data directory with QUIVER_DEMO_DIR.

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