# Shell completion for the Cloider CLI

> Turn on Tab completion for cloider commands, subcommands and flags in bash, zsh, fish and PowerShell, for the current session or permanently.

Shell completion lets you press **Tab** to complete `cloider` commands, subcommands and flags, and to see what each one does. `cloider completion <shell>` prints a completion script for bash, zsh, fish or PowerShell; you load it once per session or install it so every new shell has it.

## At a glance

| Shell | Try it in this session | Install for every session |
| --- | --- | --- |
| bash | `source <(cloider completion bash)` | `cloider completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/cloider` (Linux) |
| zsh | `source <(cloider completion zsh)` | `cloider completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_cloider"` |
| fish | `cloider completion fish \| source` | `cloider completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/cloider.fish` |
| PowerShell | `cloider completion powershell \| Out-String \| Invoke-Expression` | Add that line to your `$PROFILE` |

## What gets completed?

Completion covers everything the CLI knows without calling the API:

- command groups: `cloider cl<Tab>` becomes `cloider cluster`
- subcommands: `cloider cluster <Tab>` lists `create`, `delete`, `exec`, `get`, `kubeconfig`, `list`, `pause`, `resume`, `services`, `shell` and `status`
- flags, including global flags: `cloider db create --<Tab>`
- short descriptions next to each choice, in zsh, fish and PowerShell (and bash with bash-completion 2)

Resource names (your clusters, databases, apps) aren't completed, since that would need an API call on every Tab press. Completion never triggers the CLI's daily [update check](/cli/updating), so it stays fast.

## bash

Bash completion needs the `bash-completion` package. Most Linux distributions install it by default; on macOS, install it with Homebrew (`brew install bash-completion@2`) and follow the line it prints to load it from your `~/.bash_profile`.

Load completion in the current shell:

```bash
source <(cloider completion bash)
```

Install it for every new shell:

**macOS**

```bash
cloider completion bash > $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/cloider
```

**Linux**

```bash
cloider completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/cloider > /dev/null
```

Without root, add the session line to your `~/.bashrc` instead:

```bash
echo 'source <(cloider completion bash)' >> ~/.bashrc
```

**Windows**

In Git Bash or WSL, add the session line to your `~/.bashrc`:

```bash
echo 'source <(cloider completion bash)' >> ~/.bashrc
```

Open a new shell for it to take effect.

## zsh

If completion isn't enabled in your zsh yet (it is with Oh My Zsh and most frameworks), enable it once:

```bash
echo "autoload -U compinit; compinit" >> ~/.zshrc
```

Load completion in the current shell:

```bash
source <(cloider completion zsh)
```

Install it for every new shell:

**macOS**

```bash
cloider completion zsh > $(brew --prefix)/share/zsh/site-functions/_cloider
```

Without Homebrew, write it into any directory on your `fpath`:

```bash
mkdir -p ~/.zsh/completions
cloider completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_cloider
echo 'fpath=(~/.zsh/completions $fpath)' >> ~/.zshrc
```

Put the `fpath` line before `compinit` in your `~/.zshrc`.

**Linux**

```bash
cloider completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_cloider"
```

If the first `fpath` directory isn't writable by you, use a directory of your own as shown on the macOS tab.

**Windows**

In WSL, follow the Linux tab.

Open a new shell for it to take effect. If completions don't show up, run `rm -f ~/.zcompdump; compinit` to rebuild zsh's completion cache.

## fish

Load completion in the current shell:

```bash
cloider completion fish | source
```

Install it for every new shell:

```bash
cloider completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/cloider.fish
```

## PowerShell

Load completion in the current session:

```powershell
cloider completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression
```

Install it for every new session by adding that line to your PowerShell profile:

```powershell
if (!(Test-Path $PROFILE)) { New-Item -ItemType File -Force -Path $PROFILE | Out-Null }
Add-Content $PROFILE 'cloider completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression'
```

Open a new PowerShell window for it to take effect. Press **Tab** to cycle through completions, or **Ctrl+Space** to see them all in a menu.

## Completion without descriptions

Every `cloider completion` command takes `--no-descriptions` to complete names only, without the description next to each one:

```bash
source <(cloider completion zsh --no-descriptions)
```

## Keep completion up to date

The installed completion script asks the `cloider` binary for completions each time you press Tab, so new commands and flags from [updates](/cli/updating) complete without reinstalling the script.

## Remove completion

Delete the file you installed (for example `~/.config/fish/completions/cloider.fish` or `$(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/cloider`), or remove the line you added to `~/.bashrc`, `~/.zshrc` or `$PROFILE`, then open a new shell.

## Next steps

- [Command reference](/cli/commands): every command you can now complete.
- [Tooling commands](/cli/commands/tooling): the `completion` command's reference.
- [Configuration](/cli/configuration): global flags and environment variables.