installing-looker-cli

name	installing-looker-cli
description	Looker Developer Onboarding: Step 2. Verifies that the Looker CLI is available in the PATH, or installs it from GitHub Releases if missing. Only execute this after Step 1 (Data Discovery using `exploring-data-for-looker`).
license	Apache-2.0
metadata	{"publisher":"google","version":"v1"}

Installing Looker CLI

Checks if looker-cli is already available on the system. If it is not found, downloads and installs the appropriate pre-compiled binary from the GitHub Releases page of the looker-cli repository (https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases).

Prerequisites

• Active internet connection to download the binary from GitHub.
• Privileges to write to local binary directories (e.g. /usr/local/bin or ~/.local/bin).

Instructions

1. Check for Existing Installation

Before downloading, check if the CLI is already installed and accessible:

looker-cli --help

If this command executes successfully and prints the help menu, the CLI is ready. Skip the installation steps below and proceed directly to Step 3 (Authentication).

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2. Perform OS-Specific Installation

If looker-cli is not found, determine the operating system of the environment and execute the corresponding installation steps.

Option A: macOS & Linux

1. Retrieve latest release tag: Query the GitHub API or check the releases page (https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases) to identify the latest version tag (e.g., v1.0.0).

2. Download and install: Run the following sequence to download, rename, and move the binary to your local bin path:

   For macOS (arm64 Apple Silicon):

   curl -Lo looker-cli https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-darwin-arm64
   chmod +x looker-cli
   mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv looker-cli ~/.local/bin/
   

   For macOS (amd64 Intel):

   curl -Lo looker-cli https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-darwin-amd64
   chmod +x looker-cli
   mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv looker-cli ~/.local/bin/
   

   For Linux (amd64):

   curl -Lo looker-cli https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-linux-amd64
   chmod +x looker-cli
   mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv looker-cli ~/.local/bin/
   

   Note: If ~/.local/bin is not in your PATH or you have root permissions, you can choose to move it to /usr/local/bin/ instead.

Option B: Windows

1. Download: Download the latest Windows binary (e.g. using PowerShell):

   Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-windows-amd64.exe" -OutFile "looker-cli.exe"
   

2. Add to Path: Move looker-cli.exe to a directory in your system %PATH% (or add its directory to the Environment Variables).

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3. Verify the Installation

Run the help command again to verify the installation succeeded:

looker-cli --help

Confirm that the output shows the Looker CLI help menu correctly. If it fails, check that the destination directory is indeed in your shell's PATH.