brightdata-cli

name

brightdata-cli

description

Guide for using the Bright Data CLI (`brightdata` / `bdata`) to scrape websites, search the web, extract structured data from 40+ platforms, manage proxy zones, and check account budget. Use this skill whenever the user wants to scrape a URL, search Google/Bing/Yandex, extract data from Amazon/LinkedIn/Instagram/TikTok/YouTube/Reddit or any other platform, check their Bright Data balance or zones, or do anything involving web data collection from the terminal. Also trigger when the user mentions brightdata, bdata, web scraping CLI, SERP API, or wants to install Bright Data skills into their coding agent.

Bright Data CLI

The Bright Data CLI (brightdata or bdata) gives you full access to Bright Data's web data platform from the terminal. It handles authentication, proxy zones, anti-bot bypass, CAPTCHA solving, and JavaScript rendering automatically — the user just needs to log in once.

Installation

If the CLI is not installed yet, guide the user:

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://cli.brightdata.com/install.sh | bash

Windows or manual install (any platform):

npm install -g @brightdata/cli

Without installing (one-off usage):

npx --yes --package @brightdata/cli brightdata <command>

Requires Node.js >= 20. After install, both brightdata and bdata (shorthand) are available.

First-Time Setup

Before anything else, check if the user is authenticated. If they haven't logged in yet, guide them through the one-time setup:

# One-time login — opens the browser for OAuth, then everything is automatic
bdata login

This single command:

1. Opens the browser for secure OAuth authentication
2. Saves the API key locally (never needs to be entered again)
3. Auto-creates required proxy zones (cli_unlocker, cli_browser)
4. Sets default configuration

After login, every subsequent command works without any manual intervention.

For headless/SSH environments where no browser is available:

bdata login --device

For direct API key authentication (non-interactive):

bdata login --api-key <key>

To verify setup is complete, run:

bdata config

Command Reference

Read references/commands.md for the full command reference with all flags, options, and examples for every command.

Read references/pipelines.md for the complete list of 40+ pipeline types (Amazon, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and more) with their specific parameters.

Quick Command Overview

bdata is the shorthand for brightdata. Both work identically.

Command	Purpose
bdata scrape <url>	Scrape any URL as markdown, HTML, JSON, or screenshot
bdata search "<query>"	Search Google/Bing/Yandex with structured results
bdata pipelines <type> [params]	Extract structured data from 40+ platforms
bdata pipelines list	List all 40+ available pipeline types
bdata status <job-id>	Check async job status
bdata zones	List proxy zones
bdata budget	View account balance and costs
bdata skill add	Install AI agent skills
bdata skill list	List available skills
bdata config	View/set configuration
bdata login	Authenticate with Bright Data
bdata version	Show CLI version and system info

How to Use Each Command

Scraping

Scrape any URL with automatic bot bypass, CAPTCHA handling, and JS rendering:

# Default: returns clean markdown
bdata scrape https://example.com

# Get raw HTML
bdata scrape https://example.com -f html

# Get structured JSON
bdata scrape https://example.com -f json

# Take a screenshot
bdata scrape https://example.com -f screenshot -o page.png

# Geo-targeted scrape from the US
bdata scrape https://amazon.com --country us

# Save to file
bdata scrape https://example.com -o page.md

# Async mode for heavy pages
bdata scrape https://example.com --async

Searching

Search engines with structured JSON output (Google returns parsed organic results, ads, People Also Ask, and related searches):

# Google search with formatted table
bdata search "web scraping best practices"

# Get raw JSON for piping
bdata search "typescript tutorials" --json

# Search Bing
bdata search "bright data pricing" --engine bing

# Localized search
bdata search "restaurants berlin" --country de --language de

# News search
bdata search "AI regulation" --type news

# Extract just URLs
bdata search "open source tools" --json | jq -r '.organic[].link'

Pipelines (Structured Data Extraction)

Extract structured data from 40+ platforms. These trigger async jobs that poll until results are ready:

# LinkedIn profile
bdata pipelines linkedin_person_profile "https://linkedin.com/in/username"

# Amazon product
bdata pipelines amazon_product "https://amazon.com/dp/B09V3KXJPB"

# Instagram profile
bdata pipelines instagram_profiles "https://instagram.com/username"

# Amazon search
bdata pipelines amazon_product_search "laptop" "https://amazon.com"

# YouTube comments (top 50)
bdata pipelines youtube_comments "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." 50

# Google Maps reviews (last 7 days)
bdata pipelines google_maps_reviews "https://maps.google.com/..." 7

# Output as CSV
bdata pipelines amazon_product "https://amazon.com/dp/..." --format csv -o product.csv

# List all available pipeline types
bdata pipelines list

Checking Status

For async jobs (from --async scrapes or pipelines):

# Quick status check
bdata status <job-id>

# Wait until complete
bdata status <job-id> --wait

# With custom timeout
bdata status <job-id> --wait --timeout 300

Budget & Zones

# Quick account balance
bdata budget

# Detailed balance with pending charges
bdata budget balance

# All zones cost/bandwidth
bdata budget zones

# Specific zone costs
bdata budget zone my_zone

# Date range filter
bdata budget zones --from 2024-01-01T00:00:00 --to 2024-02-01T00:00:00

# List all zones
bdata zones

# Zone details
bdata zones info cli_unlocker

Configuration

# View all config
bdata config

# Set defaults
bdata config set default_zone_unlocker my_zone
bdata config set default_format json

Installing AI Agent Skills

# Interactive picker — choose skills and target agents
bdata skill add

# Install a specific skill
bdata skill add scrape

# List available skills
bdata skill list

Output Modes

Every command supports multiple output formats:

Flag	Effect
(none)	Human-readable formatted output with colors
--json	Compact JSON to stdout
--pretty	Indented JSON to stdout
-o <path>	Write to file (format auto-detected from extension)

When piped (stdout is not a TTY), colors and spinners are automatically disabled.

Chaining Commands

The CLI is pipe-friendly:

# Search → extract first URL → scrape it
bdata search "top open source projects" --json \
  | jq -r '.organic[0].link' \
  | xargs bdata scrape

# Scrape and view with markdown reader
bdata scrape https://docs.github.com | glow -

# Amazon product data to CSV
bdata pipelines amazon_product "https://amazon.com/dp/xxx" --format csv > product.csv

Environment Variables

These override stored configuration:

Variable	Purpose
BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY	API key (skips login entirely)
BRIGHTDATA_UNLOCKER_ZONE	Default Web Unlocker zone
BRIGHTDATA_SERP_ZONE	Default SERP zone
BRIGHTDATA_POLLING_TIMEOUT	Polling timeout in seconds

Troubleshooting

Error	Fix
CLI not found	Install with npm i -g @brightdata/cli or curl -fsSL https://cli.brightdata.com/install.sh | bash
"No Web Unlocker zone specified"	bdata config set default_zone_unlocker <zone> or re-run bdata login
"Invalid or expired API key"	bdata login
"Access denied"	Check zone permissions in the Bright Data control panel
"Rate limit exceeded"	Wait and retry, or use --async for large jobs
Async job timeout	Increase with --timeout 1200 or BRIGHTDATA_POLLING_TIMEOUT=1200

Key Design Principles

• One-time auth: After bdata login, everything is automatic. No tokens to manage, no keys to pass.
• Zones auto-created: Login creates cli_unlocker and cli_browser zones automatically.
• Smart defaults: Markdown output, auto-detected formats from file extensions, colors only in TTY.
• Pipe-friendly: JSON output + jq for automation. Colors/spinners disabled in pipes.
• Async support: Heavy jobs can run in background with --async + status --wait.
• npm package: @brightdata/cli — install globally or use via npx.