pinecone-cli

# Pinecone CLI (`pc`) Manage Pinecone from the terminal. The CLI is especially valuable for vector operations across **all index types** — something the MCP currently can't do. ## CLI vs MCP | | CLI | MCP | |---|---|---| | Index types | All (standard, integrated, sparse) | Integrated only | | Vector ops (upsert, query, fetch, update, delete) | ✅ | ❌ | | Text search on integrated indexes | ✅ | ✅ | | Backups, namespaces, org/project mgmt | ✅ | ❌ | | CI/CD / scripting | ✅ | ❌ | --- ## Setup ### Install (macOS) ```bash brew tap pinecone-io/tap brew install pinecone-io/tap/pinecone ``` Other platforms (Linux, Windows) — download from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/pinecone-io/cli/releases). ### Authenticate ```bash # Interactive (recommended for local dev) pc login pc target -o "my-org" -p "my-project" # Service account (recommended for CI/CD) pc auth configure --client-id "$PINECONE_CLIENT_ID" --client-secret "$PINECONE_CLIENT_SECRET" # API key (quick testing) pc config set-api-key $PINECONE_API_KEY ``` Check status: `pc auth status` · `pc target --show` > **Note for agent sessions**: If you need to run `pc login` inside an agent loop, the browser auth link may not surface correctly. It's best to authenticate **before** starting an agent session. Run `pc login` in your terminal directly, then invoke the agent once you're authenticated. ### Authenticating the CLI does not set `PINECONE_API_KEY` `pc login` authenticates the CLI tool itself — it does **not** set `PINECONE_API_KEY` in your environment. Python scripts, Node.js SDKs, and other tools that use the Pinecone SDK need `PINECONE_API_KEY` set separately. Use the CLI to create a key and export it in one step: ```bash KEY=$(pc api-key create --name agent-sdk-key --json | jq -r '.value') export PINECONE_API_KEY="$KEY" ``` Without `jq`: run `pc api-key create --name agent-sdk-key --json` and copy the `"value"` field manually. --- ## Common Commands | Task | Command | |---|---| | List indexes | `pc index list` | | Create serverless index | `pc index create -n my-index -d 1536 -m cosine -c aws -r us-east-1` | | Index stats | `pc index stats -n my-index` | | Upload vectors from file | `pc index vector upsert -n my-index --file ./vectors.json` | | Query by vector | `pc index vector query -n my-index --vector '[0.1, ...]' -k 10 --include-metadata` | | Query by vector ID | `pc index vector query -n my-index --id "doc-123" -k 10` | | Fetch vectors by ID | `pc index vector fetch -n my-index --ids '["vec1","vec2"]'` | | List vector IDs | `pc index vector list -n my-index` | | Delete vectors by filter | `pc index vector delete -n my-index --filter '{"genre":"classical"}'` | | List namespaces | `pc index namespace list -n my-index` | | Create backup | `pc backup create -i my-index -n "my-backup"` | | JSON output (for scripting) | Add `-j` to any command | --- ## Interesting Things You Can Do ### Query with custom vectors (not just text) Unlike the MCP, the CLI lets you query any index with raw vector values — useful when you generate embeddings externally (OpenAI, HuggingFace, etc.): ```bash pc index vector query -n my-index \ --vector '[0.1, 0.2, ..., 0.9]' \ --filter '{"source":{"$eq":"docs"}}' \ -k 20 --include-metadata ``` ### Pipe embeddings directly into queries ```bash jq -c '.embedding' doc.json | pc index vector query -n my-index --vector - -k 10 ``` ### Bulk metadata update with preview ```bash # Preview first pc index vector update -n my-index \ --filter '{"env":{"$eq":"staging"}}' \ --metadata '{"env":"production"}' \ --dry-run # Apply pc index vector update -n my-index \ --filter '{"env":{"$eq":"staging"}}' \ --metadata '{"env":"production"}' ``` ### Backup and restore ```bash # Snapshot before a migration pc backup create -i my-index -n "pre-migration" # Restore to a new index if something goes wrong pc backup restore -i <backup-uuid> -n my-index-restored ``` ### Automate in CI/CD ```bash export PINECONE_CLIENT_ID="..." export PINECONE_CLIENT_SECRET="..." pc auth configure --client-id "$PINECONE_CLIENT_ID" --client-secret "$PINECONE_CLIENT_SECRET" pc index vector upsert -n my-index --file ./vectors.jsonl --batch-size 1000 ``` ### Script against JSON output ```bash # Get all index names as a list pc index list -j | jq -r '.[] | .name' # Check if an index exists before creating if ! pc index describe -n my-index -j 2>/dev/null | jq -e '.name' > /dev/null; then pc index create -n my-index -d 1536 -m cosine -c aws -r us-east-1 fi ``` --- ## Reference Files - [Full command reference](references/command-reference.md) — all commands with flags and examples - [Troubleshooting & best practices](references/troubleshooting.md) ## Documentation - [CLI Quickstart](https://docs.pinecone.io/reference/cli/quickstart) - [Command Reference](https://docs.pinecone.io/reference/cli/command-reference) - [Authentication](https://docs.pinecone.io/reference/cli/authentication) - [Target Context](https://docs.pinecone.io/reference/cli/target-context) - [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/pinecone-io/cli/releases)