Kater CLI

The kater CLI lets you do from a terminal what you do in the portal: sync your warehouse, build models and workspaces, run and test queries, and set up your organisation. Every command has a page of its own, with an example you can copy.

• Data teams use it to sync datasets, model the shared layer, write queries and run tests.
• Platform admins use it to connect warehouses, manage access, schedule jobs and write back to GitHub.
• Agents run the same commands through the Kater MCP’s kater tool. See MCP server and tools.
• The Files terminal in the portal runs the same commands in your browser, as you.

The same commands run in a local copy made with kater git clone and in the portal’s Files terminal. A few commands sign in, change access or start servers. Those run only in your own terminal. See Commands agents and the Files terminal cannot run.

How to read a command’s page

• The page starts with what the command does. Real commands to copy come next, each under a comment line that starts with #.
• Run the examples in your local copy. Paths are relative to the folder you are in. An example that starts with cd runs in that folder.
• A word in angle brackets is a value you give. In the Options table, --inputs-file <file> means a path, such as --inputs-file inputs.json.
• The details come last. They say what the command reads and writes, and what its output means.