Pachyderm 1.10 - Introducing Pachyderm Shell

While Pachyderm provides both a graphical user interface (GUI) and command-line interface (CLI), most of the advanced Pachyderm functionality exists through the powerful pachctl command-line tool only. pachctl provides simple and intuitive syntax that enables users to interact with the underlying Pachyderm methods, functions, and interfaces. At Pachyderm, we’ve found, like many companies, that most of our power users prefer to use command-line.

However, learning new software can be an exhausting and time-consuming process, especially a new command line tool. Data scientists and data engineers have lots of tools and platforms. Remembering how all of them work is hard. And while pachctl implements a relatively simple command-line syntax with an option to display help information, it might still be challenging at times.

To ease the onboarding of new Pachyderm users and empower experienced users to utilize pachctl in a friendlier way, Pachyderm 1.10 adds the Pachyderm Shell.

The Pachyderm Shell is a new enhancement to the Pachyderm command-line interface that adds autocompletion to the familiar pachctl tool. When users enter the Pachyderm Shell, they don’t need to start commands with pachctl anymore because Pachyderm does it for them in the background. Even better, as the user types a command, the Pachyderm Shell suggests available command and argument options.

To enter Pachyderm Shell, simply type pachctl shell:

When in the Pachyderm Shell, your current Pachyderm context information is displayed in the beginning of the prompt. Each command is listed in the drop-down menu with helpful information. Press TAB to display subcommand and argument options available for the current command. Navigate through the list of commands by pressing TAB or an arrow key.

One of the best ways to use the Pachyderm Shell is when you want to preview the list of files in a repository. The classic pachctl tool doesn’t have the same flexibility. You’d first have to run the command to view the list of files and then run another command with the file that you want to select. When in the Pachyderm Shell, you can preview information about the files in a repository by typing list file <repo>@<branch>:/:

The Pachyderm Shell will autosuggest available commands as you type, as well as let you preview and select files from the repo in the drop-down list.

Let’s take a closer look at how it works in the following animation:

As you can see, with the Pachctl Shell you can learn Pachyderm command-line interface much faster. Make sure to check it out!

Want to try the Pachyderm Shell yourself?
Install Pachctl Today