CLI quickstart

Pinecone CLI quickstart for installing pc, authenticating, and managing indexes, vectors, and data imports directly from your terminal.

The Pinecone CLI (pc) lets you manage Pinecone resources directly from your terminal.

Install

Bash

brew tap pinecone-io/tap
brew install pinecone-io/tap/pinecone

Pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are available on the GitHub Releases page.

Platform	Architectures
macOS	Intel (x86_64), Apple Silicon (ARM64)
Linux	x86_64, ARM64, i386
Windows	x86_64, i386

Authenticate

Bash

pc auth login

Visit the URL in your terminal to sign in. The CLI automatically sets your default organization and project.

To target a different org/project:

Bash

pc target -o "my-org" -p "my-project"

Manage indexes

Bash

# List indexes
pc index list

# Create an index
pc index create -n my-index -d 3 -m cosine -c aws -r us-east-1

# Get index details
pc index describe -i my-index

# Get index statistics
pc index stats -i my-index

Work with vectors

Bash

# Upsert vectors (from file or inline JSON)
pc index vector upsert -i my-index \
  --body '{"vectors": [{"id": "vec1", "values": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3], "metadata": {"genre": "comedy"}}]}'

# Import from a large dataset in object storage (S3, GCS, Azure)
pc index import start -i my-index --uri s3://my-bucket/data/

# Check the progress of an import operation
pc index import list --i my-index
pc index import describe --i my-index --id import-123

# Query (vector can be inline or in a file)
pc index vector query -i my-index \
  --vector '[0.1, 0.2, 0.3]' \
  --top-k 10 \
  --include-metadata

# Fetch by ID (from file or inline JSON)
pc index vector fetch -i my-index --ids '["vec1","vec2"]'

# List vector IDs from an index
pc index vector list -i my-index

Manage namespaces

Bash

# List namespaces
pc index namespace list -i my-index

# Create a namespace
pc index namespace create -i my-index --name tenant-a

# Delete a namespace
pc index namespace delete -i my-index --name tenant-a

Back up and restore

Bash

# Create a backup
pc index backup create -i my-index --name "my-index-backup"

# List backups (show index, backup name, backup ID, etc.)
pc index backup list -i my-index

# Restore from backup (by ID, not name)
pc index restore -i c84725e5-5956-41ba-ab62-21ac7b5f2a2f -n restored-index

JSON output

Add -j to any command for JSON output:

Bash

pc index list -j
pc index describe -i my-index -j

Getting help

Use -h or --help with any command to see available options:

Bash

pc -h
pc index -h
pc index create -h

Next steps

Command reference — Full list of commands and flags
Authentication — Service accounts, API keys, and auth priority
Target context — How org/project targeting works