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Document CLI shell completion (viam completion) #5005

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9b6bf80
Document CLI shell completion (viam completion)
claude Apr 22, 2026
15b6345
Address Copilot review: shell-agnostic wording, fish mkdir
claude Apr 22, 2026
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49 changes: 49 additions & 0 deletions docs/cli/overview.md
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Expand Up @@ -202,3 +202,52 @@ viam --help
viam machines --help
viam machines part shell --help
```

## Enable shell completion

The CLI supports tab completion for commands, subcommands, and flag names.
To enable it, load the completion script for your shell.

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@shannonbradshaw shannonbradshaw Apr 22, 2026

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Fixed in 15b6345. Changed "source" to "load" throughout.

Generated by Claude Code

{{< tabs >}}
{{% tab name="bash" %}}

Add to your `~/.bashrc`:

```sh {class="command-line" data-prompt="$"}
source <(viam completion bash)
```

{{% /tab %}}
{{% tab name="zsh" %}}

Add to your `~/.zshrc`:

```sh {class="command-line" data-prompt="$"}
source <(viam completion zsh)
```

{{% /tab %}}
{{% tab name="fish" %}}

```sh {class="command-line" data-prompt="$"}
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@shannonbradshaw shannonbradshaw Apr 22, 2026

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Fixed in 15b6345. Added mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions before the redirect.

Generated by Claude Code

mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
viam completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/viam.fish
```

{{% /tab %}}
{{% tab name="PowerShell" %}}

```powershell {class="command-line" data-prompt=">"}
viam completion pwsh | Out-String | Invoke-Expression
```

{{% /tab %}}
{{< /tabs >}}

After loading the script, press **Tab** to complete commands and flags:

```sh {class="command-line" data-prompt="$"}
viam <Tab> # lists all commands
viam machines <Tab> # lists subcommands of machines
viam data export <Tab> # lists subcommands of export
```
22 changes: 22 additions & 0 deletions docs/cli/reference.md
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Expand Up @@ -19,6 +19,28 @@ viam [global options] command [command options] [arguments...]

## Commands

### `completion`

The `completion` command outputs a shell completion script.
Load the output in your shell to enable tab completion for commands, subcommands, and flag names.

```sh {class="command-line" data-prompt="$"}
viam completion bash
viam completion zsh
viam completion fish
viam completion pwsh
```

<!-- prettier-ignore -->
| Argument | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `bash` | Output a bash completion script. |
| `zsh` | Output a zsh completion script. |
| `fish` | Output a fish completion script. |
| `pwsh` | Output a PowerShell completion script. |

For setup instructions, see [Enable shell completion](/cli/overview/#enable-shell-completion).

### `data`

The `data` command allows you to manage machine data.
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