Output Formats

The ByCloud CLI supports multiple output formats for different use cases. Use the --output flag or set a default in your config.

Text Format (Default)

Human-readable text format, best for interactive use and quick viewing.

bycloud compute instances list --output text

ID            NAME           STATUS   FLAVOR      CREATED_AT
i-550e8400    web-server-1   active   c1.medium   2024-01-15T10:30:00Z
i-662f9511    db-server-1    active   c1.large    2024-01-16T14:20:00Z

JSON Format

Structured format for scripting and automation. Outputs JSON that can be parsed with tools like jq.

bycloud compute instances list --output json

{
  "instances": [
    {
      "id": "i-550e8400",
      "name": "web-server-1",
      "status": "active",
      "flavor": "c1.medium",
      "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "i-662f9511",
      "name": "db-server-1",
      "status": "active",
      "flavor": "c1.large",
      "created_at": "2024-01-16T14:20:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Tip: Pipe to jq for filtering: bycloud compute instances list --output json | jq '.instances[].id'

YAML Format

Human-readable structured format, useful for configuration files and GitOps workflows.

bycloud compute instances list --output yaml

instances:
  - id: i-550e8400
    name: web-server-1
    status: active
    flavor: c1.medium
    created_at: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  - id: i-662f9511
    name: db-server-1
    status: active
    flavor: c1.large
    created_at: "2024-01-16T14:20:00Z"

Setting Default Format

The default format is text. You can change it:

Using config:

bycloud config set output json

Using environment variable:

export BYCLOUD_OUTPUT=json

Scripting Tips

Extract a specific field with jq:

bycloud compute instances get --id i-123 --output json | jq -r '.instance.status'

Loop through items:

for id in $(bycloud compute instances list --output json | jq -r '.instances[].id'); do
  echo "Processing $id"
  bycloud compute instances stop --id "$id"
done

Suppress progress output in scripts:

bycloud compute instances create --name my-vm --quiet