Command completion

The AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) includes a bash-compatible command-completion feature that enables you to use the Tab key to complete a partially entered command. On most systems you need to configure this manually.

For information on the AWS CLI version 2 auto-prompt feature instead, see Having the AWS CLI prompt you for commands.

How it works

When you partially enter a command, parameter, or option, the command-completion feature either automatically completes your command or displays a suggested list of commands. To prompt command completion, you partially enter in a command and press Tab.

The following examples show different ways that you can use command completion:

• Partially enter a command and press Tab to display a suggested list of commands.

  $ aws dynamodb dTAB
  delete-backup                        describe-global-table
  delete-item                          describe-global-table-settings
  delete-table                         describe-limits
  describe-backup                      describe-table
  describe-continuous-backups          describe-table-replica-auto-scaling
  describe-contributor-insights        describe-time-to-live
  describe-endpoints

• Partially enter a parameter and press Tab to display a suggested list of parameters.

  $ aws dynamodb delete-table --TAB
  --ca-bundle              --endpoint-url           --profile              
  --cli-connect-timeout    --generate-cli-skeleton  --query                
  --cli-input-json         --no-paginate            --region               
  --cli-read-timeout       --no-sign-request        --table-name           
  --color                  --no-verify-ssl          --version              
  --debug                  --output

• Enter a parameter and press Tab to display a suggested list of resource values. This feature is available only in the AWS CLI version 2.

  $ aws dynamodb db delete-table --table-name TAB
  Table 1                  Table 2                  Table 3

Configuring command completion on Linux or macOS

To configure command completion on Linux or macOS, you must know the name of the shell you're using and the location of the aws_completer script.

Note

Command completion is automatically configured and enabled by default on Amazon EC2 instances that run Amazon Linux.

Topics

• Confirm the completer's folder is in your path
• Enable command completion

Confirm the completer's folder is in your path

For the AWS completer to work successfully, the aws_completer needs to be in your shell's path. The which command can check if the completer is in your path.

$ which aws_completer
/usr/local/bin/aws_completer

If the which command can't find the completer, then use the following steps to add the completer's folder to your path.

Step 1: Locate the AWS completer

The location of the AWS completer can vary depending on the installation method used.

• Package Manager - Programs such as pip, yum, brew, and apt-get typically install the AWS completer (or a symlink to it) to a standard path location.

  • If you used pip without the --user parameter, the default path is /usr/local/bin/aws_completer.

  • If you used pip with the --user parameter the default path is /home/username/.local/bin/aws_completer.

• Bundled Installer - If you used the bundled installer, the default path is /usr/local/bin/aws_completer.

If all else fails, you can use the find command to search your file system for the AWS completer.

$ find / -name aws_completer
/usr/local/bin/aws_completer

Step 2: Identify your shell

To identify which shell you're using, you can use one of the following commands.

• echo $SHELL – Displays the shell's program file name. This usually matches the name of the in-use shell, unless you launched a different shell after logging in.

  $ echo $SHELL
  /bin/bash

• ps – Displays the processes running for the current user. One of them is the shell.

  $ ps
    PID TTY          TIME CMD
   2148 pts/1    00:00:00 bash
   8756 pts/1    00:00:00 ps

Step 3: Add the completer to your path

1. Find your shell's profile script in your user folder.

   $ ls -a ~/
   .  ..  .bash_logout  .bash_profile  .bashrc  Desktop  Documents  Downloads

   • Bash– .bash_profile, .profile, or .bash_login

   • Zsh– .zshrc

   • Tcsh– .tcshrc, .cshrc, or .login

2. Add an export command at the end of your profile script that's similar to the following example. Replace /usr/local/bin/ with the folder that you discovered in the previous section.

   export PATH=/usr/local/bin/:$PATH

3. Reload the profile into the current session to put those changes into effect. Replace .bash_profile with the name of the shell script you discovered in the first section.

   $ source ~/.bash_profile

Enable command completion

After confirming the completer is in your path, enable command completion by running the appropriate command for the shell that you're using. You can add the command to your shell's profile to run it each time you open a new shell. In each command, replace the /usr/local/bin/ path with the one found on your system in Confirm the completer's folder is in your path.

• bash – Use the built-in command complete.

  $ complete -C '/usr/local/bin/aws_completer' aws

  Add the previous command to ~/.bashrc to run it each time you open a new shell. Your ~/.bash_profile should source ~/.bashrc to ensure that the command is also run in login shells.

• zsh – To run command completion, you need to run bashcompinit by adding the following autoload line at the end of your ~/.zshrc profile script.

  $ autoload bashcompinit && bashcompinit
  $ autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

  To enable command completion, use the built-in command complete.

  $ complete -C '/usr/local/bin/aws_completer' aws

  Add the previous commands to ~/.zshrc to run it each time you open a new shell.

• tcsh – Complete for tcsh takes a word type and pattern to define the completion behavior.

  > complete aws 'p/*/`aws_completer`/'

  Add the previous command to ~/.tschrc to run it each time you open a new shell.

After you've enabled command completion, Verify command completion is working.

Configuring command completion on Windows

To enable command completion for PowerShell on Windows, complete the following steps in PowerShell.

1. Open your $PROFILE with the following command.

   PS C:\> Notepad $PROFILE

   If you do not have a $PROFILE, create a user profile using the following command.

   PS C:\> if (!(Test-Path -Path $PROFILE ))
   { New-Item -Type File -Path $PROFILE -Force }

   For more information on PowerShell profiles, see How to Use Profiles in Windows PowerShell ISE on the Microsoft Docs website.

2. To enable command completion, add the following code block to your profile, save, and then close the file.

   Register-ArgumentCompleter -Native -CommandName aws -ScriptBlock {
       param($commandName, $wordToComplete, $cursorPosition)
           $env:COMP_LINE=$wordToComplete
           $env:COMP_POINT=$cursorPosition
           aws_completer.exe | ForEach-Object {
               [System.Management.Automation.CompletionResult]::new($_, $_, 'ParameterValue', $_)
           }
           Remove-Item Env:\COMP_LINE     
           Remove-Item Env:\COMP_POINT  
   }

3. Verify command completion is working.

Verify command completion

After enabling command completion, reload your shell, enter a partial command, and press Tab to see the available commands.

$ aws sTAB
s3              ses             sqs             sts             swf
s3api           sns             storagegateway  support