Using the CLI

The Roboflow Python package includes a CLI (pip install roboflow) that you can use to work with the Roboflow platform from the command line. It follows a consistent roboflow <noun> <verb> pattern and supports structured JSON output for use with AI coding agents and automation tools.

Commands

Command	Description
auth	Login, logout, check status, set default workspace
workspace	List and inspect workspaces
project	List, get, and create projects
version	List, get, download, and export dataset versions
image	Upload, get, search, tag, delete, and annotate images
model	List, get, and upload trained models
train	Start model training
infer	Run inference on an image
search	Search workspace images and export results
deployment	Manage dedicated deployments
workflow	Manage workflows
folder	Manage workspace folders
annotation	Annotation batches and jobs
universe	Search Roboflow Universe
video	Video inference
batch	Batch processing jobs (coming soon)
completion	Generate shell completion scripts (bash, zsh, fish)

Run roboflow <command> --help for details on any command.

Global Flags

These flags work on every command and can appear before or after the subcommand:

Flag	Short	Description
--json	-j	Output results as structured JSON (for agents and piping)
--api-key	-k	API key override
--workspace	-w	Workspace override
--quiet	-q	Suppress progress bars and status messages
--version		Show package version

JSON Output for Agents

Every command supports --json for structured output that's safe to pipe and parse programmatically:

roboflow --json project list | jq '.[0].id'

Errors in JSON mode go to stderr with an empty stdout, making it safe for piping:

roboflow --json project get nonexistent 2>error.json
# stdout is empty, stderr contains: {"error": {"message": "...", "hint": "..."}}

Exit codes are consistent: 0 = success, 1 = error, 2 = auth error, 3 = not found.

Resource Shorthand

Resources can be addressed with compact identifiers:

Shorthand	Meaning
my-project	Uses your default workspace
my-ws/my-project	Explicit workspace
my-project/3	Default workspace, version 3
my-ws/my-project/3	Explicit workspace, version 3

Version numbers are always numeric - that's how x/y is disambiguated between workspace/project and project/version.

Convenience Aliases

Common operations have short top-level aliases:

Alias	Equivalent
roboflow login	roboflow auth login
roboflow whoami	roboflow auth status
roboflow upload	roboflow image upload
roboflow download	roboflow version download