.TH "GCLOUD_ALPHA_INTERACTIVE" 1



.SH "NAME"
.HP
gcloud alpha interactive \- start the gcloud interactive shell



.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP
\f5gcloud alpha interactive\fR [\fB\-\-context\fR=\fICONTEXT\fR] [\fIGCLOUD_WIDE_FLAG\ ...\fR]



.SH "DESCRIPTION"

\fB(ALPHA)\fR \fBgcloud alpha interactive\fR provides an enhanced \fBbash\fR(1)
command line with features that include:

.RS 2m
.IP "\(bu" 2m
auto\-completion and active help for all commands
.IP "\(bu" 2m
state preservation across commands: \fBcd\fR, local/environment variables
.RE
.sp



.SH "Display"

The \fBgcloud alpha interactive\fR display window is divided into sections,
described here from top to bottom.

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fBPrevious Output\fR

Command output scrolls above the command input section as commands are executed.

.TP 2m
\fBCommand Input\fR

Commands are typed, completed, and edited in this section. The default prompt is
"$ ". If a context has been set, then its tokens are prepopulated before the
cursor.

.TP 2m
\fBActive Help\fR

As you type, this section displays in\-line help summaries for commands, flags,
and arguments. You can toggle active help on and off via the \fBF2\fR key. Hit
\fBF8\fR to display the help text in your browser.

.TP 2m
\fBStatus Display\fR

Current \fBgcloud\fR project and account information, and function key
descriptions and settings are displayed in this section. Function keys toggle
mode/state settings or run specific actions.

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fBF2:help:\fR\fISTATE\fR
Toggles the active help section, \fBON\fR when enabled, \fBOFF\fR when disabled.

.TP 2m
\fBF7:context\fR
Sets the context for command input, so you won't have to re\-type common command
prefixes at every prompt. The context is the command line from just after the
prompt up to the cursor.

For example, if you are about to work with \f5gcloud compute\fR for a while,
type \fBgcloud compute\fR and hit \fBF7\fR. This will display \fBgcloud
compute\fR at subsequent prompts until the context is changed.

Hit ctrl\-c and \fBF7\fR to clear the context, or edit a command line and/or
move the cursor and hit \fBF7\fR to set a different context.

.TP 2m
\fBF8:web\-help\fR
Opens a web browser tab/window to display the complete man page help for the
current command. If there is no active web browser (running in \fBssh\fR(1) for
example), then command specific help or \fBman\fR(1) help is attempted.

.TP 2m
\fBF9:quit\fR
Exit.

.RE
.RE
.sp

.SH "Auto and Tab Completion"

Command completions are displayed in a scrolling pop\-up menu. Use \f5tab\fR and
up/down keys to navigate the completions, and \f5space\fR or \f5/\fR to select
the highlighted completion.

Completions for \fIknown\fR commands, flags, and static flag values are
displayed automatically. Positional and dynamic flag value completions for known
commands are displayed after \f5tab\fR is entered. Known commands include
\f5gcloud\fR, \f5bq\fR, \f5gsutil\fR, \f5kubectl\fR, and any command with a man
page that has been executed at least once in any \fBinteractive\fR session.

\f5tab\fR completion for unknown commands defers to \fBbash\fR(1), while still
using the \fBinteractive\fR user interface. Absent specific command information,
a file/path completer is used when \f5tab\fR is entered for unknown positionals
(arguments that do not start with '\-'). The default completer handles '~' path
notation and embedded \fI$var\fR references, but does not expand their values in
completions.

Configure bash completions as you normally would. \fBgcloud alpha interactive\fR
starts up bash in a mode that sources \fB~/.bashrc\fR with the environment
variable \fBCOSHELL_VERSION\fR set to a non\-empty version value.

Command completion resets with each simple command in the command line. Simple
commands are separated by '|', ';', '&' and may appear after '$(', '(', '{',
\'!', \fBif\fR, \fBthen\fR, \fBelif\fR, \fBwhile\fR, and \fIname\fR=\fIvalue\fR
per command exports. Use \f5tab\fR on an empty line to enable command executable
search on PATH for the first token in each simple command.

Currently simple and compound commands must be entered in a single line.

Refer to Using gcloud interactive
(https://cloud.google.com/sdk/docs/interactive\-gcloud) for more information and
animated GIFs.


.SH "Control Characters"

Control characters affect the currently running command or the current command
line being entered at the prompt.

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fBctrl\-c\fR
If a command is currently running, then that command is interrupted. This
terminates the command. Otherwise, if no command is running, ctrl\-c clears the
current command line.

.TP 2m
\fBctrl\-d\fR
Exits when entered as the first character at the command prompt. You can also
run the \fBexit\fR command at the prompt.

.TP 2m
\fBctrl\-w\fR
If a command is not currently running, then the last word on the command line is
deleted. This is handy for "walking back" partial completions.

.RE
.sp

.SH "Command history"

\fBgcloud alpha interactive\fR maintains persistent command history across
sessions.


.SH "emacs mode"

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fB^N\fR
Move ahead one line in the history.
.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fB^P\fR
Move back one line in the history.
.TP 2m
\fB^R\fR
Search backwards in the history.

.RE
.RE
.sp

.SH "vi mode"

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
/
Search backwards in the history.
.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fBj\fR
Move ahead one line in the history.
.TP 2m
\fBk\fR
Move back one line in the history.
.TP 2m
\fBn\fR
Search backwards for the next match.
.TP 2m
\fBN\fR
Search forwards for the next match.

.RE
.RE
.sp

.SH "history search mode"

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fBENTER/RETURN\fR
Retrieve the matched command line from the history.
.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fB^R\fR
Search backwards for the next match.
.TP 2m
\fB^S\fR
Search forwards for the next match.

.RE
.RE
.sp

.SH "Layout Configuration"

Parts of the layout are configurable via \fB$ gcloud config set\fR
interactive/\fIproperty\fR. These properties are only checked at startup. You
must exit and restart to see the effects of new settings.

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fBbottom_bindings_line\fR
If True, display the bottom key bindings line. The default value is \fBtrue\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBbottom_status_line\fR
If True, display the bottom status line. The default value is \fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBcompletion_menu_lines\fR
Number of lines in the completion menu. The default value is \fB4\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBcontext\fR
Command context string. The default value is "".

.TP 2m
\fBdebug\fR
If True, enable the debugging display. The default value is \fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBfixed_prompt_position\fR
If True, display the prompt at the same position. The default value is
\fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBhelp_lines\fR
Maximum number of help snippet lines. The default value is \fB10\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBhidden\fR
If True, expose hidden commands/flags. The default value is \fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBjustify_bottom_lines\fR
If True, left\- and right\-justify bottom toolbar lines. The default value is
\fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBmanpage_generator\fR
If True, use the manpage CLI tree generator for unsupported commands. The
default value is \fBtrue\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBmulti_column_completion_menu\fR
If True, display the completions as a multi\-column menu. The default value is
\fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBobfuscate\fR
If True, obfuscate status PII. The default value is \fBfalse\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBprompt\fR
Command prompt string. The default value is "$ ".

.TP 2m
\fBshow_help\fR
If True, show help as command args are being entered. The default value is
\fBtrue\fR.

.TP 2m
\fBsuggest\fR
If True, add command line suggestions based on history. The default value is
\fBfalse\fR.

.RE
.sp

.SH "CLI Trees"

\fBgcloud alpha interactive\fR uses CLI tree data files for typeahead, command
line completion, and help snippet generation. A few CLI trees are installed with
their respective Google Cloud CLI components: \fBgcloud\fR (core component),
\fBbq\fR, \fBgsutil\fR, and \fBkubectl\fR. Trees for commands that have man(1)
pages are generated on the fly. See \f5$ gcloud topic cli\-trees\fR for details.



.SH "EXAMPLES"

To set the command context of \fBgcloud alpha interactive\fR to "gcloud ", run:

.RS 2m
gcloud alpha interactive \-\-context="gcloud "
.RE



.SH "FLAGS"

.RS 2m
.TP 2m
\fB\-\-context\fR=\fICONTEXT\fR

Default command context. This is a string containing a command name, flags, and
arguments. The context is prepopulated in each command line. You can inline edit
any part of the context, or ctrl\-c to eliminate it.


.RE
.sp

.SH "GCLOUD WIDE FLAGS"

These flags are available to all commands: \-\-access\-token\-file, \-\-account,
\-\-billing\-project, \-\-configuration, \-\-flags\-file, \-\-flatten,
\-\-format, \-\-help, \-\-impersonate\-service\-account, \-\-log\-http,
\-\-project, \-\-quiet, \-\-trace\-token, \-\-user\-output\-enabled,
\-\-verbosity.

Run \fB$ gcloud help\fR for details.



.SH "NOTES"

On Windows, install \fBgit\fR(1) for a \fBbash\fR(1) experience. \fBgcloud alpha
interactive\fR will then use the \fBgit\fR (MinGW) \fBbash\fR instead of
\fBcmd.exe\fR.

Please run \fB$ gcloud feedback\fR to report bugs or request new features.

This command is currently in alpha and might change without notice. If this
command fails with API permission errors despite specifying the correct project,
you might be trying to access an API with an invitation\-only early access
allowlist. This variant is also available:

.RS 2m
$ gcloud beta interactive
.RE