Output formats

Every command that emits records renders through the same formatter. Pick a format with --output (or -o), or let arctic choose: a table when writing to a terminal, JSONL when piped.

Formats

arctic query golang -o table   # aligned columns for reading
arctic query golang -o jsonl   # one JSON object per line, for piping
arctic query golang -o json    # a single JSON array
arctic query golang -o csv     # spreadsheet friendly
arctic query golang -o tsv     # tab-separated

Format	Best for
table	Reading on a terminal
jsonl	Piping into another tool, one object at a time
json	Loading a whole result as an array
csv / tsv	Spreadsheets and quick column math

The same formatter renders every command, so query, stats, catalog, process, sub info, info, and version all take -o and the field and template flags below.

Auto-detection

With no -o, the default adapts to where the output is going: an aligned table when the output is a terminal, JSONL when it is piped. That keeps interactive use readable and scripted use parseable without you setting --output either time:

arctic query golang                  # a table, because this is a terminal
arctic query golang | jq -r .author  # JSONL, because this is a pipe

You only reach for -o when you want something other than that default.

Narrowing columns

Keep only the fields you want with --fields:

arctic query golang --fields author,score,body
arctic query golang --kind submissions --fields author,score,title
arctic stats --by month --fields month,records

The field names are the record's keys, which match the JSON output, so a quick arctic query golang -o json -n 1 shows you every name available.

--no-header drops the header row in table, csv, and tsv output, which is handy when a downstream tool expects bare rows:

arctic query golang --fields author,score -o csv --no-header

Templating rows

For full control over each line, apply a Go text/template. The fields are the record's keys:

arctic query golang --template '{{.author}}: {{.body}}'
arctic query golang --kind submissions --template '{{.score}}	{{.title}}'

Color

--color is auto by default: arctic colors table output on a terminal and drops color when piped. Force it with --color always or turn it off with --color never.

Progress on stderr

Acquisition and conversion print progress to stderr, separate from the record output on stdout, so a pipe stays clean. Silence the progress with -q (--quiet):

arctic sub golang -q

Exit codes for scripting

arctic returns a stable exit code so a script can branch on the outcome:

Code	Meaning
0	OK
1	Error
2	Usage error
3	No data (nothing matched, nothing published, nothing imported)
4	Partial (some targets in a batch failed)
5	Blocked (the API rate-limited or refused)
75	Commit stalled (restart a publish run to resume)

For example, treat an empty result differently from a real failure:

arctic query golang --contains generics -o json > out.json
case $? in
  0) echo "got matches" ;;
  3) echo "nothing matched" ;;
  *) echo "failed" ;;
esac

See troubleshooting for what to do about each non-zero code.