Getting Started

Set up the IBM i CLI, configure your first system connection, and run your first query in under 5 minutes.

Get the ibmi CLI running and connected to your IBM i system.

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Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed on your development machine
• Mapepire running on your IBM i system (Setup Guide)
• IBM i hostname, username, and password

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Step 1: Install

NPM Package (Recommended)

npm install -g @ibm/ibmi-cli
ibmi --help

Build from Source

cd ibmi-mcp-server
npm install && npm run build && npm link -w @ibm/ibmi-cli
ibmi --help

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Step 2: Configure a System

You have two options for connecting to your IBM i system:

Option A: Named System (Recommended)

Create a named system connection stored in .ibmi/config.yaml:

ibmi system add dev --host myhost.com --user MYUSER

You’ll be prompted for a password interactively (hidden input). Or pass it via environment variable:

ibmi system add dev --host myhost.com --user MYUSER --password '${DB2i_PASS}'

Test the connection:

ibmi system test dev

Option B: Environment Variables (Zero Config)

If you already have DB2i_* environment variables set (e.g., from your MCP server .env file), the CLI uses them automatically:

export DB2i_HOST=myhost.com
export DB2i_USER=MYUSER
export DB2i_PASS=mypassword
export DB2i_PORT=8076

# No system config needed — just run commands
ibmi schemas

Named system connections take priority over environment variables. See Configuration for the full resolution order.

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Step 3: Run Your First Query

# List available schemas
ibmi schemas

# List tables in a schema
ibmi tables SAMPLE

# Run a SQL query
ibmi sql "SELECT * FROM SAMPLE.EMPLOYEE FETCH FIRST 5 ROWS ONLY"

You should see formatted table output like:

┌────────┬───────────┬──────────┐
│ EMPNO  │ FIRSTNME  │ LASTNAME │
├────────┼───────────┼──────────┤
│ 000010 │ CHRISTINE │ HAAS     │
│ 000020 │ MICHAEL   │ THOMPSON │
│ 000030 │ SALLY     │ KWAN     │
│ 000050 │ JOHN      │ GEYER    │
│ 000060 │ IRVING    │ STERN    │
└────────┴───────────┴──────────┘
[dev] myhost.com · 5 rows · 0.12s

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Step 4: Explore

Try these commands to explore your IBM i system:

# Get column metadata for a table
ibmi columns SAMPLE EMPLOYEE

# Validate SQL syntax before executing
ibmi validate "SELECT * FROM SAMPLE.EMPLOYEE WHERE SALARY > 50000"

# Find objects that depend on a database file
ibmi related SAMPLE EMPLOYEE

# Get JSON output instead of a table
ibmi sql "SELECT * FROM SAMPLE.EMPLOYEE" --raw

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Next Steps

Command Reference

Full reference for all commands, options, and examples

Configuration

Multi-system config, output format defaults, and YAML tool paths

Output Formats

Table, JSON, CSV, markdown, and NDJSON streaming

YAML Tools

Run YAML-defined SQL tools from the command line