RisingWave Cloud CLI (rwc) is the command-line interface for managing RisingWave Cloud. It brings cluster management, authentication, and environment configuration to your terminal and CI pipelines -- no browser required.
Why a CLI
Cloud consoles work for one-off tasks. But real-world workflows demand more. Provisioning clusters in CI, rotating credentials on a schedule, scripting snapshot backups across regions -- these operations belong in a terminal, not behind a login form.
rwc gives you programmatic access to every RisingWave Cloud operation. It supports Hosted, BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud), and BYOK (Bring Your Own Kubernetes) environments, all through the same interface.
Install and Authenticate
Get started in two commands:
curl -L https://rwc-cli-internal-release.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/download.sh | bash && sudo mv rwc /usr/local/bin
rwc version
Authenticate with an API key (recommended) or email/password:
# API key -- works everywhere, including CI
rwc auth config --api-key '<api-key>' --api-key-secret '<api-key-secret>'
# Email/password -- for accounts not using social login
rwc auth login --account '<email>' --password '<password>'
Generate API keys from the RisingWave Cloud console under Org > Service accounts.
Manage Your Infrastructure
Set a region, list clusters, inspect your context:
rwc context region list
rwc context region set --name us-east-1
rwc cluster list
rwc context list
Every operation available in the cloud console -- creating clusters, managing database users, taking snapshots, configuring connection endpoints -- is available through rwc.
Part of a Larger Tooling Ecosystem
rwc does not exist in isolation. It is one piece of a growing developer tooling ecosystem we are building around RisingWave.
Agent Skills. RisingWave Agent Skills is an open-source collection of structured reference documents that AI coding assistants load into context when working with RisingWave. The skills cover pipeline architecture, streaming SQL patterns, CDC best practices, and materialized view design -- the kind of domain knowledge that LLMs do not learn well from general training data. They work with Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, and other tools that support the Agent Skills specification.
rwc ships with these skills built in. You can install them directly from the CLI:
rwc skill list
rwc skill install --target claude-code
rwc skill install --target cursor
No need to clone a repo or copy files manually. One command, and your AI assistant knows how to write correct streaming SQL.
RisingWave MCP Server. RisingWave MCP is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects AI agents directly to a running RisingWave instance. While Agent Skills give an agent static knowledge about RisingWave, the MCP server gives it live access -- querying system catalogs, inspecting materialized views, reading table schemas, and executing SQL. Together, they let an AI agent both understand RisingWave and interact with it.
The three tools serve different layers:
| Tool | What it does |
rwc CLI | Manages cloud infrastructure -- clusters, users, snapshots, regions |
| Agent Skills | Teaches AI agents how to write correct streaming SQL |
| MCP Server | Gives AI agents live access to a running RisingWave instance |
Getting Started
- Install
rwcand authenticate - Install agent skills:
rwc skill install --target claude-code - Set up the MCP server for live database access
The CLI documentation is at docs.risingwave.com/cloud/install-cli. For questions, join the RisingWave Community.
FAQ
What environments does rwc support?
All RisingWave Cloud deployment models: Hosted, BYOC, and BYOK.
Can I use rwc in CI/CD pipelines?
Yes. Use API key authentication. It does not require interactive login.
How do agent skills differ from the MCP server? Agent skills are static reference documents -- they teach an AI agent the right patterns. The MCP server provides live database access -- it lets the agent query and inspect a running instance. Use both together for the best experience.
Do I need RisingWave Cloud to use agent skills or the MCP server?
No. Agent skills work with any RisingWave deployment (including open-source self-hosted). The MCP server connects to any RisingWave instance. Only the rwc CLI itself requires a RisingWave Cloud account.
