generated: '2026-06-20'
method: searched
source: https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-ctl/stable/
clis:
- name: airflowctl
  package: apache-airflow-ctl
  aka: Apache Airflow CTL
  since: 0.1.0 (2025-10)
  aip: AIP-81
  docs: https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-ctl/stable/
  source_repo: https://github.com/apache/airflow/tree/main/airflow-ctl
  description: >-
    Secure, API-driven command-line client that interacts exclusively with the Airflow REST API
    (no direct metadata-database access). Every command is authorized through Airflow RBAC, and auth
    tokens are stored in the OS keyring (macOS Keychain / Windows Credential Manager / Linux Secret Service).
  install:
  - method: pip
    command: pip install apache-airflow-ctl
    note: Officially supported via pip with constraints.
  command_groups:
  - auth (login / token management against a remote Airflow API)
  - dags (list, trigger, pause/unpause, manage DAGs)
  - dagruns
  - tasks / taskinstances
  - connections
  - variables
  - pools
  - version
- name: airflow
  package: apache-airflow
  docs: https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/cli-and-env-variables-ref.html
  description: >-
    The bundled Airflow CLI shipped with the platform. Covers local/admin operations that manage
    Airflow components and the metadata database (db init/migrate, standalone, scheduler, api-server,
    dags, tasks, users, roles, connections, variables, pools, config, providers, celery/kubernetes).
  install:
  - method: pip
    command: pip install apache-airflow
  local_admin_note: >-
    Local/admin commands (component lifecycle, db operations) remain in the airflow CLI; remote,
    API-expressible operations are also available through airflowctl.