SAP HANA Developer CLI (hana-cli)

Related Skills

sap-cap-capire: Use for CAP database development, HDI container management, and CDS syntax comparison
sap-btp-cloud-platform: Use for HANA Cloud operations, BTP integration, and cloud instance management
sap-abap-cds: Use for comparing CDS syntax between CAP and ABAP or understanding HANA CDS features
sap-datasphere: Use when working with SAP Datasphere integration or data warehousing scenarios

A developer-centric command-line interface for SAP HANA database development, particularly useful in non-SAP tooling environments like VS Code.

Repository: https://github.com/SAP-samples/hana-developer-cli-tool-example npm Package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/hana-cli Current Version: 3.202405.1 (April 2024) Node.js Requirement: ≥20.19.0

Quick Start
Core Command Categories
Output Formats
Connection Configuration
Common Workflows
Bundled Resources

Quick Start

Installation

# Install globally via npm (recommended)
npm install -g hana-cli

# Verify installation
hana-cli version

First Connection

# Interactive connection setup
hana-cli connect

# Or specify connection directly
hana-cli connect -n "hostname:port" -u DBUSER -p PASSWORD --save

# Using service key (HANA Cloud)
hana-cli connectViaServiceKey

Core Command Categories

Database Object Inspection

| Command | Aliases | Purpose | |---------|---------|---------| | inspectTable | it, table | Inspect table structure | | inspectView | - | Inspect view definition | | inspectProcedure | - | Inspect stored procedure | | inspectFunction | - | Inspect function definition | | tables | - | List all tables in schema | | views | - | List all views in schema | | procedures | - | List stored procedures | | functions | - | List functions |

Query Execution

| Command | Aliases | Purpose | |---------|---------|---------| | querySimple | qs | Execute SQL query | | callProcedure | cp | Execute stored procedure | | hdbsql | - | Direct SQL execution |

HDI Container Management

| Command | Aliases | Purpose | |---------|---------|---------| | containers | cont | List HDI containers | | createContainer | - | Create new container | | dropContainer | - | Remove container | | activateHDI | - | Enable HDI service | | adminHDI | - | Administer HDI privileges |

Cloud & BTP Operations

| Command | Aliases | Purpose | |---------|---------|---------| | hanaCloudInstances | - | List HANA Cloud instances | | hanaCloudStart | - | Start cloud instance | | hanaCloudStop | - | Stop cloud instance | | btp | - | Configure BTP CLI | | btpInfo | - | Display BTP target info |

Output Formats

The --output / -o option supports 17+ formats:

| Format | Use Case | |--------|----------| | tbl | Human-readable table (default) | | json | JSON data | | yaml | YAML format | | csv | CSV export | | excel | Excel file | | cds | CAP CDS definitions | | hdbcds | HANA CDS format | | hdbtable | HDB Table definitions | | sql | SQL DDL statements | | edmx | OData EDMX metadata | | openapi | OpenAPI/Swagger spec | | graphql | GraphQL schema |

Connection Configuration

Connection credentials are searched in priority order:

default-env-admin.json (with --admin flag)
.cdsrc-private.json (via cds bind)
.env file with VCAP_SERVICES
File specified via --conn parameter
default-env.json in current/parent directories
~/.hana-cli/default.json

For connection templates, see templates/default-env.json.

Common Workflows

Inspect and Convert Table to CDS

# Inspect table structure
hana-cli inspectTable -s MYSCHEMA -t MYTABLE

# Convert to CDS format
hana-cli inspectTable -s MYSCHEMA -t MYTABLE -o cds

Mass Convert Schema Objects

# Convert all objects in schema to CDS
hana-cli massConvert -s MYSCHEMA

Execute Query with Export

# Run query and export to JSON
hana-cli querySimple -q "SELECT * FROM MYTABLE" -o json

# Export to Excel file
hana-cli querySimple -q "SELECT * FROM MYTABLE" -o excel -f ./output -n report

Manage HDI Containers

# List all containers
hana-cli containers

# Create new container
hana-cli createContainer -c MY_CONTAINER -g MY_GROUP

# Create container users
hana-cli createContainerUsers -c MY_CONTAINER

UI Commands

Many commands have browser-based UI alternatives (suffix UI):

tablesUI - Browse tables visually
containersUI - Manage containers in browser
massConvertUI - Visual mass conversion
querySimpleUI - Query builder interface
systemInfoUI - System dashboard

Key Features

Multi-database support: HANA, PostgreSQL, SQLite backends
Format conversion: 17+ output formats including CDS, EDMX, OpenAPI
HDI management: Full container lifecycle management
Cloud integration: SAP BTP CLI and HANA Cloud support
Interactive prompts: Missing parameters prompted automatically
Service key auth: Secure cloud authentication

Detailed References

For comprehensive documentation:

All 91 Commands: See references/command-reference.md
Connection & Security: See references/connection-security.md
HDI Management: See references/hdi-management.md
Output Formats: See references/output-formats.md
Cloud Operations: See references/cloud-operations.md
Database Inspection: See references/db-inspection.md
Mass Operations: See references/mass-operations.md
System Administration: See references/system-admin.md
Web UI Interface: See references/web-ui.md
Troubleshooting Guide: See references/troubleshooting.md
Development Environment: See references/development-environment.md
ABAP Programming Patterns: See references/abap-programming.md

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

# Check current connection status
hana-cli status

# Test with explicit credentials
hana-cli connect -n "host:443" -u USER -p PASS --encrypt true

# Use SSL trust store
hana-cli connect --trustStore /path/to/certificate.pem

Permission Errors

# Diagnose privilege errors
hana-cli privilegeError

# View current user info
hana-cli inspectUser

Version Compatibility

Node.js: Requires ≥20.19.0
@sap/cds: Uses 9.4.4
@sap/cds-dk: Requires ≥8.9 for cds bind

Bundled Resources

Reference Documentation

references/command-reference.md - Complete command reference with all options
references/abap-programming.md - ABAP-specific programming patterns
references/quick-start.md - Quick start guide and examples

Scripts

scripts/hana-setup.sh - HANA development environment setup script
scripts/migration-helper.sh - Migration helper script for existing projects

Resources

GitHub: https://github.com/SAP-samples/hana-developer-cli-tool-example
Intro Video: https://youtu.be/dvVQfi9Qgog
Cloud Shells Demo: https://youtu.be/L7QyVLvAIIQ
SAP HANA Cloud: https://help.sap.com/docs/hana-cloud
SAP CAP: https://cap.cloud.sap/docs/

Last Updated: 2025-11-26 | Version: 1.1.0

sap-hana-cli