[Beginner] CLI --queries Syntax Error & Missing list-documents in Docs (macOS/Bash)

Hi everyone! I am a beginner with Appwrite and trying to use the CLI, but I'm stuck with a syntax error. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

Environment:

• Appwrite CLI: v18.2.0
• Appwrite Cloud (sgp region)
• OS: macOS 26.4 (Apple M5) / Bash

My Goal & Journey:
I want to fetch the latest few records from my memory collection.
When I ran the list-documents command without any options, I only got the default 25 records out of 38. So, I figured I needed to use --queries with limit or orderDesc, but I keep hitting a Syntax error.

What I tried:
I tried formatting the queries in a few different ways, but none of them worked in my Bash terminal:

1. JSON array format -> Invalid query method:
appwrite databases list-documents --database-id [ID] --collection-id memory --queries '["limit(100)"]' --json

2. String format -> Invalid query: Syntax error
appwrite databases list-documents --database-id [ID] --collection-id memory --queries 'limit(100)' --json

3. Escaping parentheses -> Invalid query: Syntax error
appwrite databases list-documents --database-id [ID] --collection-id memory --queries limit\(100\) --json

My Questions:

1. What is the exact syntax/escaping required for the --queries parameter in Bash to get the latest rows?
2. Where can I find the official documentation for this? I checked the CLI Commands page (https://appwrite.io/docs/tooling/command-line/commands), but I couldn't find the list-documents subcommand listed there.

Thank you in advance for your time!

hmm appwrite cli isnt very optimize for query syntax, it expects queries to be in json string format, which requires special formatting in the terminal

Thank you, @Chirag Aggarwal ! Good to know it expects a JSON string.

I actually tried passing it like this in my Mac/Bash terminal:
--queries '["limit(100)"]'
But it returned this error: Invalid query method:

Could you share the exact snippet or escaping format I should use in Bash to make it work?

should be like this

[ {"method":"equal","attribute":"status","values":["active"]} ]

[{"method":"limit","values":[25]}]

you can refer to the docs here - https://appwrite.io/docs/products/databases/queries

and select "http"

Ah, I see! The CLI inherently parses the --queries arguments into an array. So by wrapping my JSON in [ ], I was accidentally sending a nested array, which caused the Invalid query method: error.

Removing the outer brackets and passing each JSON object as a separate string worked perfectly in Bash:
--queries '{"method":"orderDesc","attribute":"$createdAt"}' '{"method":"limit","values":[100]}'

Thank you so much, @Chirag Aggarwal ! The command worked perfectly, and I’m really glad we figured it out. 🚀

To give a bit of context on why I was so confused, I actually visited that exact documentation page earlier. Since I couldn't find a comprehensive list of CLI subcommands in the official web docs, I was relying on the CLI's internal help output to learn how to use it.

When I ran appwrite databases list-documents -h, I saw this description:
--queries [queries...] Array of query strings generated using the Query class provided by the SDK. [Learn more about queries](https://appwrite.io/docs/queries).

Because the help text explicitly says "generated using the Query class provided by the SDK," I was trying to pass SDK-like syntax instead of raw JSON! 😅

Furthermore, when I checked that doc link, it heavily references tablesDB.listRows. This added to my confusion because the CLI doesn't seem to have a list-rows subcommand, and conversely, the SDK docs don't seem to use listDocuments anymore.

Just out of curiosity, is Appwrite currently in a transition phase moving from the "Collections/Documents" terminology to "Tables/Rows"?

Thanks again for your amazing support and for taking the time to help a beginner out!

completely understandable, infact i created an issue just now to improve it in future - https://github.com/appwrite/sdk-generator/issues/1455

Just out of curiosity, is Appwrite currently in a transition phase moving from the "Collections/Documents" terminology to "Tables/Rows"?

yes we recommend using tables terminology for new projects

Wow, I just read the GitHub issue you created. Thank you so much for the incredibly fast and dedicated response, @Chirag Aggarwal !

The proposal is beautifully structured and captures exactly what I was struggling with. Adding ergonomic flags like --limit and --sort-desc will definitely make the CLI so much more intuitive for everyone.

My problem is completely solved now, so I'm happy to close this thread. Thanks again for taking my feedback seriously and for the amazing support. Keep up the great work! 🚀