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BigQuery CLI (bq)

Overview

The BigQuery CLI (bq) provides command-line access to Google BigQuery for data warehousing and analytics. Core principle: Always estimate costs with dry-run, use proper authentication, and leverage partitioning for scale.

When to Use

• Running SQL queries on BigQuery
• Loading data from CSV/JSON/Avro/Parquet
• Exporting table data to GCS
• Managing datasets, tables, views
• Cost estimation and optimization
• Creating partitioned/clustered tables
• Viewing schemas and data samples

When NOT to use:

• When BigQuery UI is more appropriate (ad-hoc exploration)
• When using BigQuery client libraries (Python, Java, etc.)

Authentication and Project Setup

Before ANY bq operation:

# Check authentication
gcloud auth list

# Login if needed
gcloud auth login

# Set default project
gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

# Verify current project
gcloud config get-value project

Command Structure

Format: bq [--global_flags] <command> [--command_flags] [args]

Important global flags:

• --project_id=PROJECT - Override default project
• --dataset_id=DATASET - Default dataset
• --location=LOCATION - Geographic location (us, eu, asia-northeast1)
• --format=FORMAT - Output format: pretty, sparse, prettyjson, json, csv
• --quiet / -q - Suppress status updates
• --dry_run - Validate without executing (queries only)

Quick Reference

Query Operations

Data Loading

Data Export

Resource Management

Creating Resources

Deleting Resources

Cost Estimation - ALWAYS USE DRY RUN

# ALWAYS check cost before running expensive queries
bq query --dry_run 'SELECT * FROM project.dataset.huge_table'

# Output shows bytes to be processed
# Cost = (Bytes / 1TB) × $6.25 (US, on-demand pricing)
# First 1 TB per month is free

# Add safety limit (in bytes)
bq query --maximum_bytes_billed=5000000000000 'SELECT ...'  # ~5TB limit

Schema Format

Inline (comma-separated):

field1:STRING,field2:INTEGER,field3:FLOAT,field4:BOOLEAN,field5:TIMESTAMP

With mode:

field1:STRING:REQUIRED,field2:INTEGER:NULLABLE,field3:RECORD:REPEATED

JSON file:

[
  {"name": "field1", "type": "STRING", "mode": "REQUIRED"},
  {"name": "field2", "type": "INTEGER", "mode": "NULLABLE"},
  {
    "name": "nested",
    "type": "RECORD",
    "fields": [
      {"name": "subfield", "type": "STRING"}
    ]
  }
]

Common types: STRING, INTEGER, FLOAT, BOOLEAN, TIMESTAMP, DATE, TIME, DATETIME, NUMERIC, BIGNUMERIC, BYTES, GEOGRAPHY, JSON, RECORD (nested), ARRAY

Partitioning and Clustering

Time-based Partitioning

# Partition by DATE/TIMESTAMP column
bq mk --table \
  --time_partitioning_type=DAY \
  --time_partitioning_field=event_date \
  --time_partitioning_expiration=2592000 \
  ds.events \
  event_id:STRING,event_date:DATE,data:STRING

# Require partition filter (prevents expensive full scans)
bq mk --table \
  --time_partitioning_type=DAY \
  --require_partition_filter=true \
  ds.events \
  schema.json

Partition types: DAY, HOUR, MONTH, YEAR

Clustering

# Add clustering (up to 4 columns)
bq mk --table \
  --time_partitioning_type=DAY \
  --time_partitioning_field=event_date \
  --clustering_fields=user_id,region \
  ds.events \
  schema.json

Benefits: Faster queries, lower costs when filtering/grouping by clustered columns

Output Formats

# Pretty table (default)
bq query --format=pretty 'SELECT ...'

# JSON (compact)
bq query --format=json 'SELECT ...'

# Pretty JSON (readable)
bq query --format=prettyjson 'SELECT ...'

# CSV with header
bq query --format=csv 'SELECT ...'

# Sparse table (simpler)
bq query --format=sparse 'SELECT ...'

Common Workflows

Cost Estimation → Query

# 1. Estimate cost
bq query --dry_run 'SELECT ...'

# 2. Review bytes to be processed
# Calculate: (bytes / 1099511627776) × $6.25

# 3. Run query if acceptable
bq query 'SELECT ...'

# OR add safety limit
bq query --maximum_bytes_billed=10000000000000 'SELECT ...'

Load Data Pipeline

# 1. Check authentication and project
gcloud auth list
gcloud config get-value project

# 2. Create dataset if needed
bq ls | grep my_dataset || bq mk my_dataset

# 3. Load with autodetect (fast) or explicit schema (production)
bq load --autodetect --skip_leading_rows=1 \
  my_dataset.table \
  gs://bucket/data.csv

# 4. Verify
bq show my_dataset.table
bq head -n 10 my_dataset.table

Export Large Table

# 1. Export with wildcard (required for >1GB)
bq extract \
  --compression=GZIP \
  --destination_format=NEWLINE_DELIMITED_JSON \
  dataset.large_table \
  'gs://bucket/export_*.json.gz'

# 2. Verify export
gsutil ls -lh gs://bucket/export_*

# 3. Check total size
gsutil du -sh gs://bucket/

Create Partitioned Table for Scale

# 1. Create with partitioning and clustering
bq mk --table \
  --time_partitioning_type=DAY \
  --time_partitioning_field=event_date \
  --clustering_fields=user_id,event_type \
  --require_partition_filter=true \
  --time_partitioning_expiration=31536000 \
  dataset.events \
  event_id:STRING,user_id:STRING,event_type:STRING,event_date:DATE,data:JSON

# 2. Load initial data
bq load dataset.events gs://bucket/events_*.json

# 3. Query with partition filter (required)
bq query 'SELECT * FROM dataset.events WHERE event_date = "2025-01-20"'

Best Practices

Query Cost Optimization

1. Always use --dry_run first for queries scanning >1TB
2. Add WHERE clauses on partition columns
3. SELECT specific columns, not SELECT *
4. Use --maximum_bytes_billed as safety net
5. Partition large tables by date/timestamp
6. Cluster by common filter columns

Loading Data

1. Use --autodetect for quick loads, explicit schema for production
2. Load from GCS (not local files) for large data
3. Use appropriate source format: Parquet/Avro > CSV/JSON
4. Batch small files into larger files before loading
5. Set expiration on staging tables

Exporting Data

1. Use wildcards for large exports (>1GB limit per file)
2. Compress exports with GZIP or SNAPPY
3. Use columnar formats (Parquet, Avro) for analytics workflows
4. Match regions (BigQuery dataset and GCS bucket)

Partitioning

1. Partition by date/timestamp for time-series data
2. Use require_partition_filter to prevent expensive scans
3. Set partition expiration to auto-delete old data
4. Combine with clustering for additional optimization
5. Partition types: DAY for most use cases, HOUR for high-volume

Schema Design

1. Use REQUIRED for mandatory fields
2. Use TIMESTAMP over STRING for timestamps
3. Use NUMERIC for financial data (exact precision)
4. Use JSON type for flexible nested data (Standard SQL only)
5. Nested records better than wide tables with many columns

Common Mistakes

Red Flags - CHECK BEFORE RUNNING

• Running query without --dry_run on production data
• Using SELECT * on tables with >1TB
• Loading data without schema validation
• Exporting large table without wildcard
• Creating unpartitioned table for billions of rows
• No authentication check before commands
• Using wrong project (check gcloud config get-value project)
• Not matching dataset and GCS bucket regions

All of these mean: Stop, review the command, fix the issue.

Dataset and Table References

Fully qualified:

project:dataset.table
# or
project.dataset.table

Without project (uses default):

dataset.table

Partitioned table (specific date):

dataset.table$20250120

Legacy SQL (bracket notation):

[project:dataset.table]

Job Management

# List running jobs
bq ls -j --filter='state:RUNNING'

# Show job details
bq show -j JOB_ID

# Cancel long-running job
bq cancel JOB_ID

# Wait for job completion
bq wait JOB_ID

Getting Help

# General help
bq help

# Command-specific help
bq help query
bq help load
bq help extract

# Show all flags
bq --helpfull

When in doubt, check bq help <command> for exact flags and syntax.

Real-World Impact

Cost savings:

• Dry-run prevents accidental multi-thousand dollar queries
• Partitioning reduces scan costs by 10-100x
• Clustering adds 20-40% additional savings

Performance:

• Partitioning + clustering: queries 10-100x faster
• Proper schema: faster loads and queries
• Columnar formats (Parquet): 5-10x faster loads than CSV

Common scenarios:

• Ad-hoc analysis: bq query --dry_run → review → bq query
• Data pipelines: bq load from GCS → process → bq extract
• Cost monitoring: Always dry-run before production queries
• Scale: Partition + cluster tables with >100M rows