Prerequisites

Assume the Dune CLI is already installed and authenticated. Do not run upfront install or auth checks. Just execute the requested dune command directly.

If a dune command fails, inspect the error to determine the cause and follow the recovery steps in install-and-recovery.md:

• "command not found" → CLI not installed. See CLI Not Found Recovery.
• 401 / "unauthorized" / "missing API key" → Auth failure. See Authentication Failure Recovery.
• Unknown subcommand or flag / unexpected output → Possible version mismatch. See Version Compatibility.

Dune CLI

A command-line interface for Dune -- the leading blockchain data platform. Use it to write and execute DuneSQL queries against on-chain data, discover datasets, search documentation, and monitor credit usage.

Authentication

All commands except docs search require authentication via a Dune API key. The key is resolved in this priority order:

# 1. Flag (highest priority -- overrides everything)
dune query run 12345 --api-key <key>

# 2. Environment variable
export DUNE_API_KEY=<key>
dune query run 12345

# 3. Saved config file (lowest priority)
dune auth --api-key <key>        # saves to ~/.config/dune/config.yaml
dune query run 12345              # uses saved key

To save your key interactively (prompted from stdin):

dune auth

Config file location: ~/.config/dune/config.yaml

Global Flags

Output Format (per-command flag)

Most commands support -o, --output <FORMAT> with values text (default, human-readable tables) or json (machine-readable).

Always use -o json on every command that supports it. JSON output contains more detail than text (full API response objects vs. summarized tables) and is unambiguous to parse. The text format is for human terminal use and drops fields.

DuneSQL

Dune uses DuneSQL, a Trino-based SQL dialect, as its query engine. Key points:

• All SQL passed to --sql flags or saved queries must be valid DuneSQL
• DuneSQL supports standard SQL with extensions for blockchain data types (addresses, hashes, etc.)
• See dunesql-cheatsheet.md for common types, functions, patterns, and pitfalls
• Use dune docs search --query "DuneSQL functions" to look up syntax and functions
• Reference docs: Writing Efficient Queries, Functions and Operators

Key Concepts

Performance Tiers

Query execution supports two tiers:

Execution States

After submitting a query, the execution progresses through these states:

Dataset Categories

Dataset Types

Query Parameters

Parameters let you create reusable queries with variable inputs. Pass them as --param key=value (repeatable). The API auto-detects the type, but parameters support these types: text, number, datetime, enum.

dune query run 12345 --param wallet=0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045 --param days=30 -o json

Command Overview

Common Workflows

Ad-hoc SQL Analysis

# Run a one-off query directly
dune query run-sql --sql "SELECT block_number, block_time FROM ethereum.blocks ORDER BY block_number DESC LIMIT 5" -o json

Discover Tables, Then Query

# 1. Find relevant tables with column schemas
dune dataset search --query "uniswap swaps" --categories decoded --include-schema -o json

# 2. Write and execute SQL using discovered table/column names
dune query run-sql --sql "SELECT * FROM uniswap_v3_ethereum.evt_Swap LIMIT 10" -o json

Find Contract Tables, Then Query

# 1. Find decoded tables for a specific contract
dune dataset search-by-contract --contract-address 0x1f9840a85d5aF5bf1D1762F925BDADdC4201F984 --include-schema -o json

# 2. Query the discovered tables
dune query run-sql --sql "SELECT * FROM uniswap_v3_ethereum.evt_Transfer LIMIT 10" -o json

Save and Execute a Reusable Query

# 1. Create a saved query with parameters
dune query create --name "Top Wallets" --sql "SELECT address, balance FROM ethereum.balances WHERE balance > {{min_balance}} LIMIT {{row_limit}}" -o json

# 2. Run it with parameter values
dune query run <returned-id> --param min_balance=1000 --param row_limit=50 -o json

Long-Running Query (Submit and Poll)

# 1. Submit without waiting
dune query run 12345 --no-wait --performance large -o json
# Output: {"execution_id": "01ABC...", "state": "QUERY_STATE_PENDING"}

# 2. Check results later
dune execution results 01ABC... -o json

Limitations

The following capabilities are available via the Dune MCP server or web UI but not via the CLI:

• Visualization creation (charts, counters, tables)
• Blockchain listing (list all indexed blockchains with table counts)
• Table size analysis (storage size of specific tables)

Security

• Never output API keys or tokens in responses. Before presenting CLI output to the user, scan for strings that look like API keys (e.g. long alphanumeric tokens, strings prefixed with dune_, or values from DUNE_API_KEY). Redact them with [REDACTED].
• Always confirm with the user before running write commands (query create, query update, query archive)
• Always use -o json on every command -- JSON output is more detailed and reliably parseable
• Use --temp when creating throwaway queries to avoid cluttering the user's saved queries
• Never pass --api-key on the command line when other users might see the terminal history. Prefer dune auth or the DUNE_API_KEY environment variable.

Reference Documents

Load the relevant reference when you need detailed command syntax and flags: