# OpenStackClient

OpenStackClient (aka OSC) is a command-line client for OpenStack that brings the command set for Compute, Identity, Image, Object Storage and Block Storage APIs together in a single shell with a uniform command structure.

## Using OpenStackClient

- User Documentation
  - Manual Page
  - Command List
  - Command Structure
  - Plugin Commands
  - Authentication
  - Interactive Mode
  - Mapping Guide
  - Backwards Incompatible Changes
- Configuration
  - Global Options
  - Environment Variables
  - Configuration Files
  - Logging Settings
  - Locale and Language Support

## Getting Started

- Try some commands

- Read the source on OpenStack’s Git server

- Install OpenStackClient from PyPi or a tarball

## Release Notes

- Release Notes

## Contributor Documentation

- Contributor Documentation
  - Developing with OpenStackClient
  - Command Beta
  - Command Options
  - Command Class Wrappers
  - Command Errors
  - Command Logs
  - Plugins
  - Migrating Project Client OSC Plugins to OSC
  - Human Interface Guide
  - openstackclient

## Project Goals

- Use the OpenStack Python API libraries, extending or replacing them as required

- Use a consistent naming and structure for commands and arguments

- Provide consistent output formats with optional machine parseable formats

- Use a single-binary approach that also contains an embedded shell that can execute multiple commands on a single authentication (see libvirt’s virsh for an example)

- Independence from the OpenStack project names; only API names are referenced (to the extent possible)

### Contributing

OpenStackClient utilizes all of the usual OpenStack processes and requirements for contributions. The code is hosted on OpenStack’s Git server. Bug reports may be submitted to the `python-openstackclient` Launchpad project. Code may be submitted to the `openstack/python-openstackclient` project using Gerrit. Developers may also be found in the IRC channel `#openstack-sdks`.

### Indices and Tables

- Index

- Search Page

this page last updated: 2026-07-15 15:33:41

Except where otherwise noted, this document is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. See all OpenStack Legal Documents.