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The Sift CLI imports telemetry files into an Asset. Use it for command-line imports and scripted ingestion without writing code against the API.

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Before you begin

  • Install and configure the CLI. See Sift CLI setup.
  • Identify the Asset that owns the data. When you import, you can name an existing Asset or a new one.
  • Confirm your file has a time column in a supported time format.
  • For every command, flag, and supported value, see the Sift CLI reference.

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Import commands overview

Every import command imports into an Asset named by --asset. To associate the data with a Run, or to create or reuse a Run by name, pass --run <name>. To append to an existing Run, use --run-id <id>.
The CSV importer accepts --run only.
Two flags apply to all import commands:
  • --preview parses the file and prints the detected schema without uploading.
  • --wait blocks until Sift finishes processing the import.

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Import a CSV file

Import a CSV file into an Asset. Unless you specify column types, the CLI infers each column as either string or double. 
sift-cli import csv ./data.csv --asset my-asset --wait
To override specific columns, pass --channel-column with the 1-based column index. Supply a --data-type, --unit, and --description for each --channel-column. The counts must match. Units and descriptions can be empty strings. 
sift-cli import csv ./data.csv \
  --asset my-asset \
  --channel-column 2 --data-type double --unit volts --description "" \
  --channel-column 3 --data-type bool --unit "" --description ""
CSV import defaults the header row to row 1, the first data row to row 2, and the time column to column 1. Override these with --header-row, --first-data-row, and --time-column. Set the time format with --time-format.

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Import a Parquet file

Parquet import has two layouts. Choose the subcommand that matches your file.

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Flat dataset

Use flat-dataset when every column holds one Channel, except for the time column. By default, the CLI imports every non-time column. 
sift-cli import parquet flat-dataset ./data.parquet --asset my-asset
To import a subset of columns, pass --channel-path for each Channel. Supply a --data-type, --unit, and --description for each --channel-path. The counts must match. Units and descriptions can be empty strings. 
sift-cli import parquet flat-dataset ./data.parquet \
  --asset my-asset \
  --channel-path voltage --data-type double --unit volts --description "" \
  --channel-path current --data-type double --unit amps --description ""
The CLI auto-detects the time column from the common names time, timestamp, timestamps, and ts. Set --time-path to name it explicitly. The CLI infers the time format from the column’s Arrow type unless you set --time-format.

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Channel per row

Use cpr when the file is laid out one Channel value per row. The --mode flag selects the layout:
  • single: the file holds [time, value] and every row belongs to one Channel. Name it with --channel-name.
  • multi: the file holds a name column and a value column. Set --name-path to the column holding Channel names. The CLI creates a Channel per unique name.
sift-cli import parquet cpr ./data.parquet \
  --asset my-asset \
  --mode multi \
  --data-path value \
  --name-path channel
Both Parquet layouts handle complex columns (maps, lists, structs) through --complex-types-mode, which defaults to ignore.

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Import a TDMS file

Import a TDMS file into an Asset. 
sift-cli import tdms ./data.tdms --asset my-asset
For Channels with missing timing information, --fallback-method controls behavior and defaults to fail-on-error. Set it to ignore-error to skip those Channels. To import TDMS file properties to the Run as metadata, pass --import-file-properties.

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Import an HDF5 file

Import an HDF5 file into an Asset. Two flags are required: --schema, which names the file’s layout (one-d, two-d, or compound), and --time-format. Add --relative-start-time (-s) when the time format is relative. 
sift-cli import hdf5 ./data.h5 --asset my-asset --schema one-d --time-format absolute-unix-seconds
HDF5 import supports these Channel types across all schemas: bool, int8/16/32/64, uint8/16/32/64, float32, and float64. Datasets with other types produce a client-side error. The time-column flag depends on the schema:
  • --time-name (one-d): the leaf name of the time dataset when it differs from the auto-detected names time, timestamp, timestamps, or ts.
  • --time-index (two-d): the index of the time column. Defaults to 0.
  • --time-field (compound): the name of the time field.

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Import backup files

Import backup files generated by sift_stream, part of the sift_app built-in system Asset. If ingestion fails, sift_stream writes the in-flight data to a local backup. sift-cli import backups will replay them and import anything that did not make it into Sift. 
sift-cli import backups --path ./backups
If you omit --path, the CLI reads from your OS data directory. Pass --cleanup to delete the backup files after a successful upload. To list backup files without importing them: 
sift-cli import backups ls ./backups

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Time formats

The --time-format flag accepts absolute and relative values. For the full list, see the Sift CLI reference. For a relative format, set the relative start time (-s, or --relative-start-time on Parquet, TDMS, and HDF5) to an RFC 3339 timestamp that anchors the offsets.