gcloud-help

Search the gcloud CLI reference documents for specific terms

$ gcloud help

gcloud help [COMMAND_GROUP | COMMAND]
(Also commonly used: gcloud [COMMAND_GROUP | COMMAND] --help)

COMMAND_GROUP | COMMAND
    The name of the `gcloud` command group (e.g., compute) or specific command (e.g., compute instances create) for which to display detailed help. If omitted, `gcloud help` displays general help for the `gcloud` tool itself.

The `gcloud-help` command, conceptually represented by the `gcloud help` subcommand, provides comprehensive, integrated documentation for the Google Cloud Command Line Interface (CLI). It allows users to quickly understand the purpose, syntax, and available options for any `gcloud` command or command group. When invoked with `gcloud help` without additional arguments, it displays a high-level overview of available command groups and their primary functions. When a specific command or command group is provided as an argument (e.g., `gcloud help compute instances`), it presents detailed information. This detailed help typically includes a synopsis, a description of its functionality, a list of its flags and positional arguments, and practical examples illustrating common use cases.

This integrated help system is crucial for navigating the extensive capabilities of the `gcloud` CLI, enabling users to efficiently discover and utilize commands without needing to consult external documentation. It ensures that up-to-date command information is readily available directly from the terminal, reflecting the currently installed `gcloud` SDK version.

Requires the Google Cloud SDK (including the `gcloud` CLI) to be installed and properly configured on the system.
The displayed help content reflects the version of `gcloud` currently installed, which may vary from online documentation if your SDK is not up-to-date.
Network connectivity might be required for `gcloud` to check for updates or fetch certain component-specific help information.

While `gcloud help` itself does not have specific flags, the `gcloud` CLI supports a set of global flags that can be used with any `gcloud` command, including `help`. These flags control general behavior such as output formatting (`--format`), logging verbosity (`--verbosity`), or quiet execution (`--quiet`). For example, `gcloud --quiet help compute` would suppress interactive prompts during help output.

The help output for `gcloud` commands typically follows a consistent structure, including:
- `NAME`: A brief identifier for the command.
- `SYNOPSIS`: The command's syntax, showing arguments and flags.
- `DESCRIPTION`: A detailed explanation of the command's purpose and functionality.
- `POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS`: Description of arguments that specify values (e.g., resource names).
- `FLAGS`: A list of available command-specific and global flags, with their descriptions.
- `EXAMPLES`: Practical usage examples demonstrating common scenarios.

The `gcloud` CLI and its integrated help system were developed by Google as part of the Google Cloud SDK. Introduced to provide a unified command-line interface for managing Google Cloud resources, the `gcloud help` functionality has been a core component since its early versions. It has evolved alongside the `gcloud` CLI itself, continuously adapting to new services, commands, and user feedback to provide a comprehensive, intuitive, and readily accessible source of command-line documentation. Its design emphasizes discoverability and consistency across the myriad of Google Cloud services.

gcloud(1), gcloud components(1), gcloud topic(1)