ku

Slim Kusto CLI — query Azure Data Explorer from the command line and save results as KDF files.

No Kusto SDK. No heavy dependencies. Just HTTP + JSON + Azure CLI auth.

Install

From crates.io (requires Rust toolchain)

cargo install kusto-query

From source

git clone https://github.com/danield137/ku.git
cd ku
cargo install --path .

Prebuilt binaries

Download from GitHub Releases — available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Usage

ku --cluster <url> --database <db> --query <kql> --output <file.kdf>
ku --cluster <url> --database <db> --query <kql> --adaptive-output <file.kdf>

Options

Flag	Description
--cluster <url>	Kusto cluster URL
--database <db>	Database name
--query <kql>	KQL query
--output <file>	Always write KDF file
--adaptive-output <file>	Write KDF only if result is large; print small results inline
--head <N>	Print first N rows (default: 5 with --adaptive-output)
-pp, --pretty-print	Use padded table format instead of CSV
-h, --help	Print help

Examples

Query and save to file:

ku --cluster https://help.kusto.windows.net --database Samples \
   --query "StormEvents | count" --output result.kdf

Adaptive output — small results print inline, large ones save to file:

ku --cluster https://help.kusto.windows.net --database Samples \
   --query "StormEvents | summarize count() by State" --adaptive-output states.kdf

Preview first 3 rows with pretty-print:

ku --cluster https://help.kusto.windows.net --database Samples \
   --query "StormEvents | take 100" --output events.kdf --head 3 -pp

Requirements

• Azure CLI — ku uses az account get-access-token for authentication
• You must be logged in: az login

KDF Format

KDF (Kusto Data Frame) is a JSON file containing the Kusto V2 PrimaryResult frame. It preserves column names, types, and all row data exactly as returned by Kusto.

License

MIT