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CLI Usage Guide

HydroSwift provides a flag-based CLI.

Run it as:

hyswift ...

or, if the console script is not on your path:

python -m hydroswift ...

1. Important!

The CLI is flag-based, not subcommand-based.

You compose a command from:

  • a source selection (-b/--basin for WRIS, or --cwc / --station / --cwc-basin for CWC)
  • one or more WRIS dataset flags if you are using WRIS
  • optional output/date/plot/merge flags

Example:

hyswift -b Krishna -q -rf -temp

2. WRIS mode

WRIS is the default mode when you provide a basin and at least one WRIS dataset flag.

Required pieces

  • -b / --basin
  • one or more dataset flags such as -q, -wl, -rf, etc.

Basin values

You can pass either:

  • a basin name, such as Krishna
  • a WRIS basin number, such as 6

Examples:

hyswift -b 5 -q
hyswift -b Krishna -q -rf -temp
hyswift -b Godavari --discharge --rainfall --temperature

3. WRIS dataset flags

Current WRIS variable flags are:

  • -q, --discharge
  • -wl, --water-level
  • -atm, --atm-pressure
  • -rf, --rainfall
  • -temp, --temperature
  • -rh, --humidity
  • -solar, --solar-radiation
  • -sed, --sediment
  • -gwl, --groundwater-level

Examples:

hyswift -b Godavari -q
hyswift -b Krishna -q -rf -temp
hyswift -b Krishna --discharge --rainfall

4. CWC mode

CWC downloads target water-level data.

You can enter CWC mode with any of the following:

hyswift --cwc
hyswift --cwc-station 040-CDJAPR 032-LGDHYD
hyswift --station 040-CDJAPR 032-LGDHYD
hyswift --cwc-basin Krishna Godavari

CWC flags

  • --cwc
  • --cwc-station CODE [CODE ...]
  • --station CODE [CODE ...] (alias of --cwc-station)
  • --cwc-basin NAME [NAME ...]
  • --cwc-refresh

Examples aligned with the notebook:

hyswift --cwc
hyswift --cwc-station 032-LGDHYD
hyswift --cwc-basin Krishna

Behavior notes:

  • CWC mode does not support WRIS multi-variable downloads.
  • If you pass both station codes and basin filters, HydroSwift uses the matching intersection.

5. Date and output controls

Common download controls include:

  • --start-date YYYY-MM-DD
  • --end-date YYYY-MM-DD
  • --output-dir PATH
  • --format csv|xlsx
  • --overwrite
  • --merge
  • --plot
  • --plot-svg
  • --plot-moving-average-window N
  • --quiet
  • --metadata

Examples:

hyswift -b 6 -q --start-date 2020-01-01 --end-date 2022-01-01

hyswift -b 5 -q --output-dir data --format csv --overwrite

hyswift -b 5 -q --plot

6. Post-processing modes

Merge only

Use existing downloaded files to generate GeoPackages.

hyswift --merge-only --input-dir output

You can also specify the output folder

hyswift --merge-only --input-dir output --output-dir merged_output

Plot only

Use existing downloaded files to generate plots.

hyswift --plot-only --input-dir output

With quality options:

hyswift --plot-only --input-dir output --plot-svg --plot-moving-average-window 30

7. Metadata and utility commands

List mode

hyswift --list

This prints:

  • the WRIS basin list
  • the total number of known CWC stations

Other utility flags

hyswift --version
hyswift --cite
hyswift --coffee

8. CLI to Python equivalence

The beginner notebook explicitly maps many CLI commands to Python API calls.

Examples:

CLI Python API
hyswift -b 5 -q hydroswift.wris.download(basin=5, variable='discharge')
hyswift -b Krishna -q -rf -temp hydroswift.wris.download(basin='Krishna', variable=['discharge', 'rainfall', 'temperature'])
hyswift --merge-only --input-dir output hydroswift.merge_only(input_dir='output')
hyswift --plot-only --input-dir output hydroswift.plot_only(input_dir='output')
hyswift --cwc-station 032-LGDHYD hydroswift.cwc.download(station=['032-LGDHYD'])
hyswift --cwc-basin Krishna hydroswift.cwc.download(basin=['Krishna'])

9. Troubleshooting and common mistakes

"No dataset selected" in WRIS mode

You must provide at least one WRIS dataset flag like -q or -rf.

--merge-only or --plot-only fails

These modes require:

  • --input-dir
  • an input directory that already contains HydroSwift outputs

Mixing WRIS expectations into CWC mode

CWC is a water-level workflow. If you need multiple WRIS variables, use WRIS mode with -b plus WRIS dataset flags.

Want table-driven workflows from the terminal?

The CLI does not expose the same table-native dispatch model as hydroswift.fetch(...). For discover → subset → fetch workflows, prefer the Python API.