CLI JSON Output

Litestream commands that accept -json write a JSON document to stdout. Errors are written to stderr by the top-level command handler and return a non-zero exit status.

The fields below are the stable output contract for CLI consumers. New fields may be added in future releases, so consumers should ignore unknown fields.

Runtime commands use status values that name the completed state. When a command is already in its requested state, the status uses already_<state>, such as already_registered, already_running, already_stopped, or already_unregistered.

litestream databases -json

Outputs an array of databases loaded from the configuration file.

[
  {
    "path": "/var/lib/app.db",
    "replica": "s3"
  }
]

litestream info -json

Outputs daemon process information from the control socket.

{
  "version": "v0.5.0",
  "pid": 12345,
  "uptime_seconds": 300,
  "started_at": "2026-04-24T12:00:00Z",
  "database_count": 2
}

litestream list -json

Outputs databases managed by the running daemon.

{
  "databases": [
    {
      "path": "/var/lib/app.db",
      "status": "replicating",
      "last_sync_at": "2026-04-24T12:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

litestream ltx -json

Outputs LTX file metadata for the selected database or replica URL.

[
  {
    "level": 0,
    "min_txid": "0000000000000001",
    "max_txid": "0000000000000004",
    "size": 8192,
    "timestamp": "2026-04-24T12:00:00Z"
  }
]

litestream restore -json

Outputs a final summary object after a restore completes. Restore logs are written to stderr so stdout remains parseable JSON.

{
  "db_path": "/var/lib/app.db",
  "replica": "file",
  "txid": "0000000000000004",
  "duration_ms": 125,
  "integrity_check": "quick"
}

When -dry-run is combined with -json, restore outputs the restore plan instead of the final restore summary.

{
  "source": "file:///backups/app.db",
  "target_path": "/var/lib/app.db",
  "replica": "file",
  "min_txid": "0000000000000001",
  "max_txid": "0000000000000004",
  "files": [
    {
      "level": 9,
      "name": "0000000000000001-0000000000000004.ltx",
      "min_txid": "0000000000000001",
      "max_txid": "0000000000000004",
      "size": 8192,
      "timestamp": "2026-04-24T12:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

litestream status -json

Outputs replication status for configured databases.

[
  {
    "database": "/var/lib/app.db",
    "status": "ok",
    "local_txid": "0000000000000004",
    "wal_size": "32 kB"
  }
]