add filter option to list command by olamilekan000 · Pull Request #4187 · lima-vm/lima

olamilekan000 · 2025-10-12T20:07:38Z

change adds --filter option to list command for a user-friendly way to filter instances using yq expressions,
which is equivalent to yq options like --yq 'select(EXPR)'

Fixes

cmd/limactl/list.go

AkihiroSuda · 2025-10-12T23:56:57Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

  --format '{{ <go template> }}' - If the format begins and ends with '{{ }}', then it is used as a go template.
+
+Filtering instances:
+  --filter EXPR  - Filter instances using yq expression (this is equivalent to --yq 'select(EXPR)')


Maybe we do not need this flag. We can just add --yq select() examples to --help and call it a day

That's why I wrote in #4007:

This alone doesn't seem worthwhile, but I would want --filter to also work with --format table and --format '{{GO-TMPL}}'.

So you can do this (which isn't possible with --yq):

❯ cat ~/bin/limactl-ps #!/bin/sh limactl ls --filter '.status == "Running"' "$@" ❯ l ps NAME STATUS SSH VMTYPE ARCH CPUS MEMORY DISK DIR docker Running 127.0.0.1:60763 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/docker qemu Running 127.0.0.1:63754 qemu aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/qemu ❯ l ps -f '.config.vmType == "vz"' NAME STATUS SSH VMTYPE ARCH CPUS MEMORY DISK DIR docker Running 127.0.0.1:60763 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/docker

I've not had time yet to review this PR to see if this is properly implemented.

What if we just support --format table with --yq?

jandubois

Needs changes (allow --filter with --yq) and simplifications.

cmd/limactl/list.go

jandubois · 2025-10-14T05:24:12Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

+		if len(yq) != 0 {
+			return errors.New("option --filter conflicts with option --yq")
+		}


I think you should be able to combine --filter and --yq as long as the output format is json or yaml.

So you could just drop the check here because yq is already incompatible with the other output formats.

This isn't too clear to me but is there anything wrong with the way it currently is?

Yes:

❯ l ls -l '.status == "Running"' NAME STATUS SSH VMTYPE ARCH CPUS MEMORY DISK DIR alpine-iso Running 127.0.0.1:50496 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/alpine-iso ❯ l ls -l '.status == "Running"' --yq .name FATA[0000] option --filter conflicts with option --yq ❯ l ls --yq 'select(.status == "Running")' --yq .name alpine-iso

I expect the last 2 commands to work exactly the same. There is no reason for the len(yq) check to exist.

cmd/limactl/list.go

jandubois · 2025-10-15T03:50:53Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

+	isGoTemplate := strings.HasPrefix(format, "{{") && strings.HasSuffix(format, "}}")
+	if len(filter) != 0 && (format == "table" || isGoTemplate) {


Suggested change

isGoTemplate := strings.HasPrefix(format, "{{") && strings.HasSuffix(format, "}}")

if len(filter) != 0 && (format == "table" || isGoTemplate) {

if len(filter) != 0 && format != "json" && format != "yaml") {

Despite what the --help output says, every string except table, json, and yaml is treated as a Go template, so the check for the double braces prefix/suffix is not correct:

❯ l ls -f 'Name is: {{.Name}}' Name is: alpine-iso Name is: alpine-lima-3.22.2 Name is: foo

jandubois · 2025-10-15T03:57:50Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

+	for _, instance := range instances {
+		jsonBytes, err := json.Marshal(instance)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal instance %s: %w", instance.Name, err)


Suggested change

return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal instance %s: %w", instance.Name, err)

return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal instance %q: %w", instance.Name, err)

Always use %q when printing use input.

Also applies to the next error message.

AkihiroSuda

#4187 (comment)

Signed-off-by: olalekan odukoya <odukoyaonline@gmail.com>

AkihiroSuda · 2025-10-15T09:28:16Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

+                   Examples:
+                     --filter '.status == "Running"'
+                     --filter '.vmType == "vz"'
+                     --filter '.status == "Running"' --filter '.vmType == "vz"'


Is this AND-matching or OR-matching?

I assume you want the description updated to clarify.

It is AND so you can do this:

❯ cat ~/bin/limactl-ps #!/bin/sh limactl ls --filter 'select(.status == "Running")' "$@" ❯ l ls NAME STATUS SSH VMTYPE ARCH CPUS MEMORY DISK DIR alpine-iso Running 127.0.0.1:50496 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/alpine-iso alpine-lima-3.22.2 Stopped 127.0.0.1:0 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/alpine-lima-3.22.2 default Running 127.0.0.1:54512 qemu aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/default foo Stopped 127.0.0.1:0 vz aarch64 4 1.177MiB 100GiB ~/.lima/foo ❯ l ps NAME STATUS SSH VMTYPE ARCH CPUS MEMORY DISK DIR alpine-iso Running 127.0.0.1:50496 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/alpine-iso default Running 127.0.0.1:54512 qemu aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/default ❯ l ps -l '.vmType == "vz"' NAME STATUS SSH VMTYPE ARCH CPUS MEMORY DISK DIR alpine-iso Running 127.0.0.1:50496 vz aarch64 4 4GiB 100GiB ~/.lima/alpine-iso

jandubois · 2025-10-15T16:24:24Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

+		if !valid.MatchString(f) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unsafe characters in filter expression: %q", f)
+		}


I don't think this is useful. The whole point of --filter and --yq is to provide YQ expressions that are going to be evaluated. There is no vulnerability; the expression is provided by the user themselves.

And we already get an error when the YQ expression is invalid, e.g.

❯ l ls -l '.vmType ==' FATA[0000] failed to apply filter select(.vmType ==): '==' expects 2 args but there is 1

So I don't understand the purpose of this "validation", especially since it might make legitimate use cases invalid (e.g. you are restricting which characters are allowed inside literal strings).

jandubois

The combination of --filter and --quiet is not working (the filter is ignored):

❯ l ls -l '.vmType == "qemu"'
NAME       STATUS     SSH                VMTYPE    ARCH       CPUS    MEMORY    DISK      DIR
default    Running    127.0.0.1:54512    qemu      aarch64    4       4GiB      100GiB    ~/.lima/default

❯ l ls -l '.vmType == "qemu"' -q
alpine-iso
alpine-lima-3.22.2
default
foo

AkihiroSuda · 2025-10-20T10:55:31Z

cmd/limactl/list.go

 	listCommand.Flags().BoolP("quiet", "q", false, "Only show names")
 	listCommand.Flags().Bool("all-fields", false, "Show all fields")
 	listCommand.Flags().StringArray("yq", nil, "Apply yq expression to each instance")
+	listCommand.Flags().StringArrayP("filter", "l", nil, "Filter instances using yq expression (equivalent to --yq 'select(EXPR)')")


The l shorthand should be probably reserved for --label

Feature suggestion: labels for VMs and disks (and networks) #3240

what should be used?

I don't think there is a separate --label option; it is the same as --filter, which is another reason that I think -l is appropriate. But let's wait until KubeCon is over and everyone (or at least @AkihiroSuda) is back, and continue the discussion then. Right now the 2.0 release, and potential regressions is still top-of-mind.

olamilekan000 · 2026-01-04T09:35:59Z

Pls what's the conclusion on the implementation for this? @jandubois @AkihiroSuda

AkihiroSuda · 2026-01-04T14:14:36Z

This issue is still unresolved
#4405 (comment)

cmd/limactl/list.go

hack/bats/tests/list.bats

AkihiroSuda · 2026-01-27T06:47:27Z

This PR needs rebasing at least

olamilekan000 · 2026-01-27T07:32:54Z

Okay. I have the intention of closing his up this week at least. I've just been swamped recently 😞

olamilekan000 force-pushed the add-filter-opttion-to-list-cmd branch 2 times, most recently from 4601c97 to c7631d4 Compare October 12, 2025 21:57

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olamilekan000 force-pushed the add-filter-opttion-to-list-cmd branch 3 times, most recently from 404b08c to a5ba9ad Compare October 14, 2025 22:33

olamilekan000 requested a review from jandubois October 14, 2025 23:23

jandubois reviewed Oct 15, 2025

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olamilekan000 force-pushed the add-filter-opttion-to-list-cmd branch 2 times, most recently from 224e6e4 to b3f18db Compare October 15, 2025 09:25

add filter option to list command

bdef056

Signed-off-by: olalekan odukoya <odukoyaonline@gmail.com>

olamilekan000 force-pushed the add-filter-opttion-to-list-cmd branch from b3f18db to bdef056 Compare October 15, 2025 09:26

AkihiroSuda added this to the v2.0.0 milestone Oct 15, 2025

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AkihiroSuda modified the milestones: v2.0.0, v2.1.0 (?) Oct 27, 2025

jandubois mentioned this pull request Nov 25, 2025

Disable env access and file load operations in yqlib #4405

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limactl list --filter (yq-less, alternative to PR 4187) #4529

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		isGoTemplate := strings.HasPrefix(format, "{{") && strings.HasSuffix(format, "}}")
		if len(filter) != 0 && (format == "table" \|\| isGoTemplate) {

	isGoTemplate := strings.HasPrefix(format, "{{") && strings.HasSuffix(format, "}}")
	if len(filter) != 0 && (format == "table" \|\| isGoTemplate) {
	if len(filter) != 0 && format != "json" && format != "yaml") {

	return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal instance %s: %w", instance.Name, err)
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal instance %q: %w", instance.Name, err)

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olamilekan000 commented Jan 4, 2026

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