Global Flags

These flags can be passed to any bb command. They are resolved before the command-specific options, so they work uniformly whether you’re running bb pr list or bb config get.

Quick reference

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--json [fields]	optional CSV	off	Emit machine-readable JSON. Pass a comma-separated field list to project the output.
--jq <expression>	string	off	Run the JSON output through an in-process jq filter. Requires --json.
--no-color	boolean	auto	Disable ANSI colors. Also honoured: NO_COLOR env var.
--no-unicode	boolean	auto	Use ASCII fallbacks for separators, arrows, and status icons. Also honoured: BB_NO_UNICODE env var.
--no-truncate	boolean	off	Show full values in table output without truncating long cells.
--limit <n>	integer	command-specific	Cap the number of items returned by list commands.
--all	boolean	off	Fetch every page (overrides --limit). Available on list commands.
--locale <tag>	BCP-47	system	Locale for date/time formatting (e.g. de-DE, ja-JP). Falls back to BB_LOCALE, then LC_TIME/LC_ALL/LANG, then en-US.
-w, --workspace <name>	string	git remote / env / config	Override the workspace.
-r, --repo <slug>	string	git remote	Override the repository.
-h, --help	boolean	—	Print help for the command.
-V, --version	boolean	—	Print the CLI version.

Output flags

--json [fields]

Switch a command to JSON output. With no argument, the full response is printed. Pass a comma-separated field list to project to just those keys:

bb pr list --json
bb pr list --json id,title,state

JSON mode also disables spinners, colors, and progress notes so the output is safe to pipe.

--jq <expression>

Filter the JSON output through a jq expression. The filter runs in-process via the embedded jq engine, so you don’t need the jq binary installed. Requires --json:

bb pr list --json --jq '.pullRequests[] | select(.state == "OPEN") | .title'

--no-color and --no-unicode

--no-color disables ANSI colors. --no-unicode swaps Unicode separators and status glyphs for plain ASCII equivalents — useful for log aggregators that mangle Unicode, or terminals that don’t render the symbols cleanly.

Both flags have environment-variable equivalents (NO_COLOR, BB_NO_UNICODE). They’re auto-disabled when stdout is not a TTY, so piping to a file or another process already gives you plain output.

Pagination flags

--limit <n>

Cap the number of items returned. Most list commands default to a small, useful page size (e.g. 25); pass --limit 100 to fetch more in one shot.

--all

Fetch every page. Available on:

• bb repo list
• bb pr list
• bb pr activity
• bb pr comments list
• bb snippet list
• bb snippet comments list

--all overrides --limit. When the output is truncated by --limit, the CLI prints a hint suggesting --limit <n> or --all so the truncation is never silent.

--no-truncate

Show table cells in full. By default, long values (PR descriptions, comment bodies, branch names) are truncated to keep rows on one line. --no-truncate disables that for the current invocation:

bb pr comments list 42 --no-truncate

Context flags

-w, --workspace and -r, --repo

Override the workspace and repository for the current command. The resolution order is documented in detail in Repository Context, but in short:

1. --workspace / --repo flags
2. Git remote of the current directory
3. BB_WORKSPACE environment variable (workspace only)
4. defaultWorkspace in the config file (workspace only)

Locale flag

--locale <tag>

Pin a BCP-47 locale tag for date/time formatting. This affects every human-readable date the CLI prints — PR timestamps, activity entries, comment dates. JSON output is locale-independent.

bb pr list --locale de-DE
bb pr view 42 --locale ja-JP

If --locale is unset, the CLI walks BB_LOCALE, then the standard POSIX chain (LC_TIME → LC_ALL → LANG), then falls back to en-US.

Precedence summary

For settings that can come from multiple sources, the order is always:

1. Command-line flag
2. Environment variable
3. Config file
4. Built-in default

Note

For boolean toggles like --no-color, the inverse flag (--color) is not a global flag — it only exists on bb pr diff. Use FORCE_COLOR=1 to force color globally instead.

See also

• Environment Variables — env-var equivalents and precedence
• JSON Output — schema, field projection, scripting tips
• Configuration File — persistent settings