---
layout: docs
page_title: read - Command
description: |-
  The "read" command reads data from Vault at the given path. This can be used
  to read secrets, generate dynamic credentials, get configuration details, and
  more.
---

# read

The `read` command reads data from Vault at the given path (wrapper command for
HTTP GET). You can use the command to read secrets, generate dynamic
credentials, get configuration details, and more.

## Examples

Read entity details of a given ID:

```shell-session
$ vault read identity/entity/id/2f09126d-d161-abb8-2241-555886491d97
```

Generate dynamic AWS credentials for a `my-role`:

```shell-session
$ vault read aws/creds/my-role
```

### API versus CLI

Assuming that you have KV version 2 (`kv-v2`) secrets engine enabled at
`secret/`, the following command reads secrets at the `secret/data/customers`
API path:

```shell-session
$ vault read secret/data/customers
```

This is equivalent to:

```shell-session
$ curl --request GET --header "X-Vault-Token: $VAULT_TOKEN" \
    $VAULT_ADDR/v1/secret/data/customers
```

Since KV secrets engine is a commonly used feature, Vault CLI provides the
[`kv`](/vault/docs/commands/kv) command. Read secrets from the `secret/data/customers`
path using the `kv` CLI command:

```shell-session
$ vault kv get -mount=secret customers
```

-> **Comparison:** All three commands retrieve the same data, but display the
output in a different format. By default, `vault read` prints output in
key-value format. The `curl` command prints the response in JSON. Since the
`kv` command is designed to handle operations associated with KV secrets
engine, it prints the output in more structured format that is easy to read.

## Usage

The following flags are available in addition to the [standard set of
flags](/vault/docs/commands) included on all commands.

### Output options

- `-field` `(string: "")` - Print only the field with the given name, in the format
  specified in the `-format` directive. The result will not have a trailing
  newline making it ideal for piping to other processes.

- `-format` `(string: "table")` - Print the output in the given format. Valid
  formats are "table", "json", "yaml", or "raw". This can also be specified
  via the `VAULT_FORMAT` environment variable.

For a full list of examples and paths, please see the documentation that
corresponds to the secrets engine in use.
