The SuzieQ CLI organizes workflow with a predictable, verb-driven syntax. Understanding this structure streamlines daily operations and troubleshooting. Below is a step-by-step overview for getting started with interface monitoring.

1. General Command Format:
   <object> <action> [filters]
   The object specifies the data table (such as interface), the action defines what you want to do (like show or summarize), and optional filters refine the results.
2. Interface Data Examples:
   • interface show
     Displays the full list of interfaces with current status and configuration details.
   • interface show hostname=leaf01 ifname=eth0 columns="hostname ifname state speed mtu"
     Shows focused details for a single device’s interface.
3. Summarizing Interfaces:
   • interface summarize
     Returns a concise overview with metrics such as how many interfaces are up, down, or have errors.
   • interface summarize namespace=prod
     Aggregates stats only within the prod namespace.
4. Filtering and Selecting Columns:
   Customize output with columns=<field1,field2> for just the information you need, and add filters for namespace, hostname, or interface as needed.
5. See All Available Fields:
   interface describe
   Lists every available field you can query for further customization.

Following these steps makes it easy to adapt SuzieQ’s commands to your monitoring requirements, enabling both broad overviews and detailed investigations.

This section explores the most common actions you can use with SuzieQ's interface object. These commands help you view, summarize, and evaluate the operational state of interfaces across your network.

1. Display Interface Data:
   • interface show
     Shows live or historical interface data across all devices.
   • interface show namespace=prod
     Filters output to interfaces within the prod namespace.
   • interface show hostname=leaf01 ifname=eth0 columns="hostname ifname state speed mtu"
     Displays selected fields for a single interface on a given device.
2. Summarize Interface State:
   • interface summarize
     Provides counts and stats like how many interfaces are up, down, or error-disabled.
   • interface summarize namespace=prod
     Limits summary to the prod namespace.
3. Show Unique Field Values:
   • interface unique columns=mtu
     Lists the distinct MTU values observed across all devices.
   • interface unique columns=speed namespace=mgmt
     Displays unique interface speeds in the mgmt namespace.
4. Inspect Interface Schema:
   Use this command to discover which fields are available for querying:
   interface describe
5. Run Assertions for Consistency:
   • interface assert
     Checks interface configurations on each link to validate that parameters like MTU, speed, VLANs, and IP subnets are aligned between connected endpoints.

These commands empower engineers to quickly inspect operational interface health, detect configuration drift, and verify consistency at scale across multi-vendor environments.

SuzieQ offers powerful assertion checks that help validate interface configuration consistency and detect misalignments across links. This process is vital for automated compliance, drift detection, and troubleshooting at scale.

1. Understanding Assertions:
   Assertions run a collection of checks on interface pairs, ensuring parameters are aligned between connected devices. Any mismatches or issues are flagged with details about the violation.
2. What Interface Assert Checks:
   • MTU Match: Confirms that Maximum Transmission Unit is identical on both sides of a link.
   • Speed Match: Verifies that interface speed is equal between connected ends.
   • Port Mode: Ensures switchport mode (access, trunk, routed) matches.
   • Default VLAN (PVID): Checks default VLAN configuration consistency.
   • Active VLAN Set: Detects whether the set of VLANs is the same for both endpoints.
   • IP Subnet Alignment: Ensures each end of a routed interface shares the same IP subnet, except for unnumbered links.
3. Running Interface Assertions:
   Execute the following command to perform comprehensive checks:
   interface assert
   This scans the network for inconsistencies and highlights any issues.
4. Interpreting the Output:
   • The results list each interface pair evaluated, with a pass/fail status.
   • For failures, a message details the exact parameter that’s misaligned (for example, “MTU mismatch: 1500 vs 9000”).
   • Successful checks are marked as passed, confirming proper configuration.
5. Best Practice with Assertions:
   Run assertions after configuration changes, network rollouts, or as part of scheduled audits to catch errors automatically before they impact connectivity.

Using interface assertions keeps your environment consistent, reduces troubleshooting time, and supports compliance with intended network design.

SuzieQ empowers you to analyze interface data across different moments and intervals, making it simple to track changes, investigate incidents, and audit configurations over time.

1. Snapshot at a Specific Time:
   Display the state of interfaces as they were at a certain moment. Specify the start-time or end-time filter in your command.
   interface show hostname=leaf01 end-time="2025-07-23 10:00:00"
   This shows the interface data as it appeared at the specified timestamp.
2. Review State Changes in a Time Window:
   See all recorded events and transitions that happened for an interface within a defined period.
   interface show hostname=leaf01 start-time="2025-07-23 09:00:00" end-time="2025-07-23 12:00:00" view=all
   This reveals every state change that occurred between the provided start and end times.
3. Understanding Output:
   • If no time is provided, SuzieQ displays the latest state.
   • Use view=all to view every change within the interval, not just the latest state at each point.
   • SuzieQ supports intuitive time expressions, such as "10 min ago" or "yesterday 18:00".
4. Applications in Daily Practice:
   • Troubleshoot outages by pinpointing when interface state shifted.
   • Validate the network’s condition before or after maintenance windows.
   • Audit for unauthorized changes or configuration drift over days or weeks.

With historical and time-based viewing, SuzieQ lets you reconstruct network events and provides deep insight into how your environment evolves.

SuzieQ makes it easy to export and present interface data in multiple formats to suit different workflows. You can tailor the format of the command output for easy viewing, integration, or documentation.

1. Default Text Table:
   Running commands without specifying a format produces human-readable, tabular output.
   interface show
   Use this for interactive exploration directly in the CLI.
2. JSON Output:
   For automation scripts or further parsing, output can be formatted as JSON using the format=json option.
   interface show format=json
   This is ideal for programmatic use, integrations, or API responses.
3. CSV Output:
   Easily bring data into spreadsheets or databases by exporting as CSV.
   interface show format=csv
   Each row represents an interface record; great for bulk analysis or reporting.
4. Markdown Format:
   Generate tables in Markdown for seamless inclusion in documentation, wikis, or technical blogs.
   interface show format=markdown
5. How to Choose:
   • Text: Best for quick, human-friendly inspection.
   • JSON: Use when automating, integrating, or transforming data.
   • CSV: Ideal for spreadsheets, analytics, and offline review.
   • Markdown: Perfect for publishing structured results in technical documentation.

By selecting the right format, you can efficiently incorporate SuzieQ outputs into analysis tools, dashboards, or your documentation pipeline.

The following table summarizes the main verbs you can use with the interface command in SuzieQ and describes what each one accomplishes. This reference helps you quickly select the action most suitable for your workflow.

Use this summary to guide your SuzieQ CLI usage for rapid troubleshooting, auditing, and analysis of network interfaces.

Applying these best practices ensures you get the most value from SuzieQ for monitoring and maintaining network interfaces. Follow these steps to enhance reliability, catch issues early, and support accurate documentation.

1. Use Assertions Regularly:
   Run interface assert after configuration changes, during audits, or as part of continuous integration to proactively flag mismatches before they cause connectivity problems.
2. Automate Scheduled Snapshots:
   Set up automated interface show commands at regular intervals, using time filters to capture a historical record. This helps identify configuration drift and uncover patterns in stability or outages.
3. Summarize for Quick Health Checks:
   Periodically run interface summarize to get a high-level view of your network's interface states, flaps, and errors. This spotlights potential issues needing deeper investigation.
4. Check for Unexpected Diversity:
   Use interface unique on fields such as mtu, speed, or portmode to quickly detect unexpected configuration changes or inconsistencies between devices.
5. Leverage Output Formats:
   Choose JSON for integration and automation, CSV for spreadsheet analysis, Markdown for documentation, and text tables for interactive review to fit each workflow stage.
6. Document Changes and Findings:
   Copy outputs directly into maintenance records or technical blog posts to maintain a searchable history and improve knowledge sharing within your team.

Consistently following these steps with SuzieQ helps maintain interface consistency, enables fast troubleshooting, and builds a robust network operations process.