Simplify collection alias code.

Now it's possible to query schema using the alias
so we don't need to keep the alias and collection
referenced to do either one operation or the other.

Also, add support for the override_alias when restoring
the backup.

Update the skills documentation with all the relevant
changes.

Author: jfrancoa

.claude/skills/operating-weaviate-cli/SKILL.md

@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ Key query options: `--properties "title,keywords"`, `--tenants "T1"`, `--target_
 
 **Note**: `--consistency_level` values must be **lowercase**: `one`, `quorum`, `all` (not `ONE`, `QUORUM`, `ALL`).
 
+**Alias support**: The `--collection` flag accepts collection aliases in all data commands. If the name isn't a direct collection, the CLI checks the alias list automatically.
+
 See [references/data.md](references/data.md) and [references/search.md](references/search.md).
 
 ### Tenants
@@ -213,7 +215,7 @@ weaviate-cli restore backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --wait --json
 weaviate-cli cancel backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --json
 ```
 
-Backends: `s3`, `gcs`, `filesystem`. Options: `--include`, `--exclude`, `--wait`, `--cpu_for_backup N`
+Backends: `s3`, `gcs`, `filesystem`. Options: `--include`, `--exclude`, `--wait`, `--cpu_for_backup N`, `--override-alias`
 
 See [references/backups.md](references/backups.md).
 

.claude/skills/operating-weaviate-cli/references/backups.md

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ weaviate-cli get backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --restore --json
 ```bash
 weaviate-cli restore backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --wait --json
 weaviate-cli restore backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --include "Movies" --wait --json
+weaviate-cli restore backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --override-alias --wait --json
 ```
 
 ## Cancel Backup
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ weaviate-cli cancel backup --backend s3 --backup_id my-backup --json
 - `--backend`, `--backup_id` -- Same as create
 - `--include`, `--exclude` -- Filter which collections to restore
 - `--wait` -- Wait for completion
+- `--override-alias` -- Override alias conflicts during restore. Use when the backup contains a collection with an alias that differs from the current cluster state (e.g., the backup had alias `Movies` pointing to `Movies_v1`, but the cluster now has `Movies` pointing to `Movies_v2`). Without this flag, the restore will fail due to the alias conflict.
 
 ## Prerequisites
 

.claude/skills/operating-weaviate-cli/references/data.md

@@ -50,6 +50,19 @@ weaviate-cli delete data --collection "Movies" --tenants "T1,T2" --limit 50 --js
 3. **For multi-tenant data ingestion:** tenants must be in `hot`/`active` state
 4. **For vectorizer-based ingestion (non-randomize):** the collection uses a built-in dataset; vectorizer API keys may be needed
 
+## Using Aliases
+
+The `--collection` flag accepts aliases in all data commands (`create data`, `query data`, `update data`, `delete data`). If the given name doesn't match a collection directly, the CLI checks the alias list and resolves it transparently.
+
+```bash
+# Create an alias, then use it for data operations
+weaviate-cli create alias MyAlias Movies --json
+weaviate-cli create data --collection MyAlias --limit 100 --randomize --json
+weaviate-cli query data --collection MyAlias --search_type fetch --limit 10 --json
+weaviate-cli update data --collection MyAlias --limit 50 --randomize --json
+weaviate-cli delete data --collection MyAlias --limit 50 --json
+```
+
 ## Notes
 
 - `--randomize` generates synthetic data with random vectors -- useful for testing

test/unittests/test_managers/test_data_manager.py

@@ -223,6 +223,118 @@ def test_fallback_no_tenants_with_auto_creation_returns_empty(self) -> None:
         assert result == []
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Alias resolution in data operations
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestAliasResolution:
+    """Unit tests for alias resolution in create/update/delete/query data."""
+
+    def _setup_alias_mock(self, mock_client, alias_name="MyAlias"):
+        """Set up a mock client where collection doesn't exist but alias does."""
+        mock_collections = MagicMock()
+        mock_collections.exists.return_value = False
+        mock_client.collections = mock_collections
+
+        mock_alias = MagicMock()
+        mock_alias.list_all.return_value = {alias_name: MagicMock()}
+        mock_client.alias = mock_alias
+
+        mock_collection = MagicMock()
+        mock_collection.config.get.return_value = MagicMock(
+            multi_tenancy_config=MagicMock(
+                enabled=False,
+                auto_tenant_creation=False,
+                auto_tenant_activation=False,
+            )
+        )
+        mock_client.collections.get.return_value = mock_collection
+        return mock_collection
+
+    def test_create_data_with_alias(self, mock_client):
+        self._setup_alias_mock(mock_client)
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        manager.create_data(collection="MyAlias", limit=10, randomize=True)
+        mock_client.collections.get.assert_called_once_with("MyAlias")
+
+    def test_update_data_with_alias(self, mock_client):
+        self._setup_alias_mock(mock_client)
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        manager.update_data(collection="MyAlias", limit=10, randomize=True)
+        mock_client.collections.get.assert_called_once_with("MyAlias")
+
+    def test_delete_data_with_alias(self, mock_client):
+        col = self._setup_alias_mock(mock_client)
+        col.config.get.return_value.multi_tenancy_config.enabled = False
+        # delete_data iterates objects, mock the iterator
+        col.iterator.return_value = iter([])
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        manager.delete_data(collection="MyAlias", limit=10)
+        mock_client.collections.get.assert_called_once_with("MyAlias")
+
+    def test_query_data_with_alias(self, mock_client):
+        col = self._setup_alias_mock(mock_client)
+        col.config.get.return_value.multi_tenancy_config.enabled = False
+        col.query.fetch_objects.return_value = MagicMock(objects=[])
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        manager.query_data(collection="MyAlias", search_type="fetch", limit=5)
+        mock_client.collections.get.assert_called_once_with("MyAlias")
+
+    def _setup_not_found_mock(self, mock_client):
+        """Set up a mock client where neither collection nor alias exists."""
+        mock_collections = MagicMock()
+        mock_collections.exists.return_value = False
+        mock_client.collections = mock_collections
+        mock_alias = MagicMock()
+        mock_alias.list_all.return_value = {}
+        mock_client.alias = mock_alias
+
+    def test_create_data_not_collection_not_alias_raises(self, mock_client):
+        self._setup_not_found_mock(mock_client)
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        with pytest.raises(Exception, match="does not exist"):
+            manager.create_data(collection="NonExistent", limit=10, randomize=True)
+
+    def test_update_data_not_collection_not_alias_raises(self, mock_client):
+        self._setup_not_found_mock(mock_client)
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        with pytest.raises(Exception, match="does not exist"):
+            manager.update_data(collection="NonExistent", limit=10, randomize=True)
+
+    def test_delete_data_not_collection_not_alias_raises(self, mock_client):
+        self._setup_not_found_mock(mock_client)
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        with pytest.raises(Exception, match="does not exist"):
+            manager.delete_data(collection="NonExistent", limit=10)
+
+    def test_query_data_not_collection_not_alias_raises(self, mock_client):
+        self._setup_not_found_mock(mock_client)
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        with pytest.raises(Exception, match="does not exist"):
+            manager.query_data(collection="NonExistent", search_type="fetch", limit=5)
+
+    def test_create_data_direct_collection_skips_alias_check(self, mock_client):
+        """When collection exists directly, alias.list_all should not be called."""
+        mock_collections = MagicMock()
+        mock_collections.exists.return_value = True
+        mock_client.collections = mock_collections
+        mock_alias = MagicMock()
+        mock_client.alias = mock_alias
+        mock_collection = MagicMock()
+        mock_collection.config.get.return_value = MagicMock(
+            multi_tenancy_config=MagicMock(
+                enabled=False,
+                auto_tenant_creation=False,
+                auto_tenant_activation=False,
+            )
+        )
+        mock_client.collections.get.return_value = mock_collection
+        manager = DataManager(mock_client)
+        manager.create_data(collection="DirectCollection", limit=10, randomize=True)
+        mock_client.alias.list_all.assert_not_called()
+
+
 def test_ingest_data(mock_client):
     manager = DataManager(mock_client)
     mock_collections = MagicMock()

weaviate_cli/commands/restore.py

@@ -38,11 +38,18 @@ def restore() -> None:
     default=RestoreBackupDefaults.exclude,
     help="Collection to exclude in backup (default: None).",
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--override-alias",
+    is_flag=True,
+    help="Override the alias of the collection (default: False).",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--json", "json_output", is_flag=True, default=False, help="Output in JSON format."
 )
 @click.pass_context
-def restore_backup_cli(ctx, backend, include, exclude, backup_id, wait, json_output):
+def restore_backup_cli(
+    ctx, backend, include, exclude, backup_id, wait, override_alias, json_output
+):
     """Restore a backup in Weaviate."""
 
     client = None
@@ -55,6 +62,7 @@ def restore_backup_cli(ctx, backend, include, exclude, backup_id, wait, json_out
             include=include,
             exclude=exclude,
             wait=wait,
+            override_alias=override_alias,
             json_output=json_output,
         )
     except Exception as e:

weaviate_cli/defaults.py

@@ -237,6 +237,7 @@ class RestoreBackupDefaults:
     wait: bool = False
     include: Optional[str] = None
     exclude: Optional[str] = None
+    override_alias: bool = False
 
 
 @dataclass

weaviate_cli/managers/backup_manager.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 class BackupManager:
     def __init__(self, client: WeaviateClient) -> None:
-        self.client = client
+        self.client: WeaviateClient = client
 
     def create_backup(
         self,
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ def restore_backup(
         include: Optional[str] = RestoreBackupDefaults.include,
         exclude: Optional[str] = RestoreBackupDefaults.exclude,
         wait: bool = RestoreBackupDefaults.wait,
+        override_alias: bool = RestoreBackupDefaults.override_alias,
         json_output: bool = False,
     ) -> None:
 
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ def restore_backup(
             backend=backend,
             include_collections=include.split(",") if include else None,
             exclude_collections=exclude.split(",") if exclude else None,
+            overwrite_alias=override_alias,
             wait_for_completion=wait,
         )