The Sui blockchain is optimized for performance and parallel execution, attracting developers who need scalable data access. But to unlock its full potential, you need efficient ways to extract meaningful data from its on-chain activity.

That’s where Chainbase comes in — offering powerful infrastructure for querying and processing blockchain data.

In this series, we’re covering three ways to access Sui’s MoveCall transactions:

1. With Manuscript-GUI

2. With Manuscript-CLI

3. With Chainbase DataCloud

In this article, we’ll explore the second method: using the Manuscript-CLI. This approach is ideal for developers who prefer terminal-based workflows, want scriptable automation, and value full control over their data pipeline.

Prefer command-line tools? You can run everything from your terminal with manuscript-cli.

1. Install Manuscript-CLI

   • CLI Docs

2. Prepare manuscript.yaml

   • Use the same structure as in GUI method

   • Edit manuscript.yaml

vim manuscript.yaml

name: sui_move_call
specVersion: v0.1.0
parallelism: 1

sources:
  - name: sui_transactions
    type: dataset
    dataset: sui.sui_transactions
    parallelism: 10

transforms:
  - name: sui_move_call_transform
    sql: >
      select 
        checkpoint_timestamp, 
        checkpoint, 
        transaction_digest, 
        transaction, 
        CAST(
          JSON_VALUE(
            transaction, '$.MoveCall.function'
          ) AS STRING
        ) as `function`, 
        CAST(
          JSON_VALUE(
            transaction, '$.MoveCall.module'
          ) AS STRING
        ) as `module`, 
        CAST(
          JSON_VALUE(
            transaction, '$.MoveCall.package'
          ) AS STRING
        ) as `package`,
      transactions
      from 
        (
          select 
            transaction_digest, 
            checkpoint_timestamp, 
            checkpoint, 
            transaction,
            transactions
          from 
            (
              select 
                transaction_digest, 
                TO_TIMESTAMP(
                  FROM_UNIXTIME(
                    CAST(
                      JSON_VALUE(raw_data, '$.timestampMs') as BIGINT
                    ) / 1000
                  )
                ) as checkpoint_timestamp, 
                CAST(
                  JSON_VALUE(raw_data, '$.checkpoint') AS BIGINT
                ) as checkpoint, 
                FROM_JSON (
                  JSON_QUERY(
                    raw_data, '$.transaction.data.transaction.transactions'
                  ), 
                  'Array<String>'
                ) as transactions_arr, 
                raw_data AS transactions 
              from 
                sui_transactions 
              where 
                raw_data like '%MoveCall%'
            ) as tt CROSS 
            JOIN UNNEST (transactions_arr) as t (transaction)
        ) as ttt

sinks:
  - name: sui_move_call_sink
    type: postgres
    from: sui_move_call_transform
    database: sui
    schema: public
    table: move_calls
    primary_key: checkpoint_timestamp,checkpoint,transaction_digest,module,package,function
    config:
      host: postgres
      port: 5432
      username: postgres
      password: postgres

1. Deploy manuscript locally

1. a. Check job status using use manuscript-cli list

manuscript-cli list

1. b. Check job status using docker

cd ~/manuscripts/sui_move_call/
docker compose ps -a

1. Query datasets

2. Check Flink job status and logs

   

3. Stop job

   manuscript-cli stop sui_move_call
   

   

If you're comfortable in the terminal, Manuscript-CLI gives you power and precision. You can define your transformation logic, manage jobs, and monitor performance all via command line. It’s a great option for integrating Sui data workflows into automated systems or development pipelines — making it a favorite among engineers and data devs.