GDAL-VECTOR-WRITE(1) GDAL GDAL-VECTOR-WRITE(1)

gdal-vector-write - Write a vector dataset (pipeline only)

Added in version 3.11.

The write operation is for use in a gdal pipeline only, and writes a vector dataset. This is the last step of a pipeline.

To write a temporary dataset in the middle of a pipeline, use gdal vector materialize.

* write [OPTIONS] <OUTPUT>
--------------------------
Write a vector dataset.
Positional arguments:
  -o, --output <OUTPUT>                                Output vector dataset [required]
Options:
  -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>  Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
  --co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE>                Creation option [may be repeated]
  --lco, --layer-creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE>         Layer creation option [may be repeated]
  --overwrite                                          Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed
  --update                                             Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
  --overwrite-layer                                    Whether overwriting existing output layer is allowed
  --append                                             Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
                                                       Mutually exclusive with --upsert
  -l, --output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER>                    Output layer name
  --skip-errors                                        Skip errors when writing features
  --no-create-empty-layers                             Avoid creating layers to which no features will be written
Advanced Options:
  --output-oo, --output-open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>      Output open options [may be repeated]
  --upsert                                             Upsert features (implies 'append')
                                                       Mutually exclusive with --append

Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort
Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation options that can be used to control particulars about the file created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports creation options to control the version.

May be repeated.

The dataset creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no creation options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats command line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information on driver creation options. See Vector drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for each format.

Note that dataset creation options are different from layer creation options.

Many formats have one or more optional layer creation options that can be used to control particulars about the layer created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports layer creation options to control the feature identifier or geometry column name, setting the identifier or description, etc.

May be repeated.

The layer creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no layer creation options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats command line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information on driver creation options. See Vector drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for each format.

Note that layer creation options are different from dataset creation options.

Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset. Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or dataset already exists.
Whether to open an existing output dataset in update mode.
--overwrite-layer
Whether overwriting the existing output vector layer is allowed.
Whether appending features to existing layer(s) is allowed. This also creates the output dataset if it does not exist yet.
Specifies the name of the layer to which features will be written. If not specified, output layer names will be the same as input layer names.
Added in version 3.12.

Dataset open option for output dataset (format specific).

May be repeated.

Added in version 3.12.

Whether failures to write feature(s) should be ignored. Note that this option sets the size of the transaction unit to one feature at a time, which may cause severe slowdown when inserting into databases.

Added in version 3.12.

Variant of --append where the OGRLayer::UpsertFeature() operation is used to insert or update features instead of appending with OGRLayer::CreateFeature().

This is currently implemented only in a few drivers: GPKG -- GeoPackage vector, Elasticsearch: Geographically Encoded Objects for Elasticsearch and MongoDBv3 (drivers that implement upsert expose the GDAL_DCAP_UPSERT capability).

The upsert operation uses the FID of the input feature, when it is set (and the FID column name is not the empty string), as the key to update existing features. It is crucial to make sure that the FID in the source and target layers are consistent.

For the GPKG driver, it is also possible to upsert features whose FID is unset or non-significant (the --unset-fid option of gdal vector edit can be used to ignore the FID from the source feature), when there is a UNIQUE column that is not the integer primary key.

$ gdal vector pipeline ... [other commands here] ... ! write out.gpkg --overwrite

Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

1998-2026

May 8, 2026