diff --git a/datafusion-cli/Cargo.lock b/datafusion-cli/Cargo.lock
index 544aff445949..748ea39048cb 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/Cargo.lock
+++ b/datafusion-cli/Cargo.lock
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3a30da5c5f2d5e72842e00bcb57657162cdabef0931f40e2deb9b4140440cecd"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "arrayref"
 version = "0.3.7"
@@ -289,6 +295,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex-syntax",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "assert_cmd"
+version = "2.0.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "86d6b683edf8d1119fe420a94f8a7e389239666aa72e65495d91c00462510151"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "bstr",
+ "doc-comment",
+ "predicates",
+ "predicates-core",
+ "predicates-tree",
+ "wait-timeout",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "async-compression"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -700,6 +721,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "alloc-stdlib",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bstr"
+version = "1.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a246e68bb43f6cd9db24bea052a53e40405417c5fb372e3d1a8a7f770a564ef5"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "once_cell",
+ "regex-automata",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bumpalo"
 version = "3.13.0"
@@ -959,6 +992,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ctor"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1586fa608b1dab41f667475b4a41faec5ba680aee428bfa5de4ea520fdc6e901"
+dependencies = [
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.18",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dashmap"
 version = "5.4.0"
@@ -1024,16 +1067,20 @@ name = "datafusion-cli"
 version = "26.0.0"
 dependencies = [
  "arrow",
+ "assert_cmd",
  "async-trait",
  "aws-config",
  "aws-credential-types",
  "clap",
+ "ctor",
  "datafusion",
  "dirs",
  "env_logger",
  "mimalloc",
  "object_store",
  "parking_lot",
+ "predicates",
+ "rstest",
  "rustyline",
  "tokio",
  "url",
@@ -1150,6 +1197,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "sqlparser",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "difflib"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6184e33543162437515c2e2b48714794e37845ec9851711914eec9d308f6ebe8"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "digest"
 version = "0.10.7"
@@ -1319,6 +1372,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "miniz_oxide",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "float-cmp"
+version = "0.9.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "98de4bbd547a563b716d8dfa9aad1cb19bfab00f4fa09a6a4ed21dbcf44ce9c4"
+dependencies = [
+ "num-traits",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fnv"
 version = "1.0.7"
@@ -1405,6 +1467,12 @@ version = "0.3.28"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "76d3d132be6c0e6aa1534069c705a74a5997a356c0dc2f86a47765e5617c5b65"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "futures-timer"
+version = "3.0.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e64b03909df88034c26dc1547e8970b91f98bdb65165d6a4e9110d94263dbb2c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "futures-util"
 version = "0.3.28"
@@ -1965,6 +2033,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "static_assertions",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "normalize-line-endings"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "61807f77802ff30975e01f4f071c8ba10c022052f98b3294119f3e615d13e5be"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "num"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -2285,6 +2359,37 @@ version = "0.2.17"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5b40af805b3121feab8a3c29f04d8ad262fa8e0561883e7653e024ae4479e6de"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "predicates"
+version = "3.0.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "09963355b9f467184c04017ced4a2ba2d75cbcb4e7462690d388233253d4b1a9"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "difflib",
+ "float-cmp",
+ "itertools 0.10.5",
+ "normalize-line-endings",
+ "predicates-core",
+ "regex",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "predicates-core"
+version = "1.0.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b794032607612e7abeb4db69adb4e33590fa6cf1149e95fd7cb00e634b92f174"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "predicates-tree"
+version = "1.0.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "368ba315fb8c5052ab692e68a0eefec6ec57b23a36959c14496f0b0df2c0cecf"
+dependencies = [
+ "predicates-core",
+ "termtree",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro-error"
 version = "1.0.4"
@@ -2423,6 +2528,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex-syntax",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "regex-automata"
+version = "0.1.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6c230d73fb8d8c1b9c0b3135c5142a8acee3a0558fb8db5cf1cb65f8d7862132"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "regex-syntax"
 version = "0.7.2"
@@ -2485,6 +2596,32 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rstest"
+version = "0.17.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "de1bb486a691878cd320c2f0d319ba91eeaa2e894066d8b5f8f117c000e9d962"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures",
+ "futures-timer",
+ "rstest_macros",
+ "rustc_version",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rstest_macros"
+version = "0.17.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "290ca1a1c8ca7edb7c3283bd44dc35dd54fdec6253a3912e201ba1072018fca8"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "rustc_version",
+ "syn 1.0.109",
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc_version"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -2917,6 +3054,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi-util",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "termtree"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3369f5ac52d5eb6ab48c6b4ffdc8efbcad6b89c765749064ba298f2c68a16a76"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "textwrap"
 version = "0.16.0"
@@ -3245,6 +3388,15 @@ version = "0.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5c3082ca00d5a5ef149bb8b555a72ae84c9c59f7250f013ac822ac2e49b19c64"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wait-timeout"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9f200f5b12eb75f8c1ed65abd4b2db8a6e1b138a20de009dacee265a2498f3f6"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "walkdir"
 version = "2.3.3"
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/Cargo.toml b/datafusion-cli/Cargo.toml
index 43367eceb33b..bb55a764d913 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/datafusion-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -43,3 +43,9 @@ parking_lot = { version = "0.12" }
 rustyline = "11.0"
 tokio = { version = "1.24", features = ["macros", "rt", "rt-multi-thread", "sync", "parking_lot"] }
 url = "2.2"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+assert_cmd = "2.0"
+ctor = "0.2.0"
+predicates = "3.0"
+rstest = "0.17"
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
index 1ccbfef982fa..ec7330f6eb9e 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/exec.rs
@@ -41,6 +41,20 @@ use std::time::Instant;
 use std::{fs::File, sync::Arc};
 use url::Url;
 
+/// run and execute SQL statements and commands, against a context with the given print options
+pub async fn exec_from_commands(
+    ctx: &mut SessionContext,
+    print_options: &PrintOptions,
+    commands: Vec<String>,
+) {
+    for sql in commands {
+        match exec_and_print(ctx, print_options, sql).await {
+            Ok(_) => {}
+            Err(err) => println!("{err}"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// run and execute SQL statements and commands from a file, against a context with the given print options
 pub async fn exec_from_lines(
     ctx: &mut SessionContext,
@@ -58,11 +72,8 @@ pub async fn exec_from_lines(
                 let line = line.trim_end();
                 query.push_str(line);
                 if line.ends_with(';') {
-                    match unescape_input(line) {
-                        Ok(sql) => match exec_and_print(ctx, print_options, sql).await {
-                            Ok(_) => {}
-                            Err(err) => eprintln!("{err}"),
-                        },
+                    match exec_and_print(ctx, print_options, query).await {
+                        Ok(_) => {}
                         Err(err) => eprintln!("{err}"),
                     }
                     query = "".to_owned();
@@ -149,11 +160,8 @@ pub async fn exec_from_repl(
             }
             Ok(line) => {
                 rl.add_history_entry(line.trim_end())?;
-                match unescape_input(&line) {
-                    Ok(sql) => match exec_and_print(ctx, &print_options, sql).await {
-                        Ok(_) => {}
-                        Err(err) => eprintln!("{err}"),
-                    },
+                match exec_and_print(ctx, &print_options, line).await {
+                    Ok(_) => {}
                     Err(err) => eprintln!("{err}"),
                 }
             }
@@ -182,6 +190,7 @@ async fn exec_and_print(
 ) -> Result<()> {
     let now = Instant::now();
 
+    let sql = unescape_input(&sql)?;
     let plan = ctx.state().create_logical_plan(&sql).await?;
     let df = match &plan {
         LogicalPlan::Ddl(DdlStatement::CreateExternalTable(cmd)) => {
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs b/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs
index 4c1dd2f94e05..aea499d60323 100644
--- a/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/datafusion-cli/src/main.rs
@@ -44,13 +44,21 @@ struct Args {
     data_path: Option<String>,
 
     #[clap(
-        short = 'c',
+        short = 'b',
         long,
         help = "The batch size of each query, or use DataFusion default",
         validator(is_valid_batch_size)
     )]
     batch_size: Option<usize>,
 
+    #[clap(
+        short = 'c',
+        long,
+        multiple_values = true,
+        help = "Execute the given command string(s), then exit"
+    )]
+    command: Vec<String>,
+
     #[clap(
         short,
         long,
@@ -116,6 +124,7 @@ pub async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         quiet: args.quiet,
     };
 
+    let commands = args.command;
     let files = args.file;
     let rc = match args.rc {
         Some(file) => file,
@@ -132,18 +141,25 @@ pub async fn main() -> Result<()> {
         }
     };
 
-    if !files.is_empty() {
-        exec::exec_from_files(files, &mut ctx, &print_options).await;
-        Ok(())
-    } else {
+    if commands.is_empty() && files.is_empty() {
         if !rc.is_empty() {
             exec::exec_from_files(rc, &mut ctx, &print_options).await
         }
         // TODO maybe we can have thiserror for cli but for now let's keep it simple
-        exec::exec_from_repl(&mut ctx, &mut print_options)
+        return exec::exec_from_repl(&mut ctx, &mut print_options)
             .await
-            .map_err(|e| DataFusionError::External(Box::new(e)))
+            .map_err(|e| DataFusionError::External(Box::new(e)));
     }
+
+    if !files.is_empty() {
+        exec::exec_from_files(files, &mut ctx, &print_options).await;
+    }
+
+    if !commands.is_empty() {
+        exec::exec_from_commands(&mut ctx, &print_options, commands).await;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 fn create_runtime_env() -> Result<RuntimeEnv> {
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/tests/cli_integration.rs b/datafusion-cli/tests/cli_integration.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c6bee274e93c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafusion-cli/tests/cli_integration.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+use std::process::Command;
+
+use assert_cmd::prelude::{CommandCargoExt, OutputAssertExt};
+use predicates::prelude::predicate;
+use rstest::rstest;
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+#[ctor::ctor]
+fn init() {
+    // Enable RUST_LOG logging configuration for tests
+    let _ = env_logger::try_init();
+}
+
+#[rstest]
+#[case::exec_from_commands(
+    ["--command", "select 1", "--format", "json", "-q"],
+    "[{\"Int64(1)\":1}]\n"
+)]
+#[case::exec_from_files(
+    ["--file", "tests/data/sql.txt", "--format", "json", "-q"],
+    "[{\"Int64(1)\":1}]\n"
+)]
+#[case::set_batch_size(
+    ["--command", "show datafusion.execution.batch_size", "--format", "json", "-q", "-b", "1"],
+    "[{\"name\":\"datafusion.execution.batch_size\",\"setting\":\"1\"}]\n"
+)]
+#[test]
+fn cli_quick_test<'a>(
+    #[case] args: impl IntoIterator<Item = &'a str>,
+    #[case] expected: &str,
+) {
+    let mut cmd = Command::cargo_bin("datafusion-cli").unwrap();
+    cmd.args(args);
+    cmd.assert().stdout(predicate::eq(expected));
+}
diff --git a/datafusion-cli/tests/data/sql.txt b/datafusion-cli/tests/data/sql.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9e13a3eff4a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafusion-cli/tests/data/sql.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+select 1;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dev/release/rat_exclude_files.txt b/dev/release/rat_exclude_files.txt
index e02ecc93b884..6e859351156f 100644
--- a/dev/release/rat_exclude_files.txt
+++ b/dev/release/rat_exclude_files.txt
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ python/requirements*.txt
 benchmarks/queries/*
 benchmarks/expected-plans/*
 benchmarks/data/*
+datafusion-cli/tests/data/*
 ci/*
 **/*.svg
 **/*.csv