CLI Shell¶

MiniSQL ships with a standalone command-line shell (minisql) that lets you open, query, and manage a database without writing Go code — similar to the sqlite3 CLI.

Installation¶

go install github.com/RichardKnop/minisql/cmd/minisql@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/RichardKnop/minisql
cd minisql
go build -o minisql ./cmd/minisql/

Or install with homebrew:

brew install minisql

Usage¶

minisql [options] <database-file>

The database file is created automatically if it does not exist.

Options¶

Flag	Description
`-c <query>`	Execute a SQL statement and exit (may be repeated).
`-csv`	Set output format to CSV (default: table).
`-h` / `--help`	Print usage.

Interactive shell¶

Running without -c opens the interactive REPL:

$ minisql my.db
MiniSQL — my.db
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
minisql> create table "users" (
      ->     id   int8 primary key autoincrement,
      ->     name varchar(255),
      ->     age  int4
      -> );
minisql> insert into "users" (name, age) values ('alice', 30), ('bob', 25);
2 row(s) affected
minisql> select * from "users";
id  name   age
--  -----  ---
1   alice  30
2   bob    25
minisql> .quit

Statements span multiple lines and are executed when a ; is reached.
Use the up/down arrow keys to navigate command history. History is persisted across sessions in ~/.minisql_history.
Ctrl-C cancels the current in-progress statement without exiting.
Ctrl-D (EOF) exits the shell after flushing any buffered input.
When stdin is not a terminal (pipe or redirect), prompts are suppressed.

Non-interactive mode (`-c`)¶

Execute one or more SQL statements and exit — useful for scripts, CI, or quick one-liners:

# Single query
minisql -c 'select * from "users"' my.db

# Multiple statements in sequence
minisql \
  -c 'create table "events" (id int8 primary key autoincrement, name varchar(255))' \
  -c 'insert into "events" (name) values ('"'"'signup'"'"')' \
  -c 'select * from "events"' \
  my.db

# Pipe into another tool
minisql -csv -c 'select * from "users"' my.db | cut -d, -f2

Output mode flags apply to -c as well — combine -csv with -c for machine-readable output.

Dot commands¶

Dot commands control the shell itself and are always single-line.

Command	Description
`.help`	Show dot command reference.
`.tables`	List all user tables.
`.schema [table]`	Print `CREATE` statement(s). Omit `[table]` to show all.
`.mode table`	Aligned table output (default).
`.mode csv`	CSV output (RFC 4180).
`.timer on\\|off`	Toggle per-query timing.
`.quit` / `.exit`	Exit the shell.

`.tables`¶

minisql> .tables
name
----
events
users

`.schema`¶

minisql> .schema users
create table "users" (id int8 primary key autoincrement, name varchar(255), age int4);

Output modes¶

minisql> .mode table
minisql> select id, name from "users";
id  name
--  -----
1   alice
2   bob

minisql> .mode csv
minisql> select id, name from "users";
id,name
1,alice
2,bob

Query timing¶

minisql> .timer on
minisql> select count(*) from "users";
COUNT(*)
--------
2
Time: 0.001s

Scripting via stdin¶

Pipe a SQL script into the shell for batch operations:

minisql my.db <<'EOF'
create table "logs" (id int8 primary key autoincrement, msg text);
insert into "logs" (msg) values ('hello');
select * from "logs";
EOF