sqlite3 the SQLite command-line shell
sqlite3 is the official interactive shell for SQLite databases. sqx writes ordinary SQLite files with import and -save, so you can open them in sqlite3 for interactive work, backups or schema changes.
Availability Preinstalled on macOS and many Linux distributions; otherwise apt install sqlite3 or brew install sqlite
Syntax
sqlite3 [options] [database] [sql]Common options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
.tables | List tables (inside the shell) |
.schema [table] | Show CREATE statements |
.mode csv / .mode table | Change the output format |
.headers on | Print column names |
-csv -header | Command-line equivalents for one-off queries |
Examples
Open a database interactively
sqlite3 project.dbList tables from the shell
sqlite3 project.db .tablesOne-off query as CSV
sqlite3 -csv -header project.db "SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 5"Use sqlite3 with sqx
Build a database with sqx, explore it with sqlite3
sqx import -db project.db -t users users.csv
sqlite3 project.db "SELECT plan, COUNT(*) FROM users GROUP BY plan"sqx's extra functions, such as http_status or html_title, exist only inside sqx. Run those queries with sqx -db project.db, and use sqlite3 for plain SQL.
Full documentation
This page covers the essentials. For every option, see the official documentation:
Or read the manual in your terminal: man sqlite3