.B sqlite3

\- A command line interface for SQLite version 3

.B sqlite3

.RI [ options ]

.RI [ databasefile ]

.RI [ SQL ]

.PP

.B sqlite3

is a terminal-based front-end to the SQLite library that can evaluate

queries interactively and display the results in multiple formats.

.B sqlite3

can also be used within shell scripts and other applications to provide

batch processing features.

To start a

.B sqlite3

interactive session, invoke the

.B sqlite3

command and optionally provide the name of a database file. If the

database file does not exist, it will be created. If the database file

does exist, it will be opened.

For example, to create a new database file named "mydata.db", create

a table named "memos" and insert a couple of records into that table:

.sp

$

.B sqlite3 mydata.db

.br

SQLite version 3.43.0 2023-08-11 17:45:23

.br

Enter ".help" for usage hints.

.br

sqlite>

.B create table memos(text, priority INTEGER);

.br

sqlite>

.B insert into memos values('deliver project description', 10);

.br

sqlite>

.B insert into memos values('lunch with Christine', 100);

.br

sqlite>

.B select * from memos;

.br

deliver project description|10

.br

lunch with Christine|100

.br

sqlite>

.sp

If no database name is supplied, the ATTACH sql command can be used

to attach to existing or create new database files. ATTACH can also

be used to attach to multiple databases within the same interactive

session. This is useful for migrating data between databases,

possibly changing the schema along the way.

Optionally, a SQL statement or set of SQL statements can be supplied as

a single argument. Multiple statements should be separated by

semi-colons.

For example:

.sp

$

.B sqlite3 -line mydata.db 'select * from memos where priority > 20;'

.br

text = lunch with Christine

.br

priority = 100

.br

.sp

.PP

The interactive interpreter offers a set of meta-commands that can be

used to control the output format, examine the currently attached

database files, or perform administrative operations upon the

attached databases (such as rebuilding indices). Meta-commands are

always prefixed with a dot (.).

A list of available meta-commands can be viewed at any time by issuing

the '.help' command. For example:

.sp

sqlite>

.B .help

.nf

.tr %.

...

.sp

.fi

The available commands differ by version and build options, so they

are not listed here. Please refer to your local copy for all available

options.

.B sqlite3

reads an initialization file to set the configuration of the

interactive environment. Throughout initialization, any previously

specified setting can be overridden. The sequence of initialization is

as follows:

o The default configuration is established as follows:

.sp

.nf

.cc |

mode = LIST

separator = "|"

main prompt = "sqlite> "

continue prompt = " ...> "

|cc .

.sp

.fi

o If the environment variable XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set then

.B ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/sqlite3/sqliterc

is checked, else

.B ~/.config/sqlite3/sqliterc

is checked. If the selected file does not exist then the fallback of

.B ~/.sqliterc

is used. It should generally only contain meta-commands.

o If the -init option is present, the specified file is processed.

o All other command line options are processed.

.B sqlite3

may be configured to use a history file to save SQL statements and

meta-commands entered interactively. These statements and commands can be

retrieved, edited and, reused at the main and continue prompts. If the

environment variable

.B SQLITE_HISTORY

is set, it will be used as the name of the history file, whether it

already exists or not. If it is not set but the XDG_STATE_HOME

environment variable is then

.B ${XDG_STATE_HOME}/sqlite_history

is used. If XDG_STATE_HOME is not set then

.B ~/.local/state/sqlite_history

is used. If the selected file does not exist then

.B ~/.sqlite_history

will be used as the history file. If any history file is found, it

will be written if the shell exits interactive mode normally,

regardless of whether it existed previously, though saving will

silently fail if the history file's directory does not exist.

https://sqlite.org/cli.html

.br

https://sqlite.org/fiddle (a WebAssembly build of the CLI app)

.br

The sqlite3-doc package.

This manual page was originally written by Andreas Rottmann

<rotty@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used

by others). It was subsequently revised by Bill Bumgarner <bbum@mac.com>,

Laszlo Boszormenyi <gcs@debian.hu>, and the sqlite3 developers.