sqlite3(1) General Commands Manual sqlite3(1)
NAME
sqlite3 - A command line interface for SQLite version 3
SYNOPSIS
sqlite3 [options] [databasefile] [SQL]
SUMMARY
sqlite3 is a terminal-based front-end to the SQLite library that can
evaluate queries interactively and display the results in multiple
formats. sqlite3 can also be used within shell scripts and other
applications to provide batch processing features.
DESCRIPTION
To start a sqlite3 interactive session, invoke the 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:
$ sqlite3 mydata.db
SQLite version 3.43.0 2023-08-11 17:45:23
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> create table memos(text, priority INTEGER);
sqlite> insert into memos values('deliver project description', 10);
sqlite> insert into memos values('lunch with Christine', 100);
sqlite> select * from memos;
deliver project description|10
lunch with Christine|100
sqlite>
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:
$ sqlite3 -line mydata.db 'select * from memos where priority > 20;'
text = lunch with Christine
priority = 100
SQLITE META-COMMANDS
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:
sqlite> .help
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.
INIT FILE
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:
mode = LIST
separator = "|"
main prompt = "sqlite> "
continue prompt = " ...> "
o If the environment variable XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set then
${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/sqlite3/sqliterc is checked, else
~/.config/sqlite3/sqliterc is checked. If the selected file does not
exist then the fallback of ~/.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.
HISTORY FILE
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 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
${XDG_STATE_HOME}/sqlite_history is used. If XDG_STATE_HOME is not set
then ~/.local/state/sqlite_history is used. If the selected file does
not exist then ~/.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.
SEE ALSO
https://sqlite.org/cli.html
https://sqlite.org/fiddle (a WebAssembly build of the CLI app)
The sqlite3-doc package.
AUTHOR
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.
Fri Aug 11 23:50:12 CET 2023 sqlite3(1)
sqlite3 3.51.0 - Generated Tue Nov 4 15:30:43 CST 2025