How to use SQL Database Shell commands

Learn how to use SQL Database Shell commands to interact with your SQL Database database.

SQL Database Shell provides a command-line interface to manage and interact with your SQL Database databases. Beyond executing SQL queries, it offers a comprehensive set of commands for database administration and configuration.

This guide covers the available commands for interacting with the SQL Database service and managing environment variables.

SQL Database Shell commands

help

Shows information about the available commands or a specific command.

EdgeSQL> help

Example:

EdgeSQL> help .dump

.databases

Lists all databases.

EdgeSQL> .databases

.use

Switches to a specific database.

EdgeSQL> .use <database-name>

.tables

Lists all tables in the database.

EdgeSQL> .tables

.schema

Describes the schema of a specific table.

EdgeSQL> .schema <table-name>

.dbinfo

Retrieves information about the current database.

EdgeSQL> .dbinfo

.read

Loads and executes SQL queries from a file.

EdgeSQL> .read <file_path>

.create

Creates a new database.

EdgeSQL> .create <database-name>

.destroy

Destroys a specific database.

EdgeSQL> .destroy <database-name>

.output

Sets the output destination. Pass stdout as parameter to output to the console or inform a file path to define it as the output destination.

EdgeSQL> .output stdout

Example using a file as destination:

EdgeSQL> .output /file.csv

.dump

Renders the table structure as SQL. After running the output command and setting the output to a file, the dump command will save the output to the selected file.

EdgeSQL> .dump <table-name>

You can pass the options --schema-only or --data-only to optionally render only the schema or the data of the table.

Example:

EdgeSQL> .dump --schema-only <table-name>

.mode

Sets the output mode. You can choose one of the following options:

excel
tabular
csv
json
html
markdown
raw

Example:

EdgeSQL> .mode tabular

.import

Imports data from an external source into the table. You can import data from a file or from a MySQL, Postgres, Kaggle or Turso database.

EdgeSQL> .import <params> <table-name>

By running the help command you can get a list of the possible parameters for importing data:

EdgeSQL> help .import

You will receive a response similar to this:

.import: Import data from file files, Kaggle datasets, or databases into a database table.

Args:

arg (str): The import command and its arguments.

Command Formats:

.import file <csv|xlsx> <file_path> <table_name>: Import data from a file CSV or Excel file.

.import kaggle <dataset> <data_name> <table_name>: Import data from a Kaggle dataset.

.import mysql <database> <source_table> <table_name>: Import data from a MySQL database table.

.import postgres <database> <source_table> <table_name>: Import data from PostgreSQL database table.

.import turso <database> <source_table> <table_name>: Import data from Turso database.

Examples:

.import file csv /path/to/file.csv my_table

.import kaggle joonasyoon/google-doodles list.csv list

.import mysql mydb_name source_table_name my_table

.import turso <database> <source_table> <table_name>

.dbsize

Gets the size of the current database in MB.

EdgeSQL> .dbsize

.exit

Exits the EdgeSQL Shell.

EdgeSQL> .exit

Environment variables

When using the SQL Database Shell to import data from external sources, you can send the credentials and tokens as environment variables byt using the export command. This command is also used for setting your Azion personal token.

Personal token

You can send your personal token as an environment variable in SQL Database Shell.

export AZION_TOKEN="<your_auth_token_here>"

Kaggle credentials

Use the following commands to set your Kaggle credentials:

export KAGGLE_USERNAME="<username>"

export KAGGLE_KEY="<kaggle_api_key>"

MySQL credentials

Use the following commands to set your MySQL credentials:

export MYSQL_USERNAME="<username>"

export MYSQL_PASSWORD="<password>"

export MYSQL_HOST="<host_address>"

Optional settings for MySQL:

export MYSQL_PORT=<port>

# For TLS connection

export MYSQL_SSL_CA="<ssl_ca>"

export MYSQL_SSL_CERT="<ssl_cert>"

export MYSQL_SSL_KEY="<ssl_key>"

export MYSQL_SSL_VERIFY_CERT=<True|False>

PostgreSQL credentials

Use the following commands to set your PostgreSQL credentials:

export POSTGRES_USERNAME="<username>"

export POSTGRES_PASSWORD="<password>"

export POSTGRES_HOST="<host_address>"

Optional settings for PostgreSQL:

export POSTGRES_PORT=<port>

# For TLS connection

export POSTGRES_SSL_CA="<ssl_ca>"

export POSTGRES_SSL_CERT="<ssl_cert>"

export POSTGRES_SSL_KEY="<ssl_key>"

export POSTGRES_SSL_VERIFY_CERT=<True|False>

Turso credentials

Use the following commands to set your Turso credentials:

export TURSO_DATABASE_URL=<https://<db_name>-<organization>.turso.io

export TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN=<token>

Optional settings for Turso:

export TURSO_ENCRYPTION_KEY=<encryption_key>

Go to SQL Database Shell installation guide