cockroach-sql

The cockroach-sql command is a client for executing SQL statements from an interactive shell or directly from the command line. To use this client, run cockroach-sql as described below.

cockroach-sql is functionally equivalent to the .

To exit the interactive shell, enter \q, quit, exit, or Ctrl+D.

The output of cockroach-sql when used non-interactively is part of a stable interface, and can be used programmatically, with the exception of informational output lines that begin with the hash symbol (#). Informational output can change from release to release, and should not be used programmatically.

Install cockroach-sql

Mac

1. Visit and download the SQL Shell binary for CockroachDB.

2. Follow the instructions to on your local system. The resulting cockroach binary supports only cockroach sql subcommands.

Linux

1. Visit and download the SQL Shell binary for CockroachDB.

2. Follow the instructions to on your local system. The resulting cockroach binary supports only cockroach sql subcommands.

Windows

1. Visit and download the SQL Shell binary for CockroachDB.

2. Follow the instructions to on your local system. The resulting cockroach.exe binary supports only cockroach sql subcommands.

Before you begin

• The logging in must be LOGIN or SQLLOGIN, which are granted by default. If the user has been set to use the NOLOGIN role or the NOSQLLOGIN (or the legacy NOSQLLOGIN role option), the user cannot log in using the SQL CLI with any authentication method.
• macOS users only: By default, macOS-based terminals do not enable handling of the Alt key modifier. This prevents access to many keyboard shortcuts in the unix shell and cockroach sql. See the section macOS terminal configuration below for details.

Synopsis

Start the interactive SQL shell:

$ cockroach-sql <flags>

Execute SQL from the command line:

$ cockroach-sql -e="<sql statement;<sql statement" -e="<sql-statement" <flags>

$ echo "<sql statement;<sql statement" | cockroach-sql <flags>

$ cockroach-sql <flags> -f file-containing-statements.sql

Exit the interactive SQL shell:

> \q

View help:

$ cockroach-sql --help

Flags

The sql command supports the following types of flags:

• General Use
• Client Connection
• Logging

General

• To start an interactive SQL shell, run cockroach-sql with all appropriate connection flags or use just the --url flag, which includes .
• To execute SQL statements from the command line, use the --execute flag.

Flag	Description
--database -d	A database name to use as in the newly created session.
--embedded	Minimizes the SQL shell welcome text to be appropriate for embedding in playground-type environments. Specifically, this flag removes details that users in an embedded environment have no control over (e.g., networking information).
--echo-sql	Reveal the SQL statements sent implicitly by the command-line utility. For a demonstration, see the example below. This can also be enabled within the interactive SQL shell via the \set echo shell command.
--execute -e	Execute SQL statements directly from the command line, without opening a shell. This flag can be set multiple times, and each instance can contain one or more statements separated by semi-colons. If an error occurs in any statement, the command exits with a non-zero status code and further statements are not executed. The results of each statement are printed to the standard output (see --format for formatting options). For a demonstration of this and other ways to execute SQL from the command line, see the example below.
--file <filename> -f <filename>	Read SQL statements from <filename.
--format	How to display table rows printed to the standard output. Possible values: tsv, csv, table, raw, records, sql, html. Default: table for sessions that output on a terminal; tsv otherwise This flag corresponds to the display_format client-side option.
--read-only	Sets the default_transaction_read_only to on upon connecting.
--safe-updates	Disallow potentially unsafe SQL statements, including DELETE without a WHERE clause, UPDATE without a WHERE clause, and ALTER TABLE ... DROP COLUMN. Default: true for interactive sessions; false otherwise Potentially unsafe SQL statements can also be allowed/disallowed for an entire session via the sql_safe_updates .
--set	Set a client-side option before starting the SQL shell or executing SQL statements from the command line via --execute. This flag may be specified multiple times, once per option. After starting the SQL shell, the \set and unset commands can be use to enable and disable client-side options as well.
--watch	Repeat the SQL statements specified with --execute or -e until a SQL error occurs or the process is terminated. --watch applies to all --execute or -e flags in use. You must also specify an interval at which to repeat the statement, followed by a time unit. For example, to specify an interval of 5 seconds, use 5s. Note that this flag is intended for simple monitoring scenarios during development and testing. See the example below.

Client connection

Flag	Description
--url	A to use instead of the other arguments. To convert a connection URL to the syntax that works with your client driver, run . Env Variable: COCKROACH_URL Default: no URL
--host	The server host and port number to connect to. This can be the address of any node in the cluster. Env Variable: COCKROACH_HOST Default: localhost:26257
--port -p	The server port to connect to. Note: The port number can also be specified via --host. Env Variable: COCKROACH_PORT Default: 26257
--user -u	The that will own the client session. Env Variable: COCKROACH_USER Default: root
--insecure	Use an insecure connection. Env Variable: COCKROACH_INSECURE Default: false
--cert-principal-map	A comma-separated list of <cert-principal:<db-principal mappings. This allows mapping the principal in a cert to a DB principal such as node or root or any SQL user. This is intended for use in situations where the certificate management system places restrictions on the Subject.CommonName or SubjectAlternateName fields in the certificate (e.g., disallowing a CommonName like node or root). If multiple mappings are provided for the same <cert-principal, the last one specified in the list takes precedence. A principal not specified in the map is passed through as-is via the identity function. A cert is allowed to authenticate a DB principal if the DB principal name is contained in the mapped CommonName or DNS-type SubjectAlternateName fields.
--certs-dir	The path to the containing the CA and client certificates and client key. Env Variable: COCKROACH_CERTS_DIR Default: ${HOME}/.cockroach-certs/

See for more details.

Logging

By default, this command logs messages to stderr. This includes events with WARNING and higher.

If you need to troubleshoot this command’s behavior, you can .

Session and output types

cockroach-sql exhibits different behaviors depending on whether or not the session is interactive and/or whether or not the session outputs on a terminal.

• A session is interactive when cockroach-sql is invoked without the -e or -f flag, and the input is a terminal. In such cases:
  • The errexit option defaults to false.
  • The check_syntax option defaults to true if supported by the CockroachDB server (this is checked when the shell starts up).
  • Ctrl+C at the prompt will only terminate the shell if no other input was entered on the same line already.
  • The shell will attempt to set the safe_updates to true on the server.
  • The shell continues to read input after the last command entered.
• A session outputs on a terminal when output is not redirected to a file. In such cases:
  • The --format flag and its corresponding display_format option default to table. These default to tsv otherwise.
  • The show_times option defaults to true.

When a session is both interactive and outputs on a terminal, cockroach-sql also activates the interactive prompt with a line editor that can be used to modify the current line of input. Also, command history becomes active.

SQL shell

Welcome message

When the SQL shell connects (or reconnects) to a CockroachDB node, it prints a welcome text with some tips and CockroachDB version and cluster details:

#
# Welcome to the CockroachDB SQL shell.
# All statements must be terminated by a semicolon.
# To exit, type: \q.
#
# Server version: CockroachDB CCL  (x86_64-apple-darwin17.7.0, built ) (same version as client)
# Cluster ID: 7fb9f5b4-a801-4851-92e9-c0db292d03f1
#
# Enter \? for a brief introduction.
#
>

The Version and Cluster ID details are particularly noteworthy:

• When the client and server versions of CockroachDB are the same, the shell prints the Server version followed by (same version as client).
• When the client and server versions are different, the shell prints both the Client version and Server version. In this case, you may want to of earlier client or server versions.
• Since every CockroachDB cluster has a unique ID, you can use the Cluster ID field to verify that your client is always connecting to the correct cluster.

Commands

The following commands can be used within the interactive SQL shell:

Command	Usage
\?,help	View this help within the shell.
\q,quit,exit,ctrl-d	Exit the shell. When no text follows the prompt, ctrl-c exits the shell as well; otherwise, ctrl-c clears the line.
\!	Run an external command and print its results to stdout. .
|	Run the output of an external command as SQL statements. .
\set <option>,\unset <option>	Enable or disable a client-side option. For more details, see Client-side options. You can also use the --set flag to enable or disable client-side options before starting the SQL shell.
\p,\show	During a multi-line statement or transaction, show the SQL that has been entered but not yet executed. \show was deprecated as of v21.1. Use \p instead.
\h <statement>,\hf <function>	View help for specific SQL statements or functions. See SQL shell help for more details.
\c <option>,\connect <option>	Display or change the current . Using \c without an argument lists the current connection parameters. To reuse the existing connection and change the current database, use \c <dbname>. This is equivalent to SET <database> and USE <database>. To connect to a cluster using individual connection parameters, use \c <dbname> <user> <host> <port>. Use the dash character (-) to omit one parameter. To reconnect to the cluster using the current connection parameters enter \c -. When using individual connection parameters, the TLS settings from the original connection are reused. To use different TLS settings, connect using a connection URL. To connect to a cluster using a use \c <url>
\l	List all databases in the CockroachDB cluster. This command is equivalent to .
\d[S+] [<pattern]	Show details about the relations in the current database. By default this command will show all the user tables, indexes, views, materialized views, and sequences in the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a relation or a pattern, it will show the details of matching relations. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dC[+] [<pattern]	Show the type casts. If you specify a type or a pattern, it will show the details of matching types. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dd[S] [<pattern]	Show the objects of type constraint in the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a type or a pattern, it will show the details of matching objects.
\df[S+] [<pattern]	Show the of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all . If you specify a function name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching function. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dg[S+] [<pattern]	Show the of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a role name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching roles. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\di[S+] [<pattern]	Show the indexes of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify an index name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching indexes. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dm[S+] [<pattern]	Show the materialized views of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a materialized view name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching materialized views. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dn[S+] [<pattern]	List all in the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system schemas. Add the + modifier to show the permissions of each schema. Specify a pattern to limit the output to schemas that match the pattern. These commands are equivalent to .
\ds[S+] [<pattern]	Show the sequences of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a sequence name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching sequences. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dt[S+] [<pattern]	Show the tables of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a table name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching tables. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dT[S+] [<pattern]	Show the in the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a type name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching types. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\du[S+] [<pattern]	Show the of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a role name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching roles. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\dv[S+] [<pattern]	Show the views of the current database. Add the S modifier to also show all system objects. If you specify a view name or a pattern, it will show the details of matching views. Add the + modifier to show additional information.
\r	Resets the query input buffer, clearing all SQL statements that have been entered but not yet executed.
\statement-diag list	List available .
\statement-diag download <bundle-id> [<filename]	Download diagnostic bundle.
\i <filename>	Reads and executes input from the file <filename, in the current working directory.
\ir <filename>	Reads and executes input from the file <filename. When invoked in the interactive shell, \i and \ir behave identically (i.e., CockroachDB looks for <filename in the current working directory). When invoked from a script, CockroachDB looks for <filename relative to the directory in which the script is located.
\echo <arguments>	Evaluate the <arguments and print the results to the standard output.
\x <boolean>	When true/on/yes/1, to records. When false/off/no/0, sets the session’s format to the default (table/tsv).

Patterns

Commands use the SQL for string pattern matching, not POSIX regular expressions.

For example to list all schemas that begin with the letter “p” you’d use the following pattern:

\dn p%

List of schemas:
      Name     | Owner
---------------+--------
  pg_catalog   | NULL
  pg_extension | NULL
  public       | admin
(3 rows)

Client-side options

• To view option descriptions and how they are currently set, use \set without any options.
• To enable or disable an option, use \set <option> <value> or \unset <option> <value>. You can also use the form <option=<value.
• If an option accepts a boolean value:
  • \set <option> without <value is equivalent to \set <option> true, and \unset <option> without <value is equivalent to \set <option> false.
  • on, yes, and 1 are aliases for true, and off, no, and 0 are aliases for false.

Client Options	Description
auto_trace	For every statement executed, the shell also produces the trace for that statement in a separate result below. A trace is also produced in case the statement produces a SQL error. Default: off To enable this option, run \set auto_trace on.
border	Display a border around the output of the SQL statement when using the table display format. Set the level of borders using border=<level to configure how many borders and lines are in the output, where <level is an integer between 0 and 3. The higher the integer, the more borders and lines are in the output. A level of 0 shows the output with no outer lines and no row line separators. A level of 1 adds row line separators. A level of 2 adds an outside border and no row line separators. A level of 3 adds both an outside border and row line separators. Default: 0 To change this option, run \set border=<level. .
check_syntax	Validate SQL syntax. This ensures that a typo or mistake during user entry does not inconveniently abort an ongoing transaction previously started from the interactive shell. Default: true for ; false otherwise. To disable this option, run \unset check_syntax.
display_format	How to display table rows printed within the interactive SQL shell. Possible values: tsv, csv, table, raw, records, sql, html. Default: table for sessions that ; tsv otherwise To change this option, run \set display_format <format>. .
echo	Reveal the SQL statements sent implicitly by the SQL shell. Default: false To enable this option, run \set echo. .
errexit	Exit the SQL shell upon encountering an error. Default: false for ; true otherwise To enable this option, run \set errexit.
prompt1	Customize the interactive prompt within the SQL shell. See Customizing the prompt for information on the available prompt variables.
show_times	Reveal the time a query takes to complete. Possible values:

• execution time refers to the time taken by the SQL execution engine to execute the query.
• network time refers to the network latency between the server and the SQL client command.
• other time refers to all other forms of latency affecting the total query completion time, including query planning.

Default: true

To disable this option, run \unset show_times.

Customizing the prompt

The \set prompt1 option allows you to customize the interactive prompt in the SQL shell. Use the following prompt variables to set a custom prompt.

Prompt variable	Description
%>	The port of the node you are connected to.
%/	The current database name.
%M	The fully qualified host name and port of the node.
%m	The fully qualified host name of the node.
%n	The username of the connected SQL user.
%x	The transaction status of the current statement.

For example, to change the prompt to just the user, host, and database:

\set prompt1 %n@%m/%/

[e-mail]/defaultdb>

Help

Within the SQL shell, you can get interactive help about statements and functions:

Command	Usage
\h ??	List all available SQL statements, by category.
\hf	List all available SQL functions, in alphabetical order.
\h <statement> <statement ?	View help for a specific SQL statement.
\hf <function> <function ?	View help for a specific SQL function.

Examples

> \h UPDATE

Command:     UPDATE
Description: update rows of a table
Category:    data manipulation
Syntax:
UPDATE

[[AS] ] SET ... [WHERE ] [RETURNING ]
See also:
SHOW TABLES
INSERT
UPSERT
DELETE
https://www.cockroachlabs.com/docs/v25.1/update.html

> \hf uuid\_v4

Function: uuid\_v4
Category: built-in functions
Returns a UUID.
Signature Category
uuid\_v4() -> bytes [ID Generation]
See also:
https://www.cockroachlabs.com/docs/v25.1/functions-and-operators.html

Shortcuts

Note: macOS users may need to manually enable Alt-based shortcuts in their terminal configuration. See the section macOS terminal configuration below for details.

Shortcut	Description
Tab	Use context-sensitive command completion.
Ctrl+C	Clear/cancel the input.
Ctrl+M, Enter	New line/enter.
Ctrl+O	Force a new line on the current statement, even if the statement has a semicolon.
Ctrl+F, Right arrow	Forward one character.
Ctrl+B, Left arrow	Backward one character.
Alt+F, Ctrl+Right arrow	Forward one word.
Alt+B, Ctrl+Left arrow	Backward one word.
Ctrl+L	Refresh the display.
Delete	Delete the next character.
Ctrl+H, Backspace	Delete the previous character.
Ctrl+D	Delete the next character, or terminate the input if the input is currently empty.
Alt+D, Alt+Delete	Delete next word.
Ctrl+W, Alt+Backspace	Delete previous word.
Ctrl+E, End	End of line.
Alt+>, Ctrl+End	Move cursor to the end of a multi-line statement.
Ctrl+A, Home	Move cursor to the beginning of the current line.
Alt+<, Ctrl+Home	Move cursor to the beginning of a multi-line statement.
Ctrl+T	Transpose current and next characters.
Ctrl+K	Delete from cursor position until end of line.
Ctrl+U	Delete from beginning of line to cursor position.
Alt+Q	Reflow/reformat the current line.
Alt+Shift+Q, Alt+`	Reflow/reformat the entire input.
Alt+L	Convert the current word to lowercase.
Alt+U	Convert the current word to uppercase.
Alt+.	Toggle the visibility of the prompt.
Alt+2, Alt+F2	Invoke external editor on current input.
Alt+P, Up arrow	Recall previous history entry.
Alt+N, Down arrow	Recall next history entry.
Ctrl+R	Start searching through input history.
When searching for history entries, the following shortcuts are active:
Shortcut	Description
----------------	----------------------------------------------------
Ctrl+C, Ctrl+G	Cancel the search, return to normal mode.
Ctrl+R	Recall next entry matching current search pattern.
Enter	Accept the current recalled entry.
Backspace	Delete previous character in search pattern.
Other	Add character to search pattern.

Tab completion

The SQL client offers context-sensitive tab completion when entering commands. Use the **Tab** key on your keyboard when entering a command to initiate the command completion interface. You can then navigate to database objects, keywords, and functions using the arrow keys. Press the **Tab** key again to select the object, function, or keyword from the command completion interface and return to the console.

macOS terminal configuration

In **Apple Terminal**:

1. Navigate to “Preferences”, then “Profiles”, then “Keyboard”.
2. Enable the checkbox “Use Option as Meta Key”. In **iTerm2**:
3. Navigate to “Preferences”, then “Profiles”, then “Keys”.
4. Select the radio button “Esc+” for the behavior of the Left Option Key.

Error messages and SQLSTATE codes

When CockroachDB encounters a SQL error, it returns the following information to the client (whether cockroach-sql or another client application):

1. An error message, prefixed with the “Severity” field of the PostgreSQL wire protocol. For example, ERROR: insert on table "shipments" violates foreign key constraint "fk\_customers".
2. A 5-digit SQLSTATE error code as defined by the SQL standard. For example, SQLSTATE: 23503. For example, the following query (taken from ) results in a SQL error, and returns both an error message and a SQLSTATE code as described above.

> INSERT INTO shipments (carrier, status, customer\_id) VALUES ('DHL', 'At facility', 2000);

ERROR: insert on table "shipments" violates foreign key constraint "fk\_customers"
SQLSTATE: 23503
DETAIL: Key (customer\_id)=(2000) is not present in table "customers".

The SQLSTATE code in particular can be helpful in the following ways:

• It is a standard SQL error code that you can look up in documentation and search for on the web. For any given error state, CockroachDB tries to produce the same SQLSTATE code as PostgreSQL.
• If you are developing automation that uses the CockroachDB SQL shell, it is more reliable to check for SQLSTATE values than for error message strings, which are likely to change.

Examples

Start a SQL shell

In these examples, we connect a SQL shell to a **secure cluster**.

# Using the --url flag:
$ cockroach-sql \
--url="postgresql://maxroach@12.345.67.89:26257/critterdb?sslcert=certs/client.maxroach.crt&sslkey=certs/client.maxroach.key&sslmode=verify-full&sslrootcert=certs/ca.crt"

# Using standard connection flags:
$ cockroach-sql \
--certs-dir=certs \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

In these examples, we connect a SQL shell to an **insecure cluster**.

# Using the --url flag:
$ cockroach-sql \
--url="postgresql://maxroach@12.345.67.89:26257/critterdb?sslmode=disable"

# Using standard connection flags:
$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

Execute SQL statement within the SQL shell

This example assumes that we have already started the SQL shell (see examples above).

> CREATE TABLE animals (id INT PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT unique\_rowid(), name STRING);

> INSERT INTO animals (name) VALUES ('bobcat'), ('🐢 '), ('barn owl');

> SELECT \* FROM animals;

id | name
---------------------+-----------
710907071259213825 | bobcat
710907071259279361 | 🐢
710907071259312129 | barn owl
(3 rows)

Execute SQL statements from the command line

In these examples, we use the --execute flag to execute statements from the command line:

# Statements with a single --execute flag:
$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--execute="CREATE TABLE roaches (name STRING, country STRING); INSERT INTO roaches VALUES ('American Cockroach', 'United States'), ('Brownbanded Cockroach', 'United States')" \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

CREATE TABLE
INSERT 2

# Statements with multiple --execute flags:
$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--execute="CREATE TABLE roaches (name STRING, country STRING)" \
--execute="INSERT INTO roaches VALUES ('American Cockroach', 'United States'), ('Brownbanded Cockroach', 'United States')" \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

CREATE TABLE
INSERT 2

In this example, we use the echo command to execute statements from the command line:

# Statements with the echo command:
$ echo "SHOW TABLES; SELECT \* FROM roaches;" | cockroach-sql --insecure --user=maxroach --host=12.345.67.89 --database=critterdb

schema\_name | table\_name | type | owner | estimated\_row\_count | locality
--------------+------------+-------+-------+---------------------+-----------
public | animals | table | demo | 0 | NULL
public | roaches | table | demo | 0 | NULL
(2 rows)
name | country
------------------------+----------------
American Cockroach | United States
Brownbanded Cockroach | United States

Control how table rows are printed

In these examples, we show tables and special characters printed in various formats. When the standard output is a terminal, --format defaults to table and tables are printed with ASCII art and special characters are not escaped for easy human consumption:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--execute="SELECT '🐥' AS chick, '🐢' AS turtle" \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

chick | turtle
--------+---------
🐥 | 🐢

However, you can explicitly set --format to another format (e.g., tsv or html):

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--format=tsv \
--execute="SELECT '🐥' AS chick, '🐢' AS turtle" \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

chick turtle
🐥 🐢

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--format=html \
--execute="SELECT '🐥' AS chick, '🐢' AS turtle" \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

| row | chick | turtle |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 🐥 | 🐢 |
|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 row | | |

When piping output to another command or a file, --format defaults to tsv:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--execute="SELECT '🐥' AS chick, '🐢' AS turtle" > out.txt \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

$ cat out.txt

1 row
chick	turtle
🐥	🐢

However, you can explicitly set --format to another format (e.g., table):

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--format=table \
--execute="SELECT '🐥' AS chick, '🐢' AS turtle" > out.txt \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

$ cat out.txt

  chick | turtle
--------+---------
  🐥    | 🐢
(1 row)

Show borders around the statement output within the SQL shell

To display outside and inside borders in the statement output, set the border SQL shell option to 3.

\set border=3
SELECT * FROM animals;

+--------------------+----------+
|         id         |   name   |
+--------------------+----------+
| 710907071259213825 | bobcat   |
+--------------------+----------+
| 710907071259279361 | 🐢       |
+--------------------+----------+
| 710907071259312129 | barn owl |
+--------------------+----------+

Make the output of SHOW statements selectable

To make it possible to select from the output of SHOW statements, set --format to raw:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--format=raw \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb

> SHOW CREATE customers;

# 2 columns
# row 1
## 14
test.customers
## 185
CREATE TABLE customers (
	id INT NOT NULL,
	email STRING NULL,
	CONSTRAINT "primary" PRIMARY KEY (id ASC),
	UNIQUE INDEX customers_email_key (email ASC),
	FAMILY "primary" (id, email)
)
# 1 row

When --format is not set to raw, you can use the display_format SQL shell option to change the output format within the interactive session:

> \set display_format raw

# 2 columns
# row 1
## 14
test.customers
## 185
CREATE TABLE customers (
  id INT NOT NULL,
  email STRING NULL,
  CONSTRAINT "primary" PRIMARY KEY (id ASC),
  UNIQUE INDEX customers_email_key (email ASC),
  FAMILY "primary" (id, email)
)
# 1 row

Execute SQL statements from a file

In this example, we show and then execute the contents of a file containing SQL statements.

$ cat statements.sql

CREATE TABLE roaches (name STRING, country STRING);
INSERT INTO roaches VALUES ('American Cockroach', 'United States'), ('Brownbanded Cockroach', 'United States');

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=critterdb \
-f statements.sql

CREATE TABLE
INSERT 2

Run external commands from the SQL shell

In this example, we use \! to look at the rows in a CSV file before creating a table and then using \| to insert those rows into the table.

> \! cat test.csv

12, 13, 14
10, 20, 30

> CREATE TABLE csv (x INT, y INT, z INT);

> \| IFS=","; while read a b c; do echo "insert into csv values ($a, $b, $c);"; done < test.csv;

> SELECT * FROM csv;

  x  | y  | z
-----+----+-----
  12 | 13 | 14
  10 | 20 | 30

In this example, we create a table and then use \| to programmatically insert values.

> CREATE TABLE for_loop (x INT);

> \| for ((i=0;i<10;++i)); do echo "INSERT INTO for_loop VALUES ($i);"; done

> SELECT * FROM for_loop;

  x
-----
  0
  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9

Allow potentially unsafe SQL statements

The --safe-updates flag defaults to true. This prevents SQL statements that may have broad, undesired side effects. For example, by default, we cannot use DELETE without a WHERE clause to delete all rows from a table:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure --execute="SELECT * FROM db1.t1"

  id | name
-----+-------
   1 | a
   2 | b
   3 | c
   4 | d
   5 | e
   6 | f
   7 | g
   8 | h
   9 | i
  10 | j
-----+-------
(10 rows)

$ cockroach-sql --insecure --execute="DELETE FROM db1.t1"

Error: pq: rejected: DELETE without WHERE clause (sql_safe_updates = true)
Failed running "sql"

However, to allow an “unsafe” statement, you can set --safe-updates=false:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure --safe-updates=false --execute="DELETE FROM db1.t1"

DELETE 10

Potentially unsafe SQL statements can also be allowed/disallowed for an entire session via the sql_safe_updates .

Reveal the SQL statements sent implicitly by the command-line utility

In this example, we use the --execute flag to execute statements from the command line and the --echo-sql flag to reveal SQL statements sent implicitly:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--execute="CREATE TABLE t1 (id INT PRIMARY KEY, name STRING)" \
--execute="INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1, 'a'), (2, 'b'), (3, 'c')" \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=db1
--echo-sql

# Server version: CockroachDB CCL f8f3c9317 (darwin amd64, built 2017/09/13 15:05:35, go1.8) (same version as client)
# Cluster ID: 847a4ba5-c78a-465a-b1a0-59fae3aab520
> SET sql_safe_updates = TRUE
> CREATE TABLE t1 (id INT PRIMARY KEY, name STRING)
CREATE TABLE
> INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1, 'a'), (2, 'b'), (3, 'c')
INSERT 3

In this example, we start the interactive SQL shell and enable the echo shell option to reveal SQL statements sent implicitly:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--user=maxroach \
--host=12.345.67.89 \
--database=db1

> \set echo

> INSERT INTO db1.t1 VALUES (4, 'd'), (5, 'e'), (6, 'f');

> INSERT INTO db1.t1 VALUES (4, 'd'), (5, 'e'), (6, 'f');
INSERT 3

Time: 2.426534ms

> SHOW TRANSACTION STATUS
> SHOW DATABASE

Repeat a SQL statement

Repeating SQL queries on a table can be useful for monitoring purposes. With the --watch flag, you can repeat the statements specified with a --execute or -e flag periodically, until a SQL error occurs or the process is terminated.

For example, if you want to monitor the number of queries running on the current node, you can use cockroach-sql with the --watch flag to query the node’s crdb_internal.node_statement_statistics table for the query count:

$ cockroach-sql --insecure \
--execute="SELECT SUM(count) FROM crdb_internal.node_statement_statistics" \
--watch 1m

  sum
-------
  926
(1 row)
  sum
--------
  4227
(1 row)
^C

In this example, the statement is executed every minute. We let the process run for a couple minutes before terminating it with Ctrl+C.

Connect to a cluster listening for Unix domain socket connections

To connect to a cluster that is running on the same machine as your client and is listening for Unix domain socket connections, with the --url connection parameter.

For example, suppose you start a single-node cluster with the following command:

$ cockroach start-single-node --insecure --socket-dir=/tmp

CockroachDB node starting at  (took 1.3s)
build:               CCL  @
webui:               http://Jesses-MBP-2:8080
sql:                 postgresql://root@Jesses-MBP-2:26257?sslmode=disable
RPC client flags:    ./cockroach <client cmd> --host=Jesses-MBP-2:26257 --insecure
socket:              /tmp/.s.PGSQL.26257
logs:                /Users/jesseseldess/Downloads/cockroach-.darwin-10.9-amd64/cockroach-data/logs
temp dir:            /Users/jesseseldess/Downloads/cockroach-.darwin-10.9-amd64/cockroach-data/cockroach-temp805054895
external I/O path:   /Users/jesseseldess/Downloads/cockroach-.darwin-10.9-amd64/cockroach-data/extern
store[0]:            path=/Users/jesseseldess/Downloads/cockroach-.darwin-10.9-amd64/cockroach-data
storage engine:      pebble
status:              initialized new cluster
clusterID:           455ad71d-21d4-424a-87ad-8097b6b5b99f
nodeID:              1

To connect to this cluster with a socket:

$ cockroach-sql --url='postgres://root@?host=/tmp&port=26257'

See also