sqlgo

A fast, keyboard-driven TUI SQL client for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite, flat files, and more.

Why sqlgo?

Heavy GUI clients are slow to launch, hard to script around, and hostile over SSH. psql and mysql are great until you want a result pane you can actually scroll. sqlgo sits in the middle: a terminal-native workbench that starts in milliseconds, runs everywhere, and works the same against every engine it supports.

No mouse required. No Electron. One binary.

Features

🗄️ Databases

Engine	Driver	Notes
PostgreSQL	jackc/pgx/v5	aliases: CockroachDB, Supabase, Neon, YugabyteDB, TimescaleDB
MySQL	go-sql-driver/mysql	alias: MariaDB
SQL Server	microsoft/go-mssqldb
SQLite	mattn/go-sqlite3	cgo, FTS5
Oracle	sijms/go-ora/v2	pure Go
Firebird	nakagami/firebirdsql	pure Go, 2.5 / 3.x / 4.x
Turso / libSQL	(built-in hrana v3 client)	remote-only
Cloudflare D1	(built-in REST client)	no transactions
Files	mattn/go-sqlite3 + importer	CSV / TSV / JSONL loaded into SQLite (in-memory; spills to a temp file when total input exceeds SQLGO_BYTE_CAP)

🪟 Workbench

• Three-panel layout -- Explorer (schema tree), Query (editor), Results (table). Toggle focus with Alt+1/2/3.
• Fullscreen editor -- F11 maximizes the query pane.
• Streaming results -- rows land live with a running count; cancel mid-query from Results with Ctrl+C.
• Multi-connection -- saved connections switch at runtime from the command menu.

⌨️ Editor

• Multi-line with undo / redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y)
• Find / replace (Ctrl+F)
• Autocomplete on column names cached per-connection (Ctrl+␣)
• Multi-cursor (Ctrl+Alt+↑/↓)
• SQL formatter (Alt+F)
• Bracketed paste and standard cut / copy / paste

🌳 Schema Explorer

• Browse schemas, tables, and views
• ↵ or s on a table drops a driver-aware SELECT ... LIMIT 100 into the editor
• R refreshes the schema

📊 Results

• ↑/↓/←/→ cell nav, PgUp/PgDn, Home/End
• Sort -- s cycles sort on the focused column
• Filter -- Ctrl+F opens an inline row filter. Three syntaxes:
  • foo -- substring match across all columns
  • col:foo -- substring match against a specific column
  • /regex/ -- regex match across all columns
• Word-wrap toggle -- w
• Cell inspector -- ↵ opens an overlay for the focused cell
• Clipboard -- y copies cell, Y copies row, Alt+A copies the whole result set as TSV
• Export -- CSV, TSV, JSON, and Markdown. Format is chosen from the output path extension.

⚡ Power Features

• 🔐 SSH tunneling -- optional jump host per connection with password or key-file auth and TOFU host-key prompts. ssh-agent is not supported; supply a key file or password. See docs/ssh-tunneling.md.
• 🔑 OS keyring -- passwords are stored in the system keychain when available (falls back to plain store with a warning)
• 🕘 Query history -- last 1000 queries per connection, FTS5-indexed, retrievable from the history overlay
• 🔎 EXPLAIN overlay -- run the current query through its engine's explain path (Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server via SHOWPLAN_XML)
• 📂 Open file -- o opens a workspace file picker rooted at the current directory; honors a .sqlgoignore file for directory skips

---

Install

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nulifyer/sqlgo/main/.scripts/install.sh | bash

Installs to ~/.local/bin/sqlgo. Make sure that directory is on your PATH.

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nulifyer/sqlgo/main/.scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\sqlgo\sqlgo.exe and adds that directory to your user PATH.

From source

CGO_ENABLED=1 go install -tags sqlite_fts5 github.com/Nulifyer/sqlgo/cmd/sqlgo@latest

Requires a C toolchain (gcc, clang, or zig cc). The sqlite_fts5 tag enables the FTS5 module that powers query history search.

Uninstall

# Linux / macOS
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nulifyer/sqlgo/main/.scripts/uninstall.sh | bash

# Windows
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nulifyer/sqlgo/main/.scripts/uninstall.ps1 | iex

Add --purge (Linux/macOS) or -Purge (Windows) to also delete saved connections and query history.

Usage

Launch the TUI:

sqlgo

Open the command menu with Ctrl+K for global actions (connect, disconnect, history, quit). Focus-scoped actions (save, open, export, explain, set active DB) are direct binds on the panel that owns them -- see the table below. Press F1 for an in-app help overlay.

Keybindings

Context	Key	Action
Global	Ctrl+Q	Quit
	Ctrl+K	Open command menu
	Alt+1 / Alt+2 / Alt+3	Focus Explorer / Query / Results
	F1	Help overlay
	F8	Key-debug overlay
	F11	Toggle fullscreen editor
Help overlay	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Scroll
	Home / End	Scroll to top / bottom
	F1 / Esc	Close
Key debug (F8)	any key / mouse	Verify matching bind in the checklist
	Ctrl+R	Reset checklist
	F8	Close
	Ctrl+Q / F1	Reserved globals shown there, but not capturable inside the overlay
Query tabs	Ctrl+T / Ctrl+W	New tab / close tab
	Ctrl+S	Save current tab
	Ctrl+R	Rename current tab
	Ctrl+PgUp / Ctrl+PgDn	Previous / next tab
	Left-click tab	Switch tab
	Double-click tab	Rename tab
	Middle-click tab	Close tab
Query editor	F5	Run query
	F9	EXPLAIN current query
	Ctrl+O	Open SQL file
	Ctrl+S / Alt+S	Save tab / save as
	Alt+D	Set active database for this tab (SSMS-style)
	Alt+F	Format SQL
	Ctrl+␣	Autocomplete
	Ctrl+F	Find / replace
	Ctrl+G	Go to line
	Ctrl+L	Clear editor
	Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / Redo
	Ctrl+A / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V	Select all / copy / cut / paste
	⇥ / ⇤	Indent / dedent
	Ctrl+Alt+↑ / ↓	Add multi-cursor line
	Alt+↑ / ↓	Move line up / down
	Shift+Alt+↑ / ↓	Duplicate line up / down
	Esc	Collapse multi-cursor
	Ctrl+D	Select word under cursor
	Ctrl+U	Clear selection
	Home	Smart home (toggle indent / col 0)
	↑ / ↓ / ← / → / End	Move caret
	Ctrl+← / Ctrl+→	Word-jump
	Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End	Jump to buffer start / end
	Ctrl+Backspace / Ctrl+Delete	Delete word left / right
	Shift+↑ / Shift+↓ / Shift+← / Shift+→ / Shift+Home / Shift+End	Extend selection
	Ctrl+Shift+← / Ctrl+Shift+→	Extend selection by word
	Ctrl+Shift+Home / Ctrl+Shift+End	Extend selection to buffer start / end
Find / replace	type	Edit active field
	↵	Next match or replace current
	⇥	Toggle Find / Replace field
	⇤	Previous match
	Ctrl+R	Replace all
	Esc	Close
Go to	type line[:col]	Edit target
	↵	Jump
	Esc	Cancel
Rename tab	type name	Edit title
	↵	Save
	Esc	Cancel
Explorer	Ctrl+F	Search object names
	Esc	Close search
	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Move cursor
	↵	SELECT table / view; expand schema / group; edit DDL for routines / triggers
	s	Generate SELECT for table / view
	e	Open DDL for view / routine / trigger
	u	Pin active database to cursor
	R	Refresh schema
Active database picker	type	Filter databases
	↑ / ↓	Move
	↵	Use selected database
	Esc	Cancel
Results	Ctrl+C	Cancel running query
	Ctrl+F	Filter rows
	Ctrl+E	Export results
	↑ / ↓ / ← / → / PgUp / PgDn / Home / End	Navigate cells
	↵	Inspect cell
	y / Y / Alt+A	Copy cell / row / all (TSV)
	s	Cycle sort on column
	w	Toggle word-wrap
	Left-click result tab	Switch result set
	Ctrl+PgUp / Ctrl+PgDn	Cycle result-set tabs
	Shift+double-click	Copy row
Results error view	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Scroll
	Home / End	Scroll to top / bottom
	y / Y / Alt+A	Copy error text
Results filter	type	Edit filter
	↵	Keep filtered results
	Esc	Clear filter and close
Cell inspector	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Scroll
	Home / End	Scroll to top / bottom
	y	Copy cell
	Esc	Close
EXPLAIN overlay	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Move selection
	Home / End	First / last node
	␣	Toggle collapse node
	r	Toggle raw output
	Esc	Close
Open SQL	⇥ / ⇤	Next / previous field
	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Move file list
	␣	Mark file for multi-open
	↵	Descend / pick / open
	Esc	Cancel
Save As	⇥ / ⇤	Next / previous field
	↑ / ↓	Move list or cycle extension
	↵	Descend / pick / save / overwrite
	Esc	Cancel
Export results	⇥ / ⇤	Next / previous field
	↑ / ↓	Move list or cycle format
	↵	Descend / pick / save / overwrite
	Esc	Cancel / close
Query history	↑ / ↓ / PgUp / PgDn	Move selection
	type	Search filter
	↵	Paste into editor
	d	Delete entry
	X	Clear all (two-press)
	⇥	Toggle scope (this conn / all)
	Esc	Close
Connection picker	↑ / ↓	Move
	↵	Connect
	a / e / x	Add / edit / delete
	K	Unlink keyring entry
	Esc	Back
Connection form	⇥ / ↓	Next field
	⇤ / ↑	Previous field
	← / →	Cycle selected choice
	↵	Pick driver or submit
	Ctrl+T	Test network
	Ctrl+L	Test auth
	Ctrl+S	Save
	Esc	Cancel
Driver / transport picker	type	Filter
	↑ / ↓	Move
	↵	Select
	Esc	Cancel
Safety prompts	confirm run: y / n / Esc / ⇥ / ← / → / ↵	Run destructive DML/DDL guard
	SSH trust: y / n / Esc / ↵	TOFU host-key accept (↵ arms, then confirms)
Command menu (Ctrl+K)	c / x	Connect / Disconnect
	h	Query history
	q	Quit
	Esc	Cancel

Scripting (non-TUI)

sqlgo also runs headless. When the first argument is a known verb, nothing in the TUI is loaded -- the binary behaves like psql/mysql for shell scripts and CI jobs.

Verb	Purpose
exec	run SQL and print results (default: table on a tty, TSV on a pipe)
export	run SQL and write results to a file or stdout (default: CSV)
conns	manage saved connections (list, show, add, set, rm, test, import, export)
history	inspect query history (list, search, clear)
version	print sqlgo version (also --version / -v)
completion	print shell-completion script for bash / zsh / fish / powershell (alias pwsh)

Common flags (shared by exec and export):

Flag	Effect
-c NAME / --conn NAME	use a saved connection
--dsn URL	inline scheme://user:pass@host:port/db?opt=val
-q SQL / --query SQL	inline SQL
-f PATH / --file PATH	read SQL from a file (- for stdin)
--format FMT	csv / tsv / json / jsonl / markdown / table
-o PATH / --output PATH	output file (format inferred from extension unless --format set)
--max-rows N	stop after N rows (exit 5)
--timeout DUR	abort the query batch after DUR
--allow-unsafe	permit destructive DML/DDL (UPDATE/DELETE without WHERE, TRUNCATE, DROP)
--continue-on-error	keep running remaining statements on failure
--record-history	append to the history store (off by default for CLI)
--password-stdin	read the connection password from stdin

Password precedence: --password-stdin > $SQLGO_PASSWORD > DSN / keyring.

DSN schemes: postgres://, mysql://, mssql:// (or sqlserver://), sqlite://, oracle://, firebird://, libsql://, d1://. Postgres aliases (cockroachdb, supabase, neon, yugabytedb, timescaledb) and MySQL alias (mariadb) are also accepted as schemes and as driver names under conns add --driver.

conns subcommands

Subcommand	Flags
list | ls	--format FMT
show NAME	--
add NAME	--driver NAME (required), --host, --port, --user, --database, --option k=v (repeatable), --password-stdin, --keyring=true|false (default true), --force, --ssh-host, --ssh-port, --ssh-user, --ssh-key PATH, --ssh-password-stdin
set NAME	same flags as add; upserts an existing connection. Only fields whose flag is supplied are overwritten
rm NAME	--force (suppress error if missing)
test NAME	--timeout DUR (default 10s), --password-stdin
import	-i FILE / --input FILE (default stdin)
export	-o FILE / --output FILE (default stdout)

Passwords default to the OS keyring. When the keyring is unavailable the password is stored in plaintext in the store with a warning on stderr; pass --keyring=false to force plaintext. --ssh-password-stdin reads a second newline-delimited value from stdin when both --password-stdin and --ssh-password-stdin are set; use $SQLGO_SSH_PASSWORD as the env equivalent.

history subcommands

Subcommand	Flags
list | ls	-c NAME / --conn NAME, --limit N (default 50), --format FMT
search QUERY	-c NAME / --conn NAME, --limit N (default 50), --format FMT; QUERY can appear before or after flags
clear	-c NAME / --conn NAME (scope to one connection), --force (required)

exec and export do not record history unless --record-history is passed -- CLI-driven queries stay out of the ring by default.

Examples:

# Saved connection, auto-detected stdin, human-readable table output
sqlgo exec -c prod -q "select version()"

# Piped SQL file, CSV to a file
cat report.sql | sqlgo export -c prod -o report.csv

# Inline DSN, JSONL for downstream tools
sqlgo export --dsn "postgres://me@db.local:5432/app" -q "select * from users" --format jsonl

# Save a new connection (password read from stdin, stored in OS keyring)
echo -n "$PGPASSWORD" | sqlgo conns add prod --driver postgres \
    --host db.local --port 5432 --user me --database app --password-stdin

# Verify the connection is reachable
sqlgo conns test prod

# Backup / restore connections
sqlgo conns export -o conns.json
sqlgo conns import -i conns.json

conns export preserves keyring-backed passwords as placeholders, so it is useful for moving connection metadata but not for making a portable secret backup.

Exit codes:

Code	Meaning
0	success
1	usage / argument error
2	connection / store error
3	query error
4	refused: unsafe mutation without --allow-unsafe
5	--max-rows cap reached (partial output flushed)

sqlgo never opens an implicit transaction. BEGIN / COMMIT / ROLLBACK are yours to type.

Shell completion

sqlgo completion <shell> prints a completion script to stdout. Saved connection names are completed dynamically via a hidden sqlgo __complete conns helper.

# bash (session)
source <(sqlgo completion bash)
# bash (persistent)
sqlgo completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/sqlgo

# zsh -- save as _sqlgo on your $fpath
sqlgo completion zsh > ~/.zfunc/_sqlgo

# fish
sqlgo completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/sqlgo.fish

# PowerShell -- add to $PROFILE
sqlgo completion pwsh | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

Storage

sqlgo keeps per-user state in the platform-native data directory:

OS	Path
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/sqlgo (default ~/.local/share/sqlgo)
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/sqlgo
Windows	%LocalAppData%\sqlgo

Contents:

• sqlgo.db -- SQLite store holding saved connections and query history (WAL mode)

Passwords go to the OS keyring when one is available (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, libsecret on Linux). SSH passwords are stored under their own keyring entry.

Contributor Verification

FTS5-backed history search is part of the supported build, so contributor and CI verification should use the tagged test command:

go test -tags sqlite_fts5 ./...

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Effect
SQLGO_BYTE_CAP	2147483648 (2 GiB)	Max bytes buffered per result set; also the file-driver threshold above which input spills from in-memory SQLite to a temp file
SQLGO_DEBUG	unset	When set to 1, panics dump a stack trace to sqlgo-panic-<unix>.log in the working directory

License

MIT