Commands

Introduction

Mycli sends most input you enter directly to the MySQL server as a SQL statement. There is also a set of commands that mycli itself will accept locally. To see these commands, type /help or /? at the prompt:

mycli> /help
+-----------------+----------+---------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Command         | Shortcut | Usage                           | Description                                                 |
+-----------------+----------+---------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| /bug            | <null>   | /bug                            | File a bug on GitHub.                                       |
| /clip           | <null>   | /clip | <query>\clip            | Copy query to the system clipboard.                         |
| /dt             | <null>   | /dt[+] [table]                  | List or describe tables.                                    |
| /edit           | /e       | /edit <filename> | <query>\edit | Edit query with editor (uses $VISUAL or $EDITOR).           |
| /f              | <null>   | /f [name [args..]]              | List or execute favorite queries.                           |
| /fd             | <null>   | /fd <name>                      | Delete a favorite query.                                    |
| /fs             | <null>   | /fs <name> <query>              | Save a favorite query.                                      |
| \g              | <null>   | <query>\g                       | Display query results (mnemonic: go).                       |
| \G              | <null>   | <query>\G                       | Display query results vertically.                           |
| /l              | <null>   | /l                              | List databases.                                             |
| /llm            | /ai      | /llm [arguments]                | Interrogate an LLM.  See "/llm help".                       |
| /once           | /o       | /once [-o] <filename>           | Append next result to an output file (overwrite using -o).  |
| /pipe_once      | /|       | /pipe_once <command>            | Send next result to a subprocess.                           |
| /timing         | /t       | /timing                         | Toggle timing of queries.                                   |
| /connect        | /r       | /connect [database]             | Reconnect to the server, optionally switching databases.    |
| /delimiter      | <null>   | /delimiter <string>             | Change end-of-statement delimiter.                          |
| /exit           | /q       | /exit                           | Exit.                                                       |
| /help           | /?       | /help [term]                    | Show this table, or search for help on a term.              |
| /nopager        | /n       | /nopager                        | Disable pager; print to stdout.                             |
| /notee          | <null>   | /notee                          | Stop writing results to an output file.                     |
| /nowarnings     | /w       | /nowarnings                     | Disable automatic warnings display.                         |
| /pager          | /P       | /pager [command]                | Set pager to [command]. Print query results via pager.      |
| /prompt         | /R       | /prompt <string>                | Change prompt format.                                       |
| /quit           | /q       | /quit                           | Quit.                                                       |
| /redirectformat | /Tr      | /redirectformat <format>        | Change the table format used to output redirected results.  |
| /rehash         | /#       | /rehash                         | Refresh auto-completions.                                   |
| /source         | /.       | /source <filename>              | Execute queries from a file.                                |
| /status         | /s       | /status                         | Get status information from the server.                     |
| /system         | <null>   | /system [-r] <command>          | Execute a system shell command (raw mode with -r).          |
| /tableformat    | /T       | /tableformat <format>           | Change the table format used to output interactive results. |
| /tee            | <null>   | /tee [-o] <filename>            | Append all results to an output file (overwrite using -o).  |
| /use            | /u       | /use <database>                 | Change to a new database.                                   |
| /warnings       | /W       | /warnings                       | Enable automatic warnings display.                          |
| /watch          | <null>   | /watch [seconds] [-c] <query>   | Execute query every [seconds] seconds (5 by default).       |
+-----------------+----------+---------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Use \backslash forms when at end-of-line.
Docs index — https://mycli.net/docs

Most commands have a long and short form. Many of the commands starting are case sensitive. Most commands may be followed by an optional semicolon.

• \G

  Send the current statement to the server and display the results vertically. This is used instead of a semicolon terminator, e.g. select 1\G.

• \g

  Send the current statement to the server and display the results in the default format. This is used instead of a semicolon terminator, e.g. select 1\g.

• <query>\clip

  Send the current statement to the system clipboard. This is used at the beginning or end of a statement, e.g. select 1\clip. At the end of a statement, the backslash form \clip must be used to avoid a SQL ambiguity.

• /dt, /dt[+] [table]

  List the tables in the default database (when used without any parameters). Describe a table (when a parameter is passed).

  The optional + verbose indicator can be used to toggle whether or not the CREATE TABLE statement for the table is shown.

  The /dt commands are equivalent to running SHOW TABLES, SHOW COLUMNS FROM [table_name], and SHOW CREATE TABLE [table_name].

• /edit <filename>, <query>\edit

  Edit the current statement with an editor (uses the environment variables $EDITOR or $VISUAL), or open a file. If this is entered with an empty line, it will populate the editor with the previous query. At the end of a statement, the backslash form \edit must be used to avoid a SQL ambiguity. /edit is generally equivalent to the keystroke sequence control-x control-e.

• /f, /f <name> [arg, arg, ..]

  List or execute named favorite queries. If the favorite query requires parameters, they can be passed to the query after the name, e.g., /f users_by_name "Teddy Roosevelt". See Favorite Queries for more information.

• /fd <name>

  Delete a favorite query.

• /fs <name> <query>

  Save a favorite query. Favorite queries support shell-style parameter substitution. See Favorite Queries for more information.

• /l

  List the databases on the MySQL server host. This is equivalent to running SHOW DATABASES.

• /llm <question>

  Interact with an LLM using natural language. See Using the /llm Command.

• /once <filename>, /o [-o] <filename>

  Output the next query's results to an output file. Defaults to append mode. Use -o to overwrite any existing file content. Also consider using shell-style redirects $> <filename> or $>> <filename> after your SQL statement.

• /pipe_once <command>, /| <command>

  Output the next query's results to a shell command. Also consider using the shell-style redirect $| <command after your SQL statement, as in SELECT 1 $| wc;.

• /timing, /t

  Toggle whether or not the time it takes to execute a statement is displayed below the results.

• /connect [database], /r [database]

  Reconnect to the server. You can optionally supply a database name which will be set as the default database for your connection.

• /delimiter <string>

  Set the SQL end-of-statement delimiter, which is ; by default. Some mycli functionality may depend on the delimiter being ;.

• /quit, /exit, /q

  Exit mycli.

• /help [name], /? [name]

  Display a help message listing mycli's commands. If optional name is given and it is a mycli /command, display help on command. If name is not a mycli /command earch for help for name on the server.

• /nopager, /n

  Disable the use of an external pager for outputting query results. For more information see the pager section of the web documentation.

• /notee

  Disable output to a tee file. For more information, see the /tee command.

• /nowarnings, /w

  Disable automatic display of MySQL warnings from the server. For more information, see the /warnings command.

• /pager [command], /P [command]

  Enable the use of a pager for outputting query results, by default less. Optionally, specify a different command that will be used as the pager. For more information see the pager section of the web documentation. The default pager may be set in your ~/.myclirc file.

• /prompt, /R [format]

  Change the prompt format. The default is \t \u@\h:\d>. See the prompt documentation for more information.

• /redirecformat [format], /Tr [format]

  Change the output format for shell-style redirections. Run the command without specifying a format to see the possible values. The default is csv.

• /rehash, /#

  Refresh the cached auto-completion data. (This is the list of databases, tables, columns that auto-complete when you are typing.)

• /source <filename>, /. <filename>

  Execute the SQL commands from <filename>.

• /status, /s

  Display status information about the client machine, server, and connection you are using.

• /system <command>

  Execute a shell command and output the results. As a special case, if the command is in the form cd <directory, change the working directory for mycli.

• /tableformat [format], /T [format]

  Change the interactive tabular output format. Run the command without specifying a format to see the possible values.

• /tee [-o] <filename>

  Log all queries/commands and their output to filename. Defaults to append mode. Use -o to overwrite any existing file content. To disable, see the /notee command.

• /use <db_name>, /u <db_name>

  Use db_name as the default database.

• /warnings, /W

  Enable automatic display of MySQL warnings from the server. This is the equivalent of running SHOW WARNINGS after every statement.

• /watch [seconds] [-c] query

  Repeatedly execute a query every n seconds. The default interval is 5 seconds. -c can be used to clear the screen after each iteration.