SQLFormat

SQL query formatter, linter, and devtools toolkit. Check SQL style, validate syntax, format and pretty-print queries, lint for best practices, explain execution plans, convert between dialects, and manage SQL templates — all from the command line.

Commands

Run sqlformat [args] to use. Each command records timestamped entries to its own log file.

Core Operations

Utility Commands

> Note: Each core command works in two modes — call with no arguments to view recent entries (last 20), or pass input to record a new timestamped entry.

Data Storage

All data is stored locally in plain-text log files:

~/.local/share/sqlformat/
├── check.log          # Style check records
├── validate.log       # Syntax validation results
├── generate.log       # Generated SQL snippets
├── format.log         # Formatted query records
├── lint.log           # Lint findings
├── explain.log        # Execution plan notes
├── convert.log        # Dialect conversion records
├── template.log       # Reusable SQL templates
├── diff.log           # SQL version diffs
├── preview.log        # Preview entries
├── fix.log            # Applied fix records
├── report.log         # Lint/format reports
└── history.log        # Unified activity log (all commands)

Each entry is stored as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM| (pipe-delimited). The history.log file receives a line for every command executed, providing a single timeline of all activity.

Requirements

• Bash 4.0+ (uses set -euo pipefail)
• Standard Unix utilities: date, wc, du, tail, grep, sed, cat, basename
• No external dependencies — pure bash, works on any Linux or macOS system

When to Use

1. Code review prep — use format and lint to clean up SQL before submitting a pull request
2. SQL style enforcement — use check and lint to document style violations across a codebase
3. Dialect migration — use convert when porting queries from MySQL to PostgreSQL (or vice versa)
4. Query documentation — use explain and template to catalog common query patterns with notes
5. Batch formatting workflows — use generate and preview to build formatted SQL output pipelines

Examples

# Format a messy query
sqlformat format "SELECT u.id,u.name,o.total FROM users u JOIN orders o ON u.id=o.user_id WHERE o.status='active'"

# Lint SQL for anti-patterns
sqlformat lint "SELECT * FROM users WHERE 1=1"

# Validate SQL syntax
sqlformat validate "INSERT INTO products (name, price) VALUES ('Widget', 9.99)"

# Convert MySQL to PostgreSQL syntax
sqlformat convert "MySQL: AUTO_INCREMENT -> PostgreSQL: SERIAL"

# Store a reusable template
sqlformat template "pagination: SELECT * FROM {table} LIMIT {limit} OFFSET {offset}"

# Export all records to CSV
sqlformat export csv

# Search for entries about JOIN formatting
sqlformat search JOIN

# View statistics
sqlformat stats

Configuration

Set the SQLFORMAT_DIR environment variable to change the data directory:

export SQLFORMAT_DIR="/custom/path/to/data"

Default: ~/.local/share/sqlformat/

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