SQLite3 CLI & Dot-Commands Cheat Sheet

Comprehensive SQLite command-line reference. Covers dot-commands, table inspection, CSV import/export, index analysis, and backups.

Dot Commands & Meta-Information

Open or create a SQLite database filesqlite3 app.db

List all tables in the active database.tables

Display the CREATE TABLE schema and indexes for a table.schema <table_name>

Format SELECT query output as readable aligned columns with headers.mode column | .headers on

Exit the sqlite3 interactive shell.quit / .exit

Import CSV file into a SQLite table.mode csv .import data.csv target_table

Export query results directly to CSV file.mode csv .output data.csv SELECT * FROM target; .output stdout

Dump entire database as SQL statements.dump > backup.sql

Create live binary database snapshot without locking.backup backup.db

Reclaim unused disk space and defragment database fileVACUUM;

• What is WAL mode in SQLite?

Write-Ahead Logging (WAL) enables concurrent readers and writers (`PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;`), significantly boosting performance.