CLI Options

Basic usage

murodb <database-file> [options]

Options

Examples

# Create a new database
murodb mydb.db --create -e "CREATE TABLE t (id BIGINT PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR)"

# Create plaintext DB (explicit)
murodb mydb_plain.db --create --encryption off -e "CREATE TABLE t (id BIGINT PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR)"

# Insert data
murodb mydb.db -e "INSERT INTO t (id, name) VALUES (1, 'hello')"

# Query
murodb mydb.db -e "SELECT * FROM t"

# Interactive REPL
murodb mydb.db

# Open with permissive recovery mode
murodb mydb.db --recovery-mode permissive

# JSON output for machine processing
murodb mydb.db --format json -e "SELECT * FROM t"

Query routing behavior

The CLI parses each statement and routes execution automatically:

• Read-only statements (SELECT, UNION, EXPLAIN SELECT, SHOW ..., DESCRIBE) use the read path.
• EXPLAIN UPDATE / EXPLAIN DELETE are supported, but route according to the inner statement category.
• Write and transaction-control statements (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DDL, BEGIN/COMMIT/ROLLBACK) use the write path.
• While an explicit transaction is active (BEGIN … COMMIT/ROLLBACK), all statements (including SELECT) run with execute semantics.

Ctrl-C behavior

• In REPL input mode (while typing a statement), Ctrl-C clears the current input buffer.
• While a statement is executing, Ctrl-C requests cancellation of the in-flight statement.
• If cancellation succeeds, the statement returns an error and the REPL stays alive.
• In one-shot mode (-e), Ctrl-C also requests cancellation; the command then exits after printing the statement error.

JSON output

When using --format json, results are emitted as a single JSON object per statement.

Result envelope

• type - One of rows, rows_affected, ok, or error
• columns - Column names in result order (only for rows)
• rows - Array of row arrays in column order (only for rows)
• row_count - Number of rows (only for rows)
• rows_affected - Number of rows affected (only for rows_affected)
• message - Error message string (only for error)

Example:

{"type":"rows","columns":["id","name"],"rows":[[1,"alice"]],"row_count":1}

Types

INTEGER

Numbers are emitted as JSON numbers.

FLOAT

Finite values are emitted as JSON numbers. Non-finite values are emitted as JSON strings.

DATE

YYYY-MM-DD

DATETIME

ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS

TIMESTAMP

ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS

VARCHAR

JSON strings with standard escaping.

VARBINARY

Base64 string (standard alphabet with = padding), for example q80=.

NULL

null

WAL inspection

WAL inspection is handled by a dedicated command so the query CLI stays simple:

murodb-wal-inspect mydb.db --wal mydb.wal --recovery-mode permissive

See WAL Inspection for exit codes and JSON schema.

Rekey Command

Use the dedicated command for password rotation:

murodb-rekey mydb.db

The command prompts for current password, new password, and confirmation via TTY.

Security Notes

• Prefer interactive password prompt over --password to reduce secret exposure in process lists/history.
• Password rotation uses murodb-rekey (interactive prompt), not SQL text.