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duckdb — Client for DuckDB, an in-process analytical SQL engine. More information: <https://duckdb.org/docs/s

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the duckdb command: Client for DuckDB, an in-process analytical SQL engine. More information: <https://duckdb.org/docs/stable/clients/cli/arguments>.

Solution

duckdb — Client for DuckDB, an in-process analytical SQL engine. More information: <https://duckdb.org/docs/stable/clients/cli/arguments>.

Start an interactive shell with a transient in-memory database:

duckdb

Start an interactive shell on a database file. If the file does not exist, a new database is created:

duckdb {{path/to/dbfile}}

Query a CSV, JSON, or Parquet file using SQL:

duckdb -c "{{SELECT * FROM 'data_source.[csv|csv.gz|json|json.gz|parquet]'}}"

Directly query a CSV, JSON, or Parquet file using the file view:

duckdb {{data_source.[csv|csv.gz|json|json.gz|parquet]}} -c "{{ SELECT * FROM file }}"

Run an SQL script:

duckdb -f {{path/to/script.sql}}

Run query on database file and keep the interactive shell open:

duckdb {{path/to/dbfile}} -cmd "{{SELECT DISTINCT * FROM tbl}}"

Read CSV from stdin and write CSV to stdout:

cat {{path/to/source.csv}} | duckdb -c "{{COPY (FROM read_csv('/dev/stdin')) TO '/dev/stdout' WITH (FORMAT CSV, HEADER)}}"

Start the DuckDB UI, a web interface with notebooks:

duckdb -ui

Code Snippets

Start an interactive shell with a transient in-memory database

duckdb

Start an interactive shell on a database file. If the file does not exist, a new database is created

duckdb {{path/to/dbfile}}

Query a CSV, JSON, or Parquet file using SQL

duckdb -c "{{SELECT * FROM 'data_source.[csv|csv.gz|json|json.gz|parquet]'}}"

Directly query a CSV, JSON, or Parquet file using the `file` view

duckdb {{data_source.[csv|csv.gz|json|json.gz|parquet]}} -c "{{ SELECT * FROM file }}"

Run an SQL script

duckdb -f {{path/to/script.sql}}

Context

tldr-pages: common/duckdb

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