> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.turso.tech/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Command-Line Options

> CLI flags, arguments, and server modes for the tursodb command

# Command-Line Options

```bash theme={null}
tursodb [OPTIONS] [DATABASE] [SQL]
```

## Arguments

| Argument   | Default    | Description                                                                  |
| ---------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `DATABASE` | `:memory:` | Path to a SQLite database file. If omitted, an in-memory database is created |
| `SQL`      | —          | SQL statement to execute. If provided, the shell runs the query and exits    |

### Examples

```bash theme={null}
# In-memory database
tursodb

# Open an existing file
tursodb customers.db

# Run a query and exit
tursodb customers.db "SELECT count(*) FROM orders;"

# Pipe SQL from stdin
echo "SELECT 1 + 1;" | tursodb -q
```

## Options

### `-m, --output-mode <MODE>`

Set the output display format.

| Mode     | Description                           |
| -------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `pretty` | Table with borders (default)          |
| `list`   | Pipe-delimited values                 |
| `line`   | One column per line with column names |

```bash theme={null}
tursodb -m list mydata.db "SELECT * FROM users;"
```

### `-o, --output <PATH>`

Redirect query output to a file instead of stdout.

```bash theme={null}
tursodb -o results.txt mydata.db "SELECT * FROM users;"
```

### `-q, --quiet`

Suppress the startup banner and version information.

```bash theme={null}
tursodb -q mydata.db
```

### `-e, --echo`

Print each SQL statement before executing it. Useful for debugging scripts.

```bash theme={null}
echo "SELECT 42;" | tursodb -q -e
```

```
SELECT 42;
42
```

### `-v, --vfs <VFS>`

Select the Virtual File System backend.

| VFS        | Description                             |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------- |
| `syscall`  | Standard OS file I/O (default)          |
| `memory`   | In-memory storage                       |
| `io_uring` | Linux io\_uring (requires feature flag) |

```bash theme={null}
tursodb -v memory
```

### `-t, --tracing-output <PATH>`

Write internal log traces to a file. Useful for debugging and performance analysis.

```bash theme={null}
tursodb -t trace.log mydata.db
```

### `--readonly`

Open the database in read-only mode. Write operations will return an error.

```bash theme={null}
tursodb --readonly production.db "SELECT count(*) FROM users;"
```

Attempting to write in read-only mode:

```bash theme={null}
tursodb --readonly production.db "INSERT INTO users VALUES (1, 'test');"
# Error: Resource is read-only
```

### `--mcp`

Start a Model Context Protocol server instead of the interactive shell. This allows AI assistants and other MCP clients to interact with the database via JSON-RPC.

```bash theme={null}
tursodb --mcp mydata.db
```

### `--sync-server <ADDRESS>`

Start a sync server for database replication, listening at the given address.

```bash theme={null}
tursodb --sync-server 0.0.0.0:8080 mydata.db
```

## Experimental Feature Flags

These flags enable features that are still under development. They may change or be removed in future releases.

<Warning>
  Experimental features may have incomplete implementations or known limitations. Use them for testing and development only.
</Warning>

| Flag                          | Description                                                              |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `--experimental-views`        | Enable views (`CREATE VIEW` / `DROP VIEW`)                               |
| `--experimental-custom-types` | Enable custom types (`CREATE TYPE` / `DROP TYPE`)                        |
| `--experimental-encryption`   | Enable at-rest database encryption                                       |
| `--experimental-index-method` | Enable custom index methods. Necessary for FTS and Sparse Vector indexes |
| `--experimental-autovacuum`   | Enable automatic database vacuuming                                      |
| `--experimental-vacuum`       | Enable in-place `VACUUM`                                                 |
| `--experimental-triggers`     | Enable triggers (`CREATE TRIGGER` / `DROP TRIGGER`)                      |
| `--experimental-attach`       | Enable `ATTACH DATABASE` / `DETACH DATABASE`                             |

```bash theme={null}
# Enable views, triggers, and in-place VACUUM
tursodb --experimental-views --experimental-triggers --experimental-vacuum mydata.db
```

## Other Flags

| Flag               | Description                                                   |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--unsafe-testing` | Enable unsafe testing features (e.g., `sqlite_dbpage` writes) |
| `-h, --help`       | Print usage help                                              |
| `-V, --version`    | Print version information                                     |