sqb query

Execute ad hoc SQL against the active project connection. Useful for inspecting data, debugging models, or running one-off queries without leaving the SQLBuild CLI.

Usage

sqb --project-dir <path> query "SELECT * FROM dev.fact_orders LIMIT 5"

Or from a file:

sqb --project-dir <path> query --file my_query.sql

File paths are resolved from the current working directory.

Flags

Flag	Description
sql	SQL to execute (positional argument)
--file	Read SQL from a file instead of the command line
--format	Output format: long (default), table, json, or csv
--limit	Maximum rows to return (default: 20)
--no-limit	Disable the row limit

Output formats

long (default)

Vertical record format, one field per line:

-[ RECORD 1 ]---------------------------+
order_id | 1
customer_id | 100
status   | completed

-[ RECORD 2 ]---------------------------+
order_id | 2
customer_id | 200
status   | completed

2 rows

table

Horizontal table format:

order_id | customer_id | status
-------- | ----------- | ---------
1        | 100         | completed
2        | 200         | completed

2 rows

json

JSON array of objects:

[{"order_id": 1, "customer_id": 100, "status": "completed"}]

csv

Standard CSV with headers:

order_id,customer_id,status
1,100,completed
2,200,completed

Examples

# Quick inspection with default format
sqb query "SELECT * FROM dev.fact_orders"

# Table format with higher limit
sqb query "SELECT * FROM dev.dim_customers" --format table --limit 50

# Export to JSON
sqb query "SELECT * FROM dev.daily_revenue" --format json --no-limit

# Run SQL from a file
sqb query --file debug_query.sql