Dbcli Tables

Command Style (Use PATH)

All examples use the plain command name dbcli (no directory prefix). Ensure dbcli is on PATH instead of hardcoding paths like .\.claude\skills\dbcli\dbcli.exe.

DbCli Tables Skill

List all tables and view table structures in databases.

When to Use This Skill

• User wants to see all tables in a database
• User needs to check table structure or schema
• User asks "what tables exist" or "show me the database schema"
• User wants to see column names, types, or constraints
• User needs to explore an unfamiliar database

Command Syntax

List All Tables

dbcli -c "CONNECTION_STRING" [-t DATABASE_TYPE] [-f FORMAT] tables

Show Table Structure

dbcli -c "CONNECTION_STRING" [-t DATABASE_TYPE] [-f FORMAT] columns TABLE_NAME

Global Options

• -c, --connection: Database connection string (required)
• -t, --db-type: Database type (default: sqlite)
• -f, --format: Output format: json (default), table, csv

List All Tables

Basic Usage

# SQLite - JSON format (default)
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables

# Output: [{"TableName":"Users"},{"TableName":"Orders"},{"TableName":"Products"}]

# Table format (human-readable)
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f table tables

# Output:
# +-----------+
# | TableName |
# +-----------+
# | Users     |
# | Orders    |
# | Products  |
# +-----------+

Different Databases

# SQL Server
dbcli -c "Server=localhost;Database=mydb;Trusted_Connection=True" -t sqlserver -f table tables

# MySQL
dbcli -c "Server=localhost;Database=mydb;Uid=root;Pwd=xxxxxxxxxx" -t mysql -f table tables

# PostgreSQL
dbcli -c "Host=localhost;Database=mydb;Username=postgres;Password=xxxxxxxxxx" -t postgresql -f table tables

# Oracle
dbcli -c "Data Source=localhost:1521/orcl;User Id=system;Password=xxxxxxxxxx" -t oracle -f table tables

# MongoDB
dbcli -c "mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb" -t mongodb -f table tables

Chinese Domestic Databases

# DaMeng (达梦)
dbcli -c "Server=localhost;User Id=SYSDBA;PWD=xxxxxxxxxx;DATABASE=mydb" -t dm -f table tables

# KingbaseES (人大金仓)
dbcli -c "Server=localhost;Port=54321;UID=system;PWD=xxxxxxxxxx;database=mydb" -t kdbndp -f table tables

# GaussDB
dbcli -c "Host=localhost;Port=8000;Database=mydb;Username=gaussdb;Password=xxxxxxxxxx" -t gaussdb -f table tables

Show Table Structure

Basic Column Information

# SQLite - Show Users table structure
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f table columns Users

# Output:
# +------------+----------+--------+------------+--------------+--------------+
# | ColumnName | DataType | Length | IsNullable | IsPrimaryKey | DefaultValue |
# +------------+----------+--------+------------+--------------+--------------+
# | Id         | INTEGER  | 0      | False      | True         |              |
# | Name       | TEXT     | 0      | False      | False        |              |
# | Email      | TEXT     | 0      | True       | False        |              |
# | CreatedAt  | TIMESTAMP| 0      | True       | False        | CURRENT_TIME |
# +------------+----------+--------+------------+--------------+--------------+

JSON Output

# Get column info as JSON for programmatic use
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" columns Users

# Output: [
#   {"ColumnName":"Id","DataType":"INTEGER","Length":0,"IsNullable":false,"IsPrimaryKey":true,"DefaultValue":""},
#   {"ColumnName":"Name","DataType":"TEXT","Length":0,"IsNullable":false,"IsPrimaryKey":false,"DefaultValue":""},
#   ...
# ]

Multiple Tables

# Check structure of multiple tables
for table in Users Orders Products; do
    echo "=== $table ==="
    dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f table columns $table
    echo
done

Use Cases

1. Database Discovery

# First, see what tables exist
dbcli -c "Data Source=unknown.db" -f table tables

# Then examine interesting tables
dbcli -c "Data Source=unknown.db" -f table columns Users
dbcli -c "Data Source=unknown.db" -f table columns Orders

2. Schema Documentation

#!/bin/bash
# Generate schema documentation

CONNECTION="Data Source=app.db"
OUTPUT="schema_doc.txt"

echo "Database Schema Documentation" > $OUTPUT
echo "Generated: $(date)" >> $OUTPUT
echo >> $OUTPUT

# List all tables
echo "=== Tables ===" >> $OUTPUT
dbcli -c "$CONNECTION" -f table tables >> $OUTPUT
echo >> $OUTPUT

# Get structure for each table
dbcli -c "$CONNECTION" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | while read table; do
    echo "=== Table: $table ===" >> $OUTPUT
    dbcli -c "$CONNECTION" -f table columns $table >> $OUTPUT
    echo >> $OUTPUT
done

echo "Documentation saved to $OUTPUT"

3. Verify Table Exists

# Check if specific table exists
if dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | grep -q "^Users$"; then
    echo "Users table exists"
else
    echo "Users table not found"
fi

4. Find Tables by Pattern

# Find all tables starting with "temp_"
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | grep "^temp_"

5. Column Validation

# Check if Email column exists in Users table
if dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" columns Users | jq -r '.[].ColumnName' | grep -q "^Email$"; then
    echo "Email column exists"
else
    echo "Email column missing - need to add it"
fi

6. Primary Key Detection

# Find primary key column(s)
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" columns Users | jq -r '.[] | select(.IsPrimaryKey == true) | .ColumnName'

# Output: Id

7. Nullable Column Check

# List all nullable columns
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" columns Users | jq -r '.[] | select(.IsNullable == true) | .ColumnName'

Programmatic Usage

Python - List All Tables

import subprocess
import json

result = subprocess.run([
    'dbcli', '-c', 'Data Source=app.db',
    'tables'
], capture_output=True, text=True)

tables = json.loads(result.stdout)
for table in tables:
    print(f"Table: {table['TableName']}")

Python - Inspect Schema

import subprocess
import json

def get_table_info(connection, table_name):
    """Get detailed table information"""
    result = subprocess.run([
        'dbcli', '-c', connection,
        'columns', table_name
    ], capture_output=True, text=True)

    columns = json.loads(result.stdout)

    print(f"\nTable: {table_name}")
    print(f"Total columns: {len(columns)}")

    print("\nPrimary Keys:")
    for col in columns:
        if col['IsPrimaryKey']:
            print(f"  - {col['ColumnName']} ({col['DataType']})")

    print("\nNullable Columns:")
    for col in columns:
        if col['IsNullable']:
            print(f"  - {col['ColumnName']}")

# Usage
get_table_info('Data Source=app.db', 'Users')

Node.js - Schema Exploration

const { execSync } = require('child_process');

function exploreDatabaseSchema(connection) {
    // Get all tables
    const tablesJson = execSync(`dbcli -c "${connection}" tables`).toString();
    const tables = JSON.parse(tablesJson);

    console.log(`Found ${tables.length} tables:\n`);

    tables.forEach(table => {
        console.log(`Table: ${table.TableName}`);

        // Get columns for each table
        const columnsJson = execSync(
            `dbcli -c "${connection}" columns ${table.TableName}`
        ).toString();
        const columns = JSON.parse(columnsJson);

        columns.forEach(col => {
            const pk = col.IsPrimaryKey ? ' [PK]' : '';
            const nullable = col.IsNullable ? ' [NULL]' : ' [NOT NULL]';
            console.log(`  - ${col.ColumnName}: ${col.DataType}${pk}${nullable}`);
        });

        console.log();
    });
}

// Usage
exploreDatabaseSchema('Data Source=app.db');

PowerShell - Schema Comparison

function Compare-DatabaseSchemas {
    param(
        [string]$Connection1,
        [string]$Connection2
    )

    $tables1 = dbcli -c $Connection1 tables | ConvertFrom-Json | Select-Object -ExpandProperty TableName
    $tables2 = dbcli -c $Connection2 tables | ConvertFrom-Json | Select-Object -ExpandProperty TableName

    Write-Host "Tables only in Database 1:"
    $tables1 | Where-Object { $_ -notin $tables2 }

    Write-Host "`nTables only in Database 2:"
    $tables2 | Where-Object { $_ -notin $tables1 }

    Write-Host "`nCommon tables:"
    $common = $tables1 | Where-Object { $_ -in $tables2 }
    $common

    # Compare column structure for common tables
    foreach ($table in $common) {
        $cols1 = dbcli -c $Connection1 columns $table | ConvertFrom-Json
        $cols2 = dbcli -c $Connection2 columns $table | ConvertFrom-Json

        if (Compare-Object $cols1 $cols2 -Property ColumnName, DataType) {
            Write-Host "`nDifference in table: $table"
        }
    }
}

# Usage
Compare-DatabaseSchemas -Connection1 "Data Source=db1.db" -Connection2 "Data Source=db2.db"

Output Formats

JSON Format (Default)

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables
# [{"TableName":"Users"},{"TableName":"Orders"}]

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" columns Users
# [{"ColumnName":"Id","DataType":"INTEGER","Length":0,...},...]

Table Format (Human-Readable)

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f table tables
# +-----------+
# | TableName |
# +-----------+
# | Users     |
# +-----------+

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f table columns Users
# +------------+----------+--------+------------+--------------+
# | ColumnName | DataType | Length | IsNullable | IsPrimaryKey |
# +------------+----------+--------+------------+--------------+

CSV Format

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f csv tables > tables.csv
# TableName
# Users
# Orders

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f csv columns Users > users_schema.csv
# ColumnName,DataType,Length,IsNullable,IsPrimaryKey,DefaultValue
# Id,INTEGER,0,False,True,
# Name,TEXT,0,False,False,

Common Patterns

Quick Table Count

dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables | jq '. | length'

Find Large Tables

# List tables with row counts
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | while read table; do
    count=$(dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" query "SELECT COUNT(*) as cnt FROM $table" | jq -r '.[0].cnt')
    echo "$table: $count rows"
done

Generate CREATE TABLE from Existing

# SQLite - Get original CREATE statement
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" query "SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='Users'"

Schema Diff Tool

#!/bin/bash
# schema_diff.sh - Compare two database schemas

DB1="$1"
DB2="$2"

echo "Comparing schemas: $DB1 vs $DB2"

# Compare table lists
diff <(dbcli -c "Data Source=$DB1" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | sort) \
     <(dbcli -c "Data Source=$DB2" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | sort)

Integration with Other Skills

Use with Query Skill

# First, find all tables
tables=$(dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName')

# Then query each table
for table in $tables; do
    echo "=== Sample from $table ==="
    dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" -f table query "SELECT * FROM $table LIMIT 3"
done

Use with Export Skill

# Export all tables found in database
dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" tables | jq -r '.[].TableName' | while read table; do
    echo "Exporting $table..."
    dbcli -c "Data Source=app.db" export $table > "${table}_backup.sql"
done