Postgres v12 Commands

postgres_commands.md

Key Commands
  \l                                  list all databases
  \c <db name>                        connect/switch to a certain database
  \dt                                 list all tables in the current db

General
  \copyright                          show PostgreSQL usage and distribution terms
  \crosstabview [COLUMNS]             execute query and display results in crosstab
  \errverbose                         show most recent error message at maximum verbosity
  \g [FILE] or ;                      execute query (and send results to file or |pipe)
  \gdesc                              describe result of query, without executing it
  \gexec                              execute query, then execute each value in its result
  \gset [PREFIX]                      execute query and store results in psql variables
  \gx [FILE]                          as \g, but forces expanded output mode
  \q                                  quit psql
  \watch [SEC]                        execute query every SEC seconds

Help
  \? [commands]                       show help on backslash commands
  \? options                          show help on psql command-line options
  \? variables                        show help on special variables
  \h [NAME]                           help on syntax of SQL commands, * for all commands

Query Buffer
  \e [FILE] [LINE]                    edit the query buffer (or file) with external editor
  \ef [FUNCNAME [LINE]]               edit function definition with external editor
  \ev [VIEWNAME [LINE]]               edit view definition with external editor
  \p                                  show the contents of the query buffer
  \r                                  reset (clear) the query buffer
  \s [FILE]                           display history or save it to file
  \w FILE                             write query buffer to file

Input/Output
  \copy ...                           perform SQL COPY with data stream to the client host
  \echo [STRING]                      write string to standard output
  \i FILE                             execute commands from file
  \ir FILE                            as \i, but relative to location of current script
  \o [FILE]                           send all query results to file or |pipe
  \qecho [STRING]                     write string to query output stream (see \o)

Conditional
  \if EXPR                            begin conditional block
  \elif EXPR                          alternative within current conditional block
  \else                               final alternative within current conditional block
  \endif                              end conditional block

Informational
  (options: S = show system objects, + = additional detail)
  \d[S+]                              list tables, views, and sequences
  \d[S+]          NAME                describe table, view, sequence, or index
  \da[S]          [PATTERN]           list aggregates
  \dA[+]          [PATTERN]           list access methods
  \db[+]          [PATTERN]           list tablespaces
  \dc[S+]         [PATTERN]           list conversions
  \dC[+]          [PATTERN]           list casts
  \dd[S]          [PATTERN]           show object descriptions not displayed elsewhere
  \dD[S+]         [PATTERN]           list domains
  \ddp            [PATTERN]           list default privileges
  \dE[S+]         [PATTERN]           list foreign tables
  \det[+]         [PATTERN]           list foreign tables
  \des[+]         [PATTERN]           list foreign servers
  \deu[+]         [PATTERN]           list user mappings
  \dew[+]         [PATTERN]           list foreign-data wrappers
  \df[anptw][S+]  [PATRN]             list [only agg/normal/procedures/trigger/window] functions
  \dF[+]          [PATTERN]           list text search configurations
  \dFd[+]         [PATTERN]           list text search dictionaries
  \dFp[+]         [PATTERN]           list text search parsers
  \dFt[+]         [PATTERN]           list text search templates
  \dg[S+]         [PATTERN]           list roles
  \di[S+]         [PATTERN]           list indexes
  \dl                                 list large objects, same as \lo_list
  \dL[S+]         [PATTERN]           list procedural languages
  \dm[S+]         [PATTERN]           list materialized views
  \dn[S+]         [PATTERN]           list schemas
  \do[S]          [PATTERN]           list operators
  \dO[S+]         [PATTERN]           list collations
  \dp             [PATTERN]           list table, view, and sequence access privileges
  \dP[itn+]       [PATTERN]           list [only index/table] partitioned relations [n=nested]
  \drds           [PATRN1 [PATRN2]]   list per-database role settings
  \dRp[+]         [PATTERN]           list replication publications
  \dRs[+]         [PATTERN]           list replication subscriptions
  \ds[S+]         [PATTERN]           list sequences
  \dt[S+]         [PATTERN]           list tables
  \dT[S+]         [PATTERN]           list data types
  \du[S+]         [PATTERN]           list roles
  \dv[S+]         [PATTERN]           list views
  \dx[+]          [PATTERN]           list extensions
  \dy             [PATTERN]           list event triggers
  \l[+]           [PATTERN]           list databases
  \sf[+]          FUNCNAME            show a function's definition
  \sv[+]          VIEWNAME            show a view's definition
  \z              [PATTERN]           same as \dp

Formatting
  \a                                  toggle between unaligned and aligned output mode
  \C [STRING]                         set table title, or unset if none
  \f [STRING]                         show or set field separator for unaligned query output
  \H                                  toggle HTML output mode (currently off)
  \pset [NAME [VALUE]]                set table output option
                                      (border|columns|csv_fieldsep|expanded|fieldsep|
                                      fieldsep_zero|footer|format|linestyle|null|
                                      numericlocale|pager|pager_min_lines|recordsep|
                                      recordsep_zero|tableattr|title|tuples_only|
                                      unicode_border_linestyle|unicode_column_linestyle|
                                      unicode_header_linestyle)
  \t [on|off]                         show only rows (currently off)
  \T [STRING]                         set HTML <table> tag attributes, or unset if none
  \x [on|off|auto]                    toggle expanded output (currently off)

Connection
  \c[onnect] {[DBNAME|- USER|- HOST|- PORT|-] | conninfo}
                                      connect to new database (currently "postgres")
  \conninfo                           display information about current connection
  \encoding [ENCODING]                show or set client encoding
  \password [USERNAME]                securely change the password for a user

Operating System
  \cd [DIR]                           change the current working directory
  \setenv NAME [VALUE]                set or unset environment variable
  \timing [on|off]                    toggle timing of commands (currently off)
  \! [COMMAND]                        execute command in shell or start interactive shell

Variables
  \prompt [TEXT] NAME                 prompt user to set internal variable
  \set [NAME [VALUE]]                 set internal variable, or list all if no parameters
  \unset NAME                         unset (delete) internal variable

Large Objects
  \lo_export LOBOID FILE
  \lo_import FILE [COMMENT]
  \lo_list
  \lo_unlink LOBOID                   large object operations