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gel — Interactive Shell​

Gel interactive shell:

gel [connection-option...]

It's also possible to run an EdgeQL script by piping it into the Gel shell. The shell will then run in non-interactive mode and print all the responses into the standard output:

cat myscript.edgeql | gel [connection-option...]

The above command also works on PowerShell in Windows, while the classic Windows Command Prompt uses a different command as shown below:

type myscript.edgeql | gel [connection-option...]

Description​

gel is a terminal-based front-end to Gel. It allows running queries and seeing results interactively.

Options​

-h, --help

Show help about the command and exit.

--help-connect

Show all available connection options

-V, --version

Print version.

--no-cli-update-check

Disable version check.

-I name, --instance=name

Specifies the named instance to connect to. The actual connection parameters are stored in <gel_config_dir>/credentials and are usually created by gel instance create or similar commands. Run gel info to see the location of <gel_config_dir> on your machine.

This option overrides host and port.

--dsn=dsn

Specifies the DSN for Gel to connect to.

This option overrides all other options except password.

--credentials-file /path/to/file

Path to JSON file containing credentials.

-H hostname, --host=hostname

Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. Defaults to the value of the GEL_HOST environment variable.

-P port, --port=port

Specifies the TCP port on which the server is listening for connections. Defaults to the value of the GEL_PORT environment variable or, if not set, to 5656.

-u username, --user=username

Connect to the database as the user username. Defaults to the value of the GEL_USER environment variable, or, if not set, to the login name of the current OS user.

-b branch-name, --branch=branch-name

Specifies the name of the branch to connect to. Default to the value of the GEL_BRANCH environment variable, or, if not set, to the calculated value of username.

EdgeDB 5.0 introduced branches (added in 5.0) to replace databases. If you are running an earlier version of Gel, you will instead use the -d <dbname>, --database=<dbname> option above.

--password | --no-password

If --password is specified, force gel to prompt for a password before connecting to the database. This is usually not necessary, since gel will prompt for a password automatically if the server requires it.

Specifying --no-password disables all password prompts.

--password-from-stdin

Use the first line of standard input as the password.

--tls-ca-file /path/to/cert

Certificate to match server against.

This might either be full self-signed server certificate or certificate authority (CA) certificate that server certificate is signed with.

--tls-security mode

Set the TLS security mode.

default

Resolves to strict if no custom certificate is supplied via --tls-ca-file, environment variable, etc. Otherwise, resolves to no_host_verification.

strict

Verify TLS certificate and hostname.

no_host_verification

This allows using any certificate for any hostname. However, certificate must be present and match the root certificate specified with --tls-ca-file, credentials file, or system root certificates.

insecure

Disable all TLS security measures.

--wait-until-available=wait_time

In case Gel connection can't be established, keep retrying up to wait_time (e.g. 30s).

--connect-timeout=timeout

Specifies a timeout period. In case Gel doesn't respond for this period the command will fail (or retry if --wait-until-available is also specified). The timeout value must be given using time units (e.g. hr, min, sec, ms, etc.). The default value is 10s.

Backslash Commands​

Introspection​

The introspection commands share a few common options that are available to many of the commands:

  • -v- Verbose

  • -s- Show system objects

  • -c- Case-sensitive pattern matching

\d [-v] OBJECT-NAME, \describe [-v] OBJECT-NAME

Describe schema object specified by OBJECT-NAME.

\ds, \d schema, \describe schema

Describe the entire schema.

\l

List branches on Gel server 5+ or databases on prior versions.

\list branches

List branches.

EdgeDB 5.0 introduced branches (added in 5.0) to replace databases. If you are running an earlier version of Gel, you will instead use the \list databases command above.

\ls [-sc] [PATTERN], \list scalars [-sc] [PATTERN]

List scalar types.

\lt [-sc] [PATTERN], \list types [-sc] [PATTERN]

List object types.

\lr [-c] [PATTERN], \list roles [-c] [PATTERN]

List roles.

\lm [-c] [PATTERN], \list modules [-c] [PATTERN]

List modules.

\la [-vsc] [PATTERN], \list aliases [-vsc] [PATTERN]

List expression aliases.

\lc [-c] [PATTERN], \list casts [-c] [PATTERN]

List available conversions between types.

\li [-vsc] [PATTERN], \list indexes [-vsc] [PATTERN]

List indexes.

BranchAdded in v5.0​

EdgeDB 5.0 introduced branches (added in 5.0) to replace databases. If you are running an earlier version of Gel, you will instead use the database commands above.

\branch create NAME

Create a new branch. The backslash command mirrors the options of the CLI's gel branch create.

\branch switch NAME

Switch to a different branch. The backslash command mirrors the options of the CLI's gel branch switch.

Query Analysis​

\analyze QUERY

Run a query performance analysis on the given query. Most conveniently used without a backslash by just adding analyze before any query.

\expand

Print expanded output of last analyze operation.

Data Operations​

\dump FILENAME

Dump current database branch to a file at FILENAME.

\restore FILENAME

Restore the database dump at FILENAME into the current branch.

Editing​

\s, \history

Show a history of commands executed in the shell.

\e, \edit [N]

Spawn $EDITOR to edit the most recent history entry or history entry N. History entries are negative indexed with -1 being the most recent command. Use the \history command (above) to see previous command indexes.

The output of this will then be used as input into the shell.

Settings​

\set [OPTION [VALUE]]

If VALUE is omitted, the command will show the current value of OPTION. With VALUE, the option named by OPTION will be set to the provided value. Use \set with no arguments for a listing of all available options.

Connection​

\c, \connect [NAME]

Connect to branch NAME.

Migrations​

These migration commands are also accessible directly from the command line without first entering the Gel shell. Their counterpart commands are noted and linked in their descriptions if you want more detail.

\migration create
Create a migration script based on differences between the current branch

and the schema file, just like running gel migration create.

\migrate, \migration apply

Apply your migration, just like running the gel migrate.

\migration edit

Spawn $EDITOR on the last migration file and fixes the migration ID after the editor exits, just like gel migration edit. This is typically used only on migrations that have not yet been applied.

\migration log

Show the migration history, just like gel migration log.

\migration status

Show how the state of the schema in the Gel instance compares to the migration stored in the schema directory, just like gel migration status.

Help​

\?, \h, \help

Show help on backslash commands.

\q, \quit, \exit

Quit the REPL. You can also do this by pressing Ctrl+D.

Database​

EdgeDB 5.0 introduced branches (added in 5.0) to replace databases. If you are running 5.0 or later, you will instead use the commands in the "Branch" section above.

\database create NAME

Create a new database.