Run command-line SQLite 3 query and exit

Question

We can use the -cmd option with sqlite3 to run a query, but then sqlite3 opens the database and waits in there for interactive input. How can we run a query on sqlite3 from the command line and exit?

Answer 1

Just include the command in quotes after the database file argument.

For example, the following creates a table called abc:

sqlite3 test.db 'create table abc (col0 int)'

Answer 2

You can use the .exit command (1), to exit gracefully:

sqlite3 test.db "select * from abc;" ".exit"

Documentation: Command Line Shell For SQLite.

Answer 3

If you are stuck in a situation where you absolutely "have to" use the -cmd flag when you are running SQLite 3 from the command line, you can use successive blank command to exit.

For example:

sqlite3 test.db "select * from urls;" "" > test.txt

In this example, the "" will cause the SQLite 3 process to exit. (At least it does for me on OS X.)