Master MyCLI: A Powerful Python‑Based Interactive Database Client

Introduction

MyCLI is a Python‑written command‑line tool that uses the prompt_toolkit library to build interactive CLI applications for interacting with various databases. It sits on Python’s DB‑API and provides shortcuts, auto‑completion, syntax highlighting, history, and export features.

Features

Auto‑completion : suggests tables, column names, keywords.

Syntax highlighting : colors SQL statements.

History : records all commands for reuse.

Keyboard shortcuts : e.g., Ctrl+R to search history, Ctrl+W to delete previous word.

Export : results can be saved as CSV, JSON, or HTML.

Installation and Configuration

Installation

apt-get install mycli

Or install via Python’s package manager:

pip install mycli

Configuration

Before using MyCLI you must provide connection details, either on the command line or in a configuration file. The first run creates ~/.myclirc. MyCLI also reads the [client] section from MySQL’s config file.

Database Management

Connecting to a Database

mycli -h hostname -u username -p password -P port -D database

Example output shows MySQL version, MyCLI version, and links to the home page and bug tracker.

Docker container connection

docker exec -it dnmp-mysql sh -c "export LANG=C.UTF-8 && mycli -h 127.0.0.1 -p123456"

Executing SQL Queries

After a successful connection, type SQL statements and press Enter; results are displayed in a table.

Syntax Highlighting

If you get tired of the default theme, MyCLI provides several built‑in color schemes.

Open MyCLI configuration file

vim ~/.myclirc

Official color theme repository: https://www.mycli.net/syntax

Locate the syntax_style = default line and change it to the desired theme.