Python Django `dbshell`

Python Django's dbshell is a very useful tool for SQL database debugging when working on a Django application.

To run SQL shell interactively:

python manage.py dbshell

You should see:

SQLite version 3.32.3 2020-06-18 14:16:19
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> 

Useful Django sqlite commands:

.help
.tables

An example SQL command:

SELECT * FROM django_migrations;

In order to see the names of the columns (the header) of the table:

.header on
.mode column
pragma table_info('django_migrations');

Example output:

sqlite> pragma table_info('django_migrations');
cid         name        type        notnull     dflt_value  pk        
----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
0           id          integer     1                       1         
1           app         varchar(25  1                       0         
2           name        varchar(25  1                       0         
3           applied     datetime    1                       0      

See also this StackOverflow answer.

Comments

[Santiago Pinchao]

This command also works with Postgres DB ?

[Tetsuya]

will work

[Mikołaj Buchwald]

Most probably yes, but there are several thing you have to have in mind:

(1) You need to have psql installed for this utility to work on the same shell/system that you are using your application on (python manage.py ...). That is why, e.g., when your application is dockerized, and you (usually) don't have postgress installed in the same container as the application, you will get the following error:

CommandError: You appear not to have the 'psql' program installed or on your path.

(2) You have to make sure that your Posgress DB is the one that is configured in the settings.py (you can use environmental variables to switch between developemnt mode SQL Lite and Postgress DB).

And you of course have to have Postgress DB configured and running. -- I am emphasising on that because, as in my situation, when you are using dockerized application you often have DB also dockerized or you are using some external DB (i.e., on a different server).

I will test it some day when I will have Posgress running locally and configured for an application I will be working on, and I will let know in this thread whether I confirmed that it works.

StackOverflow suggests that dbshell works with Postgress: stackoverflow.com/questions/598893...