Skip to main content

CLI Flags

Usage​

pgxcli --help output

pgxcli [DBNAME] [USERNAME] [flags]

DBNAME and USERNAME are optional positional arguments. Everything below can also be set via environment variables or the config file.

Connection Flags​

--host, -h​

PostgreSQL server host address.

  • Type: string
  • Default: (empty — lets libpq resolve, typically localhost or Unix socket)

--port, -p​

Port the PostgreSQL server is listening on.

  • Type: integer
  • Default: 5432

--username, -u​

Username to connect as.

  • Type: string
  • Default: (current OS user, or PGXUSER / PGUSER env var)

--user, -U​

Alias for --username. Works the same way.

--dbname, -d​

Database name to connect to.

  • Type: string
  • Default: (none)

--password, -W​

Force a password prompt before connecting. Useful when you know the server requires a password and want to avoid a failed connection attempt first.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

--no-password, -w​

Never prompt for a password. If the server requires one, pgxcli reads it from PGXPASSWORD or PGPASSWORD environment variables instead.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false
note

--password and --no-password are mutually exclusive. You can't use both.

Mode Flags​

--interactive, -i​

Launch an interactive TUI form to enter connection details. Any flags or positional arguments you pass are used as default values in the form.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

Other Flags​

--debug​

Enable debug logging. Logs are written to the file specified by log_file in your config.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: false

--version​

Print the pgxcli version and exit.

--help​

Print usage information and exit.

note

--help has no -h shorthand — that's used by --host instead.

Examples​

# Connect with positional arguments
pgxcli mydb myuser

# Connect with flags
pgxcli -h localhost -p 5432 -U postgres -d mydb

# Connection URI
pgxcli postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb

# Interactive connection form
pgxcli -i

# Interactive form with defaults pre-filled
pgxcli -i -h myhost -d mydb

# Force password prompt
pgxcli -W mydb myuser

# Debug mode
pgxcli --debug mydb
Donate with PayPal