SQL queries for markdown tables.

Warning: This is an experimental program that modifies files in-place. Always use version control (git) or back up your markdown files before running INSERT or DELETE operations.

Install

cargo install mdsql

From source:

cargo install --path .

Usage

# List tables in a file
mdsql tables data.md
# Query first table
mdsql query "SELECT * FROM 0" data.md
# Filter and sort
mdsql query "SELECT name, score FROM 0 WHERE score > 50 ORDER BY score DESC" data.md
# Output as JSON
mdsql query --format json "SELECT * FROM 0" data.md
# Insert a row
mdsql insert "INSERT INTO 0 (name, age, city) VALUES ('Alice', '30', 'NYC')" data.md
# Update rows
mdsql update "UPDATE 0 SET city = 'SF' WHERE name = 'Alice'" data.md
# Delete rows
mdsql delete "DELETE FROM 0 WHERE name = 'Alice'" data.md

Supported SQL

• SELECT with column filtering and *
• WHERE with =, !=, <, >, <=, >=, AND, OR
• ORDER BY (ASC/DESC)
• LIMIT
• INSERT INTO ... VALUES
• UPDATE ... SET ... WHERE
• DELETE FROM ... WHERE

Tables are referenced by 0-based index: FROM 0, INTO 0, etc.

Output Formats

• columns (default) - Column-aligned like df -h, unix-friendly
• markdown - Markdown table
• csv - Comma-separated values
• json - JSON array of objects
• tsv - Tab-separated values

Roadmap

• Split into mdsql library crate and mdsql-cli binary crate
• FFI-first library for multi-language use (Python first)
• Aggregate functions (SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, MAX)
• GROUP BY
• Infer table names from preceding markdown headers

See Also

mdtsql is a similar Go-based tool for querying markdown tables with SQL.

Why mdsql exists: I wanted a Rust implementation with a simpler subcommand-based CLI, column-aligned terminal output by default, SQL that never embeds filesystem paths, and DELETE support for my note-taking workflows.