Work has slowed down a bit recently, and it feels like a good time to kinda
wander around and try new stuff. Today I learned about tpope/vim-dadbod and
it turned out to be a surprisingly handy tool.
It’s a Vim plugin that lets you connect to databases and run SQL queries directly inside your editor. No GUI. No switching away from terminal.
Connecting to SQLite
I tested it with a local SQLite file. To connect, just run:
:DB sqlite:///Users/exampleuser/db/dev.sqlite3That opens the connection. Then you can browse tables using:
:DBUIIt gives you a sidebar with tables and schemas. Use :DBUIClose to exit when you’re done.
Query Workflow
What I like most is pressing S on a table to open a dedicated query split. You can write SQL there and run it by visually selecting the query and pressing:
\S " leader + SThe result shows up automatically in a split at the bottom. No need to leave the editor or context switch.
Example query:
SELECT * FROM users WHERE name LIKE '%Alex%' ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 5;Bonus: SQL from Comments
Sometimes I jot down a messy comment like:
select all columns from users table where name like %Alex% and order by id desc limit 5Then I visually select it and ask an LLM to rewrite it into valid SQL. It gives back the correct command. I paste it, run it, and move on.
Final Thoughts
It works smoothly with my existing Vim setup including plugins like:
tpope/vim-dadbodkristijanhusak/vim-dadbod-uikristijanhusak/vim-dadbod-completion
Querying a local SQLite file from inside Vim feels seamless and fits perfectly into a terminal-based workflow.
If you’re in Vim most of the day anyway, this just makes sense.