Prompt, icons and completion

Everything on this page is set under [main] in ~/.config/quarry/config.toml. The file created on first run lists every option with a comment. See Configuration file for the full reference.

Start from the default config

quarry --default-config prints the full config file with every option and a comment on each. Save it and edit what you like:

quarry --default-config > ~/.config/quarry/config.toml

It overwrites the file, so if you already have saved connections, save the output somewhere else and copy over the parts you want.

The prompt

prompt = "auto" (the default) draws the two-line prompt:

╭─ PostgreSQL me@localhost:5432 ▸ app  TX  RO  ✓ 12.0 ms
╰─❯

That's the unicode icon set; with a Nerd Font the product, the database and the badges get icons too.

Or write your own with these escapes:

Escape	Becomes
\u	User
\h	Host
\p	Port
\d	Database
\t	Product: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB or SQLite
\n	New line
\T	* while a transaction is open
\x	(ro) in read-only mode
\D	Date and time, e.g. Wed Sep 30 14:05:11 2026
\R	Time, e.g. 14:05:11
\\	A backslash

In TOML, double every backslash:

prompt = "\\t \\u@\\h:\\d\\T> "
prompt_continuation = "… "

That gives PostgreSQL me@localhost:app> , with * before the > inside a transaction. prompt_continuation is shown on the second and later lines of a statement.

Try formats at runtime with \R: \R '\u@\d> ' (quote it to keep the trailing space). \R alone goes back to auto. The --prompt flag sets it for one session.

Icons

quarry draws icons from a Nerd Font by default: database logos in the prompt and the status bar, and icons for tables, views, columns, keys and functions in the TUI's explorer, its tabs and the completion menus. Your terminal needs a Nerd Font (v3) for these, for example JetBrainsMono Nerd Font.

icons	Looks like	For
"nerd" (default)	Database and object icons	Terminals using a Nerd Font
"unicode"	▦ ◫ ƒ ✓ ✗	Any font with ordinary Unicode symbols
"ascii"	T V f + x	Fonts or consoles with no symbols at all

icons = "unicode"

--icons unicode sets it for one run. Borders and table lines are box-drawing characters in every set; for results without them use \T ascii.

Vi or Emacs keys

The REPL uses Emacs-style editing by default. vi = true switches to vi mode, and F4 toggles between them at runtime. In vi normal mode the ❯ becomes ❮.

vi = true also gives the TUI's SQL editor vim's modes and keys; see Key bindings and vim mode, which also covers changing the TUI's keys.

Completion

Option	Default	Effect
smart_completion	true	Suggest by context: tables after FROM, columns in expressions. Off: every keyword, table and column, matched against the current word. F2 toggles.
complete_while_typing	true	Open the menu as you type. Off: only on Tab.
join_suggestions	true	Suggest whole JOIN … ON … clauses from foreign keys
keyword_casing	"auto"	upper, lower, or auto: upper case unless you're typing in lower case
auto_suggest	true	Grey, fish-style suggestions from your history; → accepts
auto_refresh_catalog	true	Reload table and column names after CREATE, ALTER, DROP and similar

If someone else changes the schema, \refresh reloads the names quarry completes.

Running statements

Option	Default	Effect
multi_line	true	Enter runs only a finished statement (ending in ;, \G or your delimiter). Off: Enter always runs. F3 toggles.
history_size	10000	Entries kept in history (at least 100)
log_queries	false	Append every statement to quarry.log in the data directory

Results

Option	Default	Effect
table_format	"rounded"	Default output format. \T changes it for the session.
row_lines	true	A line between rows in the boxed formats. false gives a more compact table.
expanded	"auto"	on, off, or auto: vertical when a table is wider than the terminal. \x changes it.
max_field_width	500	Cut longer values and add …. 0 means no limit. Never applies to machine formats.
row_limit	1000	Ask before showing more rows than this. 0 never asks. --row-limit overrides.
null_string	"NULL"	How NULL is shown
timing	true	Show how long each statement took. \timing toggles.

Paging

Option	Default	Effect
enable_pager	true	Page output that doesn't fit the screen. \nopager / \pager toggle.
pager	unset	The pager command. Unset: $PAGER, then less -SRXF.

When $LESS isn't set, quarry sets it to -SRXF for the pager: long lines scroll sideways instead of wrapping, colours work, and short output doesn't wait for a key.

Quieter output

less_chatty = true (or --less-chatty) skips the start-up banner, the goodbye message and the echo of a favourite's SQL.

TUI options

Option	Default	Effect
mouse	true	Mouse support in the TUI: click, drag to select or resize, scroll
transparent	false	Keep the terminal's background instead of the theme's; see Themes

Keys are set in their own [keys] table: see Key bindings and vim mode.

The TUI also reads theme, icons, vi, null_string, smart_completion, complete_while_typing, join_suggestions, keyword_casing, auto_refresh_catalog and destructive_warning. The other options on this page apply to the REPL only.