Output Formats

tdx supports multiple output formats for query results and command outputs.

Format Options

Option	Description
(default)	Human-readable ASCII table
--json	Readable JSON array
--jsonl	JSON Lines (one object per line)
--tsv	Tab-separated values

Table Format (Default)

Human-readable ASCII table with column types and row counts:

tdx query "SELECT name, age FROM users LIMIT 2"

┌────────┬─────┐
│  name  │ age │
│ string │ int │
├────────┼─────┤
│ Alice  │  25 │
│ Bob    │  30 │
├────────┴─────┤
│ 2 rows       │
└──────────────┘

Numbers are right-aligned, strings are left-aligned.

JSON Format

Readable JSON array with newlines (no metadata):

tdx query "SELECT name, age FROM users LIMIT 2" --json

[
  {"name":"Alice","age":25},
  {"name":"Bob","age":30}
]

Perfect for piping to jq:

tdx query "SELECT * FROM users" --json | jq '.[0]'
tdx query "SELECT * FROM users" --json | jq 'length'

JSON Lines Format

One JSON object per line - ideal for streaming and line-by-line processing:

tdx query "SELECT name, age FROM users LIMIT 2" --jsonl

{"name":"Alice","age":25}
{"name":"Bob","age":30}

Process line by line:

tdx query "SELECT * FROM users" --jsonl | while read line; do
  echo "$line" | jq '.name'
done

TSV Format

Tab-separated values with header row:

tdx query "SELECT name, age FROM users LIMIT 2" --tsv

name	age
Alice	25
Bob	30

Color Output

tdx automatically adds ANSI colors to output in interactive terminals:

Table format:

• Table borders: Dark gray (dim)
• Column headers: Plain text
• Type row: Dim gray
• Data values: Plain text

JSON format:

• Keys: Blue
• Strings: Green
• Numbers: Cyan
• Booleans: Yellow
• Null values: Dim

Automatic Detection

• Colors are enabled automatically when output is to an interactive terminal (TTY)
• Colors are disabled automatically when:
  • Output is piped to another command
  • Output is saved to a file with --output
• Respects the NO_COLOR environment variable

Manual Control

# Force colors on (even when piping or saving to file)
tdx databases --color

# Disable colors (even in interactive terminal)
tdx databases --no-color

# Disable colors via environment variable
NO_COLOR=1 tdx databases

Interactive Table Navigation

When viewing table output in an interactive terminal, tdx automatically pipes output through less for easy navigation:

Key	Action
q	Quit and return to terminal
↑ / ↓	Scroll up/down one line
Space	Scroll down one page
b	Scroll up one page
← / →	Scroll left/right (for wide tables)
/pattern	Search forward
n / N	Repeat search forward/backward
g / G	Go to first/last line

Less pagination is disabled when:

• Output is piped to another command
• Output is saved to a file with --output
• Using non-table formats (JSON, JSONL, TSV)