Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Rust stable (matches rust-toolchain.toml).
• wasm-tools (cargo install --locked wasm-tools).
• For the wasm extension build: wasi-sdk v33 — bash scripts/download-wasi-sdk.sh.
• For browser / composed builds: a recent Node (≥ 20).

Build the native cli

cargo build -p sqlink-host --bin sqlink --release

Output at target/release/sqlink.

Build the wasm side

The wasm cli (the composed sqlite + dot-cmd extensions component) needs every extension built + encoded first:

# Build all extensions for wasm32-wasip2.
cargo build --workspace --target wasm32-wasip2 --release \
  --exclude host --exclude sqlite-cas-cache --exclude sqlink-native \
  --exclude sqlink-loader --exclude postgis-bridge-extension \
  --exclude extension-smoke --exclude extension-proptest \
  --exclude runnable-sqlite-demo

# Re-encode .wasm  .component.wasm where the WIT changed
# (idempotent; only rebuilds what's stale).
bash scripts/encode-extension-components.sh

# Build the composed cli (sqlite + bundled dot-cmd extensions).
cargo build -p sqlite-cli --target wasm32-wasip2 --release

First session

sqlink mydb.sqlite

A standard SQLite prompt. Then load an extension:

.load extensions/uuid/target/wasm32-wasip2/release/uuid_extension.component.wasm
SELECT uuid_v4();

Save a bundle

After .load-ing a few extensions, capture the configuration so it can be replayed later:

.bundle save myset --no-build
.bundle list

Bring the saved set back in a future session:

sqlink --bundle-load myset mydb.sqlite

See the Bundles concept page for the full flow including binary baking (.bundle build) + the cas-cache identity model.

Dot commands

The default cli auto-loads a small family of dot-cmd extensions (bundle-cli, prefix-cli, archive-cli, etc.). Type .help at the prompt for the full list available in your session.

A few essentials:

Dot command	Purpose
.load PATH [--grant CAPS]	Load a wasm extension, optionally granting capabilities.
.bundle save NAME	Save current loaded extensions as a named bundle.
.bundle list	Show all saved bundles.
.prefix list	Show all registered SQL-function prefixes.
.prefix conflicts	Diagnose bare-name collisions across extensions.

Where to go next

• Extensions concept — what .load actually does + capability model.
• Bundles concept — repeatable extension sets.
• Prefixes concept — function namespacing.