Command line

nardb create, user, grant, serve — managing databases and users from the terminal.

nardb is a single program. Run without arguments, it opens the full-screen NarDB Shell; run with a command, it does the command and exits without opening the interface.

Terminal

nardb create shop                         # asks for the root password
nardb user add shop app                   # asks for app's password
nardb grant shop app members write
nardb user list shop
nardb serve                               # 127.0.0.1:7070

Database: path or name#

Every command takes a <db>:

Written as	Database
`shop`	`~/.nardb/data/shop.ndbc` — the database served by `nardb serve`
`./data/app.ndbc`	the folder at that path — an application's embedded database

Anything containing a slash or ending in .ndbc is a path. A name has lowercase letters, digits, _ and -, and starts with a letter. To use another directory than ~/.nardb, set the NARDB_HOME environment variable.

Commands#

Command	What it does
`nardb create <db> [-e keychain\	passphrase\	none]`	Creates the database and its `root` user. Default encryption: key in the system keychain.
`nardb user add <db> <name>`	Adds a user. It has no permissions; give them with `grant`.
`nardb user passwd <db> <name>`	Changes a password.
`nardb user list <db>`	Users and their grants.
`nardb user delete <db> <name>`	Deletes a user and its grants. `root` cannot be deleted.
`nardb grant <db> <user> <schema\	*> <read\	write\	admin>`	Gives or changes a permission.
`nardb revoke <db> <user> <schema\	*>`	Removes a permission.
`nardb serve`	Serves databases over the network; see Server.
`nardb certs` · `nardb client-cert`	Certificates for clients on other machines.
`nardb help` · `nardb version`

Quote '*' so the shell does not expand it.

Passwords are not arguments#

There is no nardb user add shop app secret: a password typed on the command line ends up in the shell history and in ps output. The password is:

asked twice, hidden, in a terminal;
read as one line from standard input when there is no terminal:

Terminal

printf '%s\n' "$ROOT_PASSWORD" | nardb create shop -e none

User passwords need at least 8 characters, encryption passphrases at least

When a passphrase-encrypted database is opened, the passphrase is asked

or read from the NARDB_PASSPHRASE environment variable.

A database that is open#

Only one process can open a .ndbc at a time. While nardb serve, NarDB Shell or a LexerLang application has the database open, a command fails with:

Text

nardb: ~/.nardb/data/shop.ndbc is open in another process (nardb serve, NarDB Shell or an app); stop it first

Stop the server briefly to change users and grants.

`nardbd`#

nardbd is the server's old name and accepts the same commands: nardbd serve -config nardbd.json keeps working.