psql commands in the editor

The Query Tool understands the psql commands people type out of habit. pgjumbo answers them itself from the catalog, so they work with no psql installed, and each answer is a result like any other. It never runs psql for them. For psql itself, with everything it can do, open a PSQL Tool.

Type a command

A line that starts with a backslash is one command. It runs to the end of its line, with or without a semicolon, and it can sit among SQL statements: Run takes them in order, and Run Statement runs the command the cursor is on.

A tab with \d orders in the editor and a check beside it. The result's tab is named Table public.orders, and the result bar says Read-only · These rows are not one table's, so they cannot be edited.

1 The command, with a check once pgjumbo has answered it.
2 The answer is a result whose tab is named after what it shows, here Table public.orders, where a query’s result would be named Data Output.
3 The rows cannot be edited, as they come from the catalog. You can sort, filter, copy and export them like any other result; see The results grid.

In Messages, a command’s line shows the command and its time (\d · 1 ms) where a statement shows its command tag.

The commands pgjumbo answers

Command	What it shows	The result is named
`\d`	The tables, partitioned tables, views, materialized views, sequences and foreign tables. Columns: Schema, Name, Type, Owner.	List of relations
`\d name`	Each relation the name matches, described. See Describe a table.	Table public.orders and the like
`\dt`	Tables and partitioned tables.	List of relations
`\dv`	Views.	List of relations
`\dm`	Materialized views.	List of relations
`\di`	Indexes.	List of relations
`\ds`	Sequences.	List of relations
`\df`	Functions and procedures: Schema, Name, Result data type, Argument data types and Type (`func`, `proc`, `agg` or `window`).	List of functions
`\dn`	Schemas: Name, Owner.	List of schemas
`\l` (or `\list`)	The server’s databases: Name, Owner, Encoding, Collate, Ctype.	List of databases
`\du` (or `\dg`)	Roles: Role name and Attributes, such as `Superuser, Create role, Create DB`.	List of roles
`\dx`	The database’s extensions: Name, Version, Schema, Description.	List of installed extensions
`\x`, `\x on`, `\x off`	Turns the record view on or off. See Expanded display.
`\set name value`, `\set`, `\unset name`	Gives `:name` a value, lists the values, takes one back. See `\set` and `\unset`.	Variables (for `\set` alone)
`\watch`, `\watch 10`	Starts Watch on the statement before it.

What the lists leave out, as psql does:

Without a schema in the pattern, \d, \dt, \dv, \dm, \di, \ds and \df list only what the tab’s search path shows, and nothing of the system schemas.
\dn alone leaves out the schemas whose names start with pg_ and information_schema; \du alone leaves out the roles whose names start with pg_. Name one in a pattern to see it.

Name patterns

A name after a command reads as psql reads it.

Pattern	Matches
`orders`	The relation `orders` on the search path. Unquoted names are read in lower case.
`ord*`	Every name that starts with `ord`. `*` stands for any characters, `?` for any one character.
`public.*`	Everything in the schema `public`. A dot separates the schema from the name.
`"Mixed"`	The name exactly as written, capitals included.

A + after a command is read as the plain command: \d+ orders answers as \d orders does.

Describe a table

\d with a name describes each relation the name matches, the first ten of them, in several results. Each has a tab of its own, and a section with nothing in it is left out.

Result	Columns	For
Table public.orders (or Partitioned table, View, Materialized view, Sequence, Foreign table, Index and the name)	Column, Type, Collation, Nullable, Default	Every kind
Indexes	Index, Definition (with `PRIMARY KEY`, `UNIQUE` and `INVALID` where they apply)	Tables and materialized views
Constraints	Kind (Check, Foreign key or Exclusion), Constraint, Definition	Tables and foreign tables
Referenced by	Table, Constraint, Definition: the foreign keys of other tables that point at this one	Tables and foreign tables
Triggers	Trigger, Definition	Tables, views and foreign tables
View definition	The view’s `SELECT`	Views and materialized views

When nothing matches, the command fails with Did not find any relation named "orders".

A table’s own tab shows the same facts and lets you change them.

Expanded display

\x makes every result of the tab open as a record: one row at a time, a line for each column, as psql’s expanded display shows it. \x alone switches it, \x on and \x off say which. The tab confirms with Expanded display is on: each result opens as a record. \x off turns it off. or Expanded display is off.

A tab with \x on its first line and a SELECT of one order on the second. The Record view dialog is open over the results: row 1 of 1, with id, customer_id, created_at and total each on a line of its own, their types at the right, and the buttons to move between rows and Close.

1 \x, before the query whose rows you want to read one at a time.
2 The record view opens on the result’s first row and says which row it is.
3 The arrows, or ← and →, move between rows. Close goes back to the grid.

It stays on for the tab until \x off. Values, the record view and the cell viewer explains the record view, which you can also open on any row without \x.

`\set` and `\unset`

\set name value gives the parameter :name a value for the rest of the tab’s session, so Run does not ask for it in the Values for this query dialog.

\set since '2026-10-01'
\set status paid

SELECT id, total FROM orders WHERE status = :status AND created_at >= :since;

The name takes letters, digits and _. The value is what follows it, as written, or between single quotes with '' for a quote inside.
A \set earlier in a script counts for the statements after it, and the value stays for later runs of the tab.
\set alone lists what you have set, in a result named Variables with the columns Name and Value.
\unset name takes one back, and Run asks for it again.
The values belong to the tab’s session. A new session, after Reconnect or a move to another database, starts without them.

`\watch`

\watch on a line after a statement starts Watch on that statement, every 5 seconds; \watch 10 every 10 seconds, from 1 to 3,600. psql’s \watch i=2 form reads the same. With no statement above it, it fails with \watch runs the statement before it again: put one above it.

The rest of psql

Any other backslash command fails, and names itself first, so that one line among thousands of a pasted script is easy to find:

\copy is psql's own: pgjumbo answers \d, \dt, \dv, \dm, \di, \ds, \df, \dn, \l, \du, \dx, \x, \set, \unset and \watch itself. For the rest of psql, use the PSQL Tool (on a database's menu).

The script stops there or goes on, as the tab’s When a statement fails says. A command given something it does not take says what it takes:

Message	Why
`\x takes on or off, not “maybe”.`	`\x` with another word after it.
`\watch takes the seconds between runs, 1 to 3600.`	`\watch` with something that is not such a number.
`\set takes a name of letters, digits and _, then its value.`	A name with other characters.

For \copy, \i, \c, \e and everything else, open psql itself: ToolsPSQL Tool, or PSQL Tool on a server’s or a database’s right-click menu in the Explorer. See PSQL Tool. To load or save a table’s rows from a file without psql, see Import and export table data.

Where the commands are refused

Run on several databases runs only SQL. A script with a backslash command fails there on every database, with psql meta-commands such as \d are not SQL. Run the query they stand for, or use psql.