quickdbd-cli (qdbd)

Compile QuickDBD-syntax schema files into interactive HTML ER diagrams, with no table limit, from the command line. Built to stay readable at 200+ tables.

Customer
-
CustomerId PK int
Name string

Order
-
OrderId PK int
CustomerId int FK >- Customer.CustomerId

pipx install quickdbd-cli        # or: uvx --from quickdbd-cli qdbd ...
qdbd build schema.txt -o schema.html

Not affiliated with QuickDBD. It reads the same text syntax, so schemas move freely between the two.

Features

• Same syntax as QuickDBD: tables, aliases, quoted names, all 9 relationship operators, rel lines, PK/FK/NULL/UNIQUE/INDEX/IDENTITY, default=, doc comments, [settings] and [layout] sections. Error messages are QuickDBD's own.
• Interactive page:
  • search and jump to a table (/)
  • minimap
  • click a table to focus on it and its neighbours
  • collapse tables: full / keys only / names only
  • hover a column to highlight its relationship
  • PNG/SVG export buttons
• Live editing: qdbd serve reloads when you save, has a browser editor pane with autosave, and remembers where you drag tables.
• Many files, one diagram: point it at a folder and foreign keys can cross files.
• Pip-only install: no Graphviz, Node or browser needed. Layout uses ELK, running in an embedded V8.
• CI-friendly: builds are deterministic, and errors are file:line: error: … with exit code 1.

Commands

qdbd check  PATH... [--strict]                 # validate; "No errors found. Good job!"
qdbd build  PATH... -o diagram.html            # shareable interactive HTML (positions locked)
qdbd serve  PATH... [--port 8765]              # live editor + drag-to-arrange
qdbd export PATH... -o out.png [--focus Customer --depth 1]   # PNG or SVG image
qdbd layout PATH... [--reset]                  # (re)write the layout file

PATH is a .txt file or a folder. Every *.txt under a folder is read recursively.

Table positions

The first build auto-arranges the tables. In qdbd serve, drag tables where you want them. Positions are saved to a sidecar file you can commit:

• schema.txt → schema.layout.json
• a folder → <folder>/qdbd.layout.json
• override either with --layout FILE

Once a layout exists, a new table is placed next to the tables it's related to, and nothing else moves. Run qdbd layout PATH --reset to re-arrange everything from scratch. A pasted schema's QuickDBD [layout] section is used for any table the sidecar doesn't cover.

qdbd build never writes the sidecar, so CI builds leave the working tree clean.

Differences from QuickDBD

qdbd accepts a few things QuickDBD rejects, and prints a warning for each one:

• tab characters
• decimal(10, 2) (a space inside a type)
• an explicit NOT NULL
• indented table names
• [layout] entries for unknown tables

qdbd check --strict turns these warnings into errors, so a file that passes is guaranteed to paste into QuickDBD.

default= values keep their case, where QuickDBD lowercases them.

CI

pre-commit:

repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/MarkPhamm/quickdbd-cli
    rev: v0.1.0
    hooks:
      - id: qdbd-check
        files: ^schema/.*\.txt$   # point at your schema files

GitHub Actions:

- uses: actions/setup-python@v5
  with: { python-version: "3.12" }
- run: pip install quickdbd-cli
- run: qdbd check schema/
- run: qdbd build schema/ -o site/schema.html
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with: { name: schema-diagram, path: site/schema.html }

GitLab CI:

erd:
  image: python:3.12
  script:
    - pip install quickdbd-cli
    - qdbd check schema/
    - qdbd build schema/ -o public/schema.html
  artifacts:
    paths: [public/schema.html]

Development

uv venv && uv pip install -e ".[dev]"
.venv/bin/pytest
python scripts/gen_schema.py        # regenerate examples/synthetic (200 tables)
python scripts/gen_font_metrics.py  # regenerate font width table

Design notes: docs/superpowers/specs/2026-10-17-qdbd-design.md.

License

Apache-2.0. Bundled third-party files are listed in NOTICE.