mycli
Rich MySQL terminal client with autocompletion, syntax highlighting, and dataframes
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you regularly work with MySQL or compatible databases from the terminal. The auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and fuzzy search significantly improve the interactive query experience over the standard mysql client. Install via `pip install mycli[all]` to get all optional features. Note one known vulnerability (PYSEC-2023-213) exists; verify it does not affect your use case before deploying in production.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or better; a MySQL-compatible database server must be accessible at connection time.
- Low friction installation as a pure Python wheel.
- Active maintenance with a recent release (2 days old) and substantial community engagement (11962 GitHub stars).
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-3-Clause (permissive) — BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you can use mycli freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.
last release 2026-08-12 (2 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-12 · 11,962 stars
1 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 132,482 downloads/mo, #11,549 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install mycli
mycli --help
mycli -u root -p password -h localhost- Whether the single known vulnerability (PYSEC-2023-213) affects current version 2.13.2 or has been patched.
- Performance characteristics when handling very large result sets or complex queries.
- Stability and feature completeness on Windows (documentation notes partial support).
What it is and what it does
mycli is a terminal-based MySQL client that replaces the standard mysql command-line tool with a modern, interactive interface. It connects to MySQL, MariaDB, Percona, TiDB, and Apache Doris databases and provides context-aware SQL auto-completion (suggesting table names after FROM, column names after WHERE), syntax highlighting via Pygments, and fuzzy history search. It supports multiline queries, favorite queries with Jinja templating, shell-style output redirection, and optional integration with Polars for dataframe transforms and plots.
The package has 19 runtime dependencies including prompt_toolkit (the interactive UI backbone), PyMySQL (database connection), sqlparse and sqlglot (SQL parsing), and optional tools like pyfzf (fuzzy search) and keyring (password storage). Installation is straightforward via pip; the project is actively maintained (last commit 2026-08-12) and well-established (first release 2015-07-26). It requires Python 3.10 or later and is tested on macOS and Linux with partial support for Windows and WSL.
Use it for
- Interactive MySQL development and debugging when you need auto-completion and syntax highlighting instead of the bare mysql CLI.
- Running ad-hoc queries with fuzzy history search to quickly find and re-execute previous commands.
- Saving and executing parameterized queries using Jinja templating for repeated tasks with different values.
- Exploring large result sets using fzf output explorer or piping results to external tools with shell-style redirects.
- Querying multiple MySQL-compatible databases (MariaDB, Percona, TiDB, Doris) from a single unified client.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you regularly work with MySQL or compatible databases from the terminal.
The auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and fuzzy search significantly improve the interactive query experience over the standard mysql client. Install via `pip install mycli[all]` to get all optional features. Note one known vulnerability (PYSEC-2023-213) exists; verify it does not affect your use case before deploying in production.
Install
mycli on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation as a pure Python wheel. Active maintenance with a recent release (2 days old) and substantial community engagement (11962 GitHub stars). Requires Python 3.10 or better.
Requires Python 3.10 or better; a MySQL-compatible database server must be accessible at connection time.
License in practice
BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you can use mycli freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.
Quickstart
pip install mycli
mycli --help
mycli -u root -p password -h localhostVerify before relying
- Whether the single known vulnerability (PYSEC-2023-213) affects current version 2.13.2 or has been patched.
- Performance characteristics when handling very large result sets or complex queries.
- Stability and feature completeness on Windows (documentation notes partial support).
Package facts
| License | BSD-3-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 19 packagesclickclickdccryptographyPygmentsprompt_toolkitPyMySQLsqlparsesqlglotsqlglotcconfigobjcli_helperswcwidthpyperclippycryptodomexpyfzfrapidfuzzkeyringjinja2yaspin |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 2 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 132,482 / month, #11,549 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | 1 PYSEC-2023-213 |
| Classifiers | Environment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: SQLTopic :: DatabaseTopic :: Database :: Front-EndsTopic :: Software Development |
Evidence: mycli-2.13.2-py3-none-any.whl
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See also litecli · pgcli · mysqlclient · PyMySQL · aiomysql · opentelemetry-instrumentation-mysqlclient · hopsworks-aiomysql · mysql-connector · types-mysqlclient