squawk-cli
Linter for PostgreSQL migrations
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Squawk is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and fills a specific niche—preventing downtime from unsafe Postgres migrations. The permissive dual license and multi-platform binaries lower adoption friction. Install if your team runs Postgres migrations and wants automated guardrails; skip if you do not use Postgres or migrations are rare.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python >=3.8.
- Pre-built binaries available for macOS (Intel/ARM), Linux (x86_64/aarch64), and Windows; source builds require Rust.
- Medium install friction due to compiled Rust binaries, but pre-built wheels exist for common platforms (macOS x86_64/arm64, Linux x86_64/aarch64, Windows).
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 OR MIT (permissive) — Dual-licensed under Apache-2.0 OR MIT (permissive). You may choose either license; no restrictions on commercial or private use.
last release 2026-08-06 (8 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-13 · 1,153 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 520,481 downloads/mo, #6,210 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install squawk-cli
squawk example.sql
# or check stdin: squawk --stdin-filepath=migration.sql < migration.sql- How many built-in rules are available and what is their coverage of common migration anti-patterns.
- Performance on large SQL files or migration batches.
- Integration maturity with CI/CD systems beyond GitHub Actions.
What it is and what it does
Squawk is a linter that parses PostgreSQL SQL and migration files to identify patterns that commonly cause production issues: unsafe index creation, lock-prone constraint additions, serial-type pitfalls, and schema changes that block reads or writes. It runs as a CLI tool and outputs warnings with inline suggestions and remediation examples.
The tool supports multiple reporting formats (TTY, JSON, GitLab, GCC), rule exclusion via CLI flags or `.squawk.toml` config files, and inline SQL comments to suppress specific checks. It integrates with pre-commit hooks, GitHub Actions, and VSCode, making it suitable for catching migration problems before they reach production.
Use it for
- Review migration files in CI/CD to catch blocking operations (e.g., UNIQUE constraints, index creation) before deployment.
- Enforce team standards on column types (e.g., prefer bigint over serial, text over varchar with length limits).
- Suppress known-safe violations per-file or per-rule via comments or config, reducing noise in large legacy codebases.
- Local pre-commit hook to validate SQL syntax and schema safety before pushing to version control.
- Generate structured JSON reports for custom tooling or dashboards that track migration risk over time.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Squawk is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and fills a specific niche—preventing downtime from unsafe Postgres migrations. The permissive dual license and multi-platform binaries lower adoption friction. Install if your team runs Postgres migrations and wants automated guardrails; skip if you do not use Postgres or migrations are rare.
Install
squawk-cli on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled Rust binaries, but pre-built wheels exist for common platforms (macOS x86_64/arm64, Linux x86_64/aarch64, Windows). Last release 8 days ago; active maintenance with 1153 GitHub stars.
Requires Python >=3.8. Pre-built binaries available for macOS (Intel/ARM), Linux (x86_64/aarch64), and Windows; source builds require Rust.
License in practice
Dual-licensed under Apache-2.0 OR MIT (permissive). You may choose either license; no restrictions on commercial or private use.
Quickstart
pip install squawk-cli
squawk example.sql
# or check stdin: squawk --stdin-filepath=migration.sql < migration.sqlVerify before relying
- How many built-in rules are available and what is their coverage of common migration anti-patterns.
- Performance on large SQL files or migration batches.
- Integration maturity with CI/CD systems beyond GitHub Actions.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 OR MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.8 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 8 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 520,481 / month, #6,210 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPyProgramming Language :: Rust |
Evidence: squawk_cli-2.62.0-py3-none-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl; squawk_cli-2.62.0-py3-none-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; squawk_cli-2.62.0-py3-none-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; squawk_cli-2.62.0-py3-none-manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; squawk_cli-2.62.0-py3-none-win32.whl; squawk_cli-2.62.0-py3-none-win_amd64.whl
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