SQLink

SQLite + a portable extension ecosystem, distributed as WebAssembly Components. The full SQLite C library compiles to WASI Preview 2 alongside a cli, a host runtime, ~110 extension components, and a contract (sqlite-loader-wit) that says how any wasm component becomes an extension — scalar function, aggregate, collation, virtual table, authorizer, or interactive dot command.

The point: you can write a SQLite extension in any language that targets wasm (Rust, C, AssemblyScript, ...), publish it as a .wasm file, and load it into the cli with .load FILE — the same shape sqlite3_load_extension() has, but sandboxed, portable, and language-agnostic.

What's here

core/                 Rust wrapper over libsqlite3-sys. The host's
                      sqlite3 connection lives here; the cli no
                      longer carries one of its own (Stage 5f
                      purged libsqlite3-sys from the cli crate).
cli/                  The cli  a wasm component that loads other
                      components via `.load`. Hot-path SQL goes
                      through the host's connection via spi;
                      dot-commands route to dotcmd-aware extensions.
host/                 The runtime. Loads + runs the cli component
                      and any extension components it `.load`s.
                      Ships as the `sqlink` binary.
sqlite-loader-wit/    The WIT contract every extension speaks.
                      Defines worlds for scalar-only, aggregate,
                      collation, vtab (read-only + mutable +
                      batched), authorizer, dot-command, and the
                      shared `spi` interface for back-channel SQL.
extensions/           ~110 extension components. Mix of ports of
                      well-known SQLite extensions (json1, fts5,
                      rtree, regexp, math, crypto, sha3, totype,
                      uint, eval, zorder, ...), general scalar
                      packs (ipaddr, ulid, isin, vin, ...), and
                      dot-command extensions (sqlite-utils-*,
                      core-dotcmd, session-cli, archive-cli, ...).
tooling/              Build + test infra. Scaffold script, smoke
                      harness, cli cheatsheet, lessons-learned doc.
provenance/           Per-extension version-tracking db.
examples/             Walk-through scripts (sqlite-utils-tour.sql
                      drives every shipped sqlite-utils command).
analysis/             Function-catalogue gap analysis vs PostgreSQL,
                      MySQL, DuckDB, ClickHouse, Snowflake, BigQuery.

Quick taste

Build the host + cli once:

cargo build --release                                 # builds host (sqlink)
cargo build -p sqlite-cli --target wasm32-wasip2 \
            --release                                 # builds cli wasm
wasm-tools component new \
    target/wasm32-wasip2/release/sqlite_cli.wasm \
    -o target/wasm32-wasip2/release/sqlite_cli.component.wasm

Run a SQL session:

./target/release/sqlink \
    --db mydata.db \
    target/wasm32-wasip2/release/sqlite_cli.component.wasm
sqlite> CREATE TABLE t(id INTEGER, name TEXT);
sqlite> INSERT INTO t VALUES (1, 'alice');
sqlite> .tables
sqlite> .help                  -- list all available dot commands
sqlite> .help insert           -- detail for a specific command

The CLI is the sqlink binary — named after the loadable-extension contract it ships. If you prefer the familiar sqlite command name, symlink it onto your PATH:

ln -s /full/path/to/target/release/sqlink ~/.local/bin/sqlite

The binary doesn't look at argv[0], so it behaves identically under either name.

Load an extension and use its scalars:

sqlite> .load extensions/sha3/target/wasm32-wasip2/release/sha3_extension.component.wasm
sqlite> SELECT sha3('hello', 256);
sqlite> SELECT sha3_256('hello');

Ingest, transform, and search à la sqlite-utils:

sqlite> .insert dogs dogs.json --pk id
sqlite> .add_column dogs adopted bool
sqlite> .transform dogs --type age real --rename age age_years
sqlite> .enable_fts dogs name breed --create-triggers
sqlite> .search dogs labrador
sqlite> .analyze_tables dogs

Build a new extension end-to-end:

python3 tooling/scaffold.py myext \
    --description "my new extension" \
    --world minimal
# edit extensions/myext/src/lib.rs to add scalars
make ext-ship NAME=myext   # build + smoke + regression-test the catalog

Dot-command extensions

Dot commands aren't baked into the cli — they live in dotcmd-aware wasm extensions that the cli auto-embeds (or that the user .loads explicitly). 73 commands ship across 10 extensions today; .help enumerates them all.

Extension	Commands
core-dotcmd	.tables, .schema, .indexes, .dbinfo, .dbconfig, .fullschema, .lint, .changes, .timer, .parameter, .width, .timeout, .show, .print, .echo, .bail, .headers, .mode, .databases, .limit, .help, ...
sqlite-utils-schema	.create_table, .create_index, .create_view, .drop_table, .drop_view, .rename_table, .duplicate, .add_column, .transform, .extract, .add_fk, .add_fks, .index_fks, .views, .triggers
sqlite-utils-data	.insert, .upsert, .bulk, .insert_files, .rows, .analyze_tables, .convert, .memory
sqlite-utils-fts	.enable_fts, .disable_fts, .rebuild_fts, .populate_fts, .search
sqlite-utils-maint	.vacuum, .analyze, .optimize, .enable_wal, .disable_wal, .enable_counts, .reset_counts, .create_database
sqlink-meta-cli	.sqlink list / show / install / uninstall / bundle / unbundle / verify / gc / export + resolver subcommands
archive-cli	.archive
serialize-cli	.serialize, .deserialize
session-cli	.session create / attach / changeset / patchset / list / delete / ...
sha3sum-cli	.sha3sum

Every command is discoverable: .help lists them, .help <cmd> renders usage, prose help, and worked examples drawn from the extension's own manifest. Authoring guide: AUTHORING-DOTCMD-COMPONENTS.md.

Extension catalog highlights

Category	Examples
Real SQLite ext/misc/ ports	json1, regexp, math, crypto, uuid, fts5 (bundled), rtree (bundled), csv, stats, sha3 (shathree), totype, uint, eval, zorder, completion
Third-party SQLite extensions	extension-functions.c (Liam Healy), spellfix1, decimal, ieee754, closure, fileio, ipaddr, generate_series (vec0 family for ANN search)
PostGIS bridge	~420 functions wrapping postgis-wasm / sfcgal-wasm / geos-wasm
Identifier validators	vin, isin, cusip, aba, bic, ean, creditcard, postcode, ssn, mac, iban, container
Reference data	currency (ISO 4217), country (ISO 3166), iban (ISO 13616)
Utility scalar packs	color, unitconv, humansize, latlon, numfmt, radix, natsort, setops, geo-distance
Dot-command extensions	sqlite-utils-{schema,data,fts,maint}, core-dotcmd, session-cli, archive-cli, sqlink-meta-cli (see above)

Total: ~110 wasm component extensions.

Where to go next

Doc	Purpose
ARCHITECTURE.md	Bird's-eye view: which piece does what, why
AUTHORING-DOTCMD-COMPONENTS.md	Step-by-step: build a new .command
AUTHORING-RUN-COMPONENTS.md	Step-by-step: build a new runnable component
tooling/cli-cheatsheet.md	Every dot-command + when it's useful in tests
tooling/extension-patterns.md	Shape catalog for scalar/agg/vtab/etc.
tooling/lessons-learned.md	Per-ship retrospectives
PLAN-sqlite-plugins.md	Catalog of shipped extensions
PLAN-gaps.md	What's NOT shipped + ranked next-up
PLAN-sqlite-utils-port.md	Stage-by-stage: porting sqlite-utils as dot commands
PLAN-cli-stages-5-6.md	The CLI_CONN purge + .session port
analysis/README.md	Function-catalog gap analysis (6 DBs)

Status

Active project. Working surface (cli + host + ~110 extensions + 73 dot commands + tooling) is shippable today.

Recent milestones:

• CLI_CONN purge (Stage 5f): the cli no longer carries its own libsqlite3-sys connection. All function/agg/coll/vtab/hook registration routes through the host's shared spi connection. Cli wasm component dropped from 2.4 MB → 1.3 MB.
• .session port (Stage 6): changesets / patchsets ride the same shared connection via a new sqlite:extension/session WIT interface.
• sqlite-utils port: 35 dot commands across 4 new extensions (schema / data / fts / maint), driven by PLAN-sqlite-utils-port.md.
• .help discoverability: enumerates every registered dot command across every loaded extension, surfaces per-command usage + worked examples.

Known gaps documented in PLAN-gaps.md; the big ones are hot-reload of extensions, stack-trace propagation from wasm panics, and SpatiaLite-grade geospatial.

License

SQLite itself is in the public domain. The wrapping code in this repo (host, cli, extensions, tooling) is MIT.