lanceview

Interactive shell for exploring LanceDB databases — like psql, but for vector stores.

Install

npm install -g @phdthu26/lanceview

Quick start

lanceview ./path/to/lancedb   # open a specific directory
lanceview .                    # auto-detect if current directory is a LanceDB

If the database has only one table, lanceview connects to it automatically.

Commands

Command	Description
.open <path>	Open a different LanceDB directory without restarting
.tables	List all tables with row counts
.use <table>	Switch active table
.schema [table]	Show columns, Arrow types, and classes (text / vector / integer / …)
.count [filter]	Count rows; optional SQL WHERE filter
.head [n]	First n rows, default 20 (vector columns hidden)
.show <filter>	One matching row in full vertical format, including vector previews
.cols <c1,c2,...>	Pin visible columns for this session; * to reset
.limit <n>	Change default row limit for this session
.help	Print all commands
.exit / .quit	Exit

Querying

SQL SELECT

SELECT * WHERE category = 'news'
SELECT id, title, author WHERE category = 'news' LIMIT 5
SELECT id, title LIMIT 10

No FROM needed — queries run against the active table.

WHERE-clause shorthand

Bare input (no leading .) is treated as a SQL WHERE filter:

category = 'news'
category = 'news' LIMIT 5
category = 'news' | id, title, author

The | col1, col2 suffix selects columns inline for that query only, without changing your session .cols setting.

Filter examples

status = 'active'
score > 0.9
created_at > '2024-01-01'
type IN ('article', 'blog')
type = 'article' AND author LIKE '%example.com%'

Tips

• Tab completion — dot commands, table names, and column names all complete with Tab
• Vector columns are hidden in .head by default; use .schema to find their names
• .show is best for single-record inspection — full content, no truncation
• Ctrl+C exits the shell

License

MIT