sqlite-scanner

sqlite-scanner is a tiny Go CLI that recurses through one or more directories, checks each regular file’s header bytes, and reports the ones whose first 16 bytes match SQLite format 3\x00. It never trusts file extensions, and it can run multiple workers in parallel for speed.

Features

• scans one or more positional paths or falls back to . when no paths are specified
• configurable worker pool via --workers (defaults to your CPU count)
• always prints absolute paths so results are unambiguous
• optional --size flag that appends file sizes to text output and emits JSON objects like {"path": "...", "size": ...}
• newline-delimited JSON via --jsonl; use --size to include each object's size field
• JSON output mode (--json) that pretty-prints {"entries": [...]} objects for downstream processing
• streams matches immediately as they’re discovered (plain text and pretty JSON)
• custom --help text that describes usage, examples, and notes

Installation

Run without installing (Go)

If you have Go installed, you can run it directly without cloning anything:

go run github.com/simonw/sqlite-scanner@latest /path/to/scan

Run without installing (Python)

The package is also available on PyPI. If you have uv installed:

uvx sqlite-scanner /path/to/scan

Install with pip

pip install sqlite-scanner

Or with uv:

uv tool install sqlite-scanner

Install with Go

go install github.com/simonw/sqlite-scanner@latest

Download a binary

Pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are available on the releases page.

On macOS, the downloaded binary may be blocked by Gatekeeper. Follow Apple's instructions for opening apps from unidentified developers to allow it to run.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-scanner
cd sqlite-scanner
go build -o sqlite-scanner

Usage

Simple scan (current directory):

sqlite-scanner

Scan /tmp and $HOME:

sqlite-scanner /tmp ~

Use JSON mode:

sqlite-scanner /tmp --json

Example JSON output shape:

{
  "entries": [
    {"path": "/abs/path/to/db1.sqlite"},
    {"path": "/abs/path/to/db2.sqlite"}
  ]
}

Use newline-delimited JSON to stream objects per line (requires --size to include size):

sqlite-scanner --jsonl ~/dev

Example JSONL output shape (no size):

{"path": "/abs/path/to/db1.sqlite"}
{"path": "/abs/path/to/db2.sqlite"}

Example JSONL output shape (with --size):

{"path": "/abs/path/to/db1.sqlite", "size": 12345}
{"path": "/abs/path/to/db2.sqlite", "size": 67890}

Include sizes (plain text shows (size bytes) and JSON outputs objects) with:

sqlite-scanner --size /tmp --json

Example --size output (plain text):

/abs/path/to/db1.sqlite (12345 bytes)
/abs/path/to/db2.sqlite (67890 bytes)

Check available flags (it prints the detailed help text added earlier; all flags use the --flag form):

sqlite-scanner --help

Testing

go test