pg-export

Overview

CLI tool for exporting PostgreSQL data to timestamped CSV files. Supports four modes: list tables, export single table, export all tables, or execute a custom query. Works against any PostgreSQL 12+ instance with auto-schema discovery.

Usage

pg-export <MODE> [OPTIONS]

Modes

Exactly one mode must be specified per invocation.

Mode	Description
-l, --list-tables	List all tables and exit
-t, --table NAME	Export a single table to CSV
-a, --all	Export all tables (one CSV per table)
-q, --query SQL	Execute custom SQL and export to CSV

Options

Option	Description	Default
-c, --connection-string URL	PostgreSQL connection string	DATABASE_URL env var
-o, --output DIR	Output directory	./exports
-f, --filename NAME	Override auto-generated filename	--
-w, --where CLAUSE	SQL WHERE filter (--table and --all only)	--

Prerequisites

• Repo: pg-export
• Install: npm install from repo root
• Environment: DATABASE_URL or --connection-string flag
• Database: PostgreSQL 12+

Examples

List all tables

pg-export --list-tables

Export a single table

pg-export --table=contact --output=./exports

Export with a WHERE filter

pg-export --table=contact --where="location_id = 59" --output=./exports

Export all tables

pg-export --all --output=./exports

Custom SQL query

pg-export --query="SELECT c.id, c.name FROM contact c WHERE c.active = true" \
  --filename=active-contacts.csv --output=./exports

Use explicit connection string

pg-export --connection-string "postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/mydb" --list-tables

Output

• Format: CSV with headers (UTF-8)
• Naming: {table}-YYYY-MM-DD.csv for tables, query-YYYY-MM-DD.csv for queries
• Empty tables: 0-byte file written
• Credentials: Automatically redacted in console output