Getting Started

Goal: Go from zero to running your first natural language database query.

Time: ~3 minutes

Prerequisites:

A database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, or DuckDB)
An API key from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or Groq

1. Install

uv tool install sqlsaber

2. Run the setup

saber

On first run, SQLsaber walks you through:

Database connection — Choose your database type and enter connection details
Authentication — Enter your AI provider API key; credentials are stored in your OS keychain

3. Ask your first question

After setup completes, you’re in interactive mode. Try:

> How many VPs have become presidents via election in the 20th century?

SQLsaber will:

Discover relevant tables
Analyze their schema
Generate SQL
Execute and explain results

Interactive mode commands

Command	Action
`/clear`	Clear conversation history
`/exit`	Exit SQLsaber
`@tablename`	Autocomplete table names
`#your note`	Add to memory (e.g., `#dates are UTC`)

Non-interactive mode

Run single queries without entering the REPL:

# Direct query
saber "How many users signed up this week?"

# Specific database
saber -d production "Show me failed payments"

# Pipe from stdin
echo "Top 10 customers by revenue" | saber

# Save output
saber "Monthly active users" > report.md

Next steps

Add memory — Teach SQLsaber about your database conventions
Resume threads — Continue past conversations
Configure models — Switch AI providers or models
Database setup — SSL, connection strings, multiple databases

Troubleshooting

Error	Fix
”No database connections configured”	Run `saber db add mydb`
”Authentication not configured”	Run `saber auth setup`
”Database connection failed”	Run `saber db test mydb` to diagnose

For command reference, see saber --help or the full documentation.