Editing and Mutations

Every change in dadbod-grip goes through a staging layer before it touches the database. Stage one change or fifty, preview the full SQL, then apply in a single transaction with a single keystroke.

Row color legend

Staged changes are color-coded so you can see what will happen before a commits anything:

Nothing has touched the database yet. Press u to unstage individual edits or U to reset all.

Edit a cell

Move the cursor to any cell and press i or <CR>. A popup editor opens with the current value. Edit and press <CR> to stage, or <Esc> to cancel.

The row turns teal in the grid. Press gl to toggle the live SQL float: it shows the exact DML statement that will run, updating as you stage more changes.

NULL values

Press x to set a cell to NULL. The cell displays NULL in red. The generated SQL uses = NULL correctly (not an empty string).

Delete a row

Press d to toggle delete on the row under the cursor. The row turns red. Press d again to unstage the deletion.

Insert a new row

Press o to insert a new row after the cursor. A blank row opens in the popup editor. Fill in each column in sequence. The row turns green when staged.

Clone a row

Press c to duplicate the current row. Primary key columns are cleared so you can fill in a new PK without a conflict. All other columns copy their current values.

Batch editing

Enter visual mode with v or V, select multiple rows, then:

• e to set all selected cells in the current column to the same value
• d to toggle delete on all selected rows
• x to NULL all selected cells

Mutation preview

Press <C-CR> from the query pad to preview a mutation before executing. The affected rows appear color-coded in the grid. Press a to execute, u to cancel.

Navigate staged rows

Press { to jump to the previous modified row and } to jump to the next. Useful when you have staged edits scattered across a large table and want to review them before applying.

Apply changes

Press a to apply all staged changes. The full mutation runs in a single BEGIN/COMMIT transaction. If any statement fails, the entire batch rolls back and the staging layer stays intact.

Undo

After applying to the database, press u again to open the transaction undo layer. This generates a compensating SQL statement (UPDATE with original values, or INSERT for deleted rows) and applies it in a new transaction with confirmation.

Saved queries

:GripSave   -- save current query pad contents
:GripLoad   -- load a saved query

Queries persist in .grip/queries/ relative to the current working directory. They appear in the gq picker.

Watch mode

Watch mode re-runs the current query on a timer and updates the grid automatically. Useful for monitoring changing data or log tables.

:Grip file.csv --watch     -- default 5-second interval
:Grip file.csv --watch=10s -- custom interval

Toggle watch mode on any open grid with gW. An active watch mode shows as a blue badge in the grid winbar.

Write mode

Write mode applies edits back to the file on disk instead of running DML against a database. Supported for Parquet, CSV, JSON, NDJSON, TSV, and Arrow files opened through DuckDB.

:Grip data.parquet --write

Toggle on any open grid with g!. A red badge appears in the grid winbar.