SQL Editor

PondPilot’s SQL editor is built for productivity with syntax highlighting, intelligent autocomplete, and full DuckDB SQL support.

Editor Features

Syntax Highlighting

The editor provides full SQL syntax highlighting powered by CodeMirror:

• Keywords (SELECT, FROM, WHERE, etc.)
• Functions (COUNT, SUM, AVG, etc.)
• Strings, numbers, and comments
• Table and column references

Autocomplete

Start typing to get intelligent suggestions:

• Table names from your data sources
• Column names based on context
• DuckDB functions with signatures
• Keywords and SQL clauses

Press Tab or Enter to accept a suggestion.

Function Tooltips

Hover over any DuckDB function to see:

• Function signature
• Parameter descriptions
• Return type
• Example usage

Executing Queries

Run Entire Script

Press Ctrl+Enter (or ⌘+Enter on Mac) to execute all statements in your script.

Multiple statements are executed in order:

-- All three statements run sequentially
CREATE TABLE temp AS SELECT * FROM data;
UPDATE temp SET status = 'processed';
SELECT * FROM temp;

Run Statement Under Cursor

Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to execute only the statement where your cursor is positioned.

This is useful for:

• Testing individual queries in a larger script
• Re-running a specific statement
• Debugging step by step

Execution Feedback

After running a query:

• Success - Results appear in the table below
• Error - Error message with line number and details
• Timing - Execution duration displayed

Query Results

Results Table

Results display in an interactive table:

Feature	Description
Sort	Click column headers
Filter	Filter by column values
Paginate	Navigate large result sets
Copy	Select and copy cells
Resize	Drag column borders

NULL Values

NULL values are clearly indicated with a distinct style, making them easy to distinguish from empty strings.

Data Types

Column headers show the data type:

name (VARCHAR) | age (INTEGER) | created_at (TIMESTAMP)

Editor Customization

Font Settings

Customize the editor font in Settings → Appearance:

• Font size - Adjust text size
• Font weight - Light, regular, semibold, or bold

Format on Run

Enable automatic SQL formatting when executing queries:

1. Open Settings → Appearance
2. Toggle “Format on Run”

When enabled, your SQL is automatically formatted before execution.

Script Management

Creating Scripts

Create new scripts using:

• Ctrl+K → “New SQL Script”
• Click the + button in the tab bar
• Spotlight → type a name for your script

Naming Scripts

Click the script name in the tab to rename it. Scripts are auto-saved with their names.

Script Storage

Scripts are automatically saved to your browser’s IndexedDB:

• Persistent - Scripts survive browser restarts
• Automatic - No manual save needed
• Per-browser - Scripts are specific to your browser profile

Importing SQL Files

Import existing .sql files:

1. Press Ctrl+I or Spotlight → “Import SQL Files”
2. Select one or more .sql files
3. Each file opens as a new script tab

Exporting Scripts

Export all your scripts as a ZIP archive:

1. Open Settings → Saved Data
2. Click “Export All Queries”
3. Download the ZIP file

Working with Tabs

Tab Management

• Multiple tabs - Work on multiple scripts simultaneously
• Reorder - Drag tabs to rearrange
• Close - Click the X or middle-click
• Close others - Right-click → “Close Other Tabs”

Tab Types

Tab Type	Icon	Description
Script	📝	SQL query editor
Table	📊	Data source preview
Comparison	⚖️	Data comparison results

Error Handling

Syntax Errors

Errors are highlighted with:

• Red underline on the problematic code
• Error message with line number
• Suggested fix (when available)

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
Table not found	Table doesn’t exist or isn’t loaded	Check Data Explorer for available tables
Column not found	Typo or wrong table	Use autocomplete for column names
Syntax error	Invalid SQL	Check DuckDB documentation

DuckDB SQL Reference

PondPilot uses DuckDB, which supports standard SQL plus many extensions:

Useful Functions

-- Read files directly
SELECT * FROM read_csv('file.csv');
SELECT * FROM read_parquet('file.parquet');
SELECT * FROM read_json('file.json');

-- Export results
COPY (SELECT * FROM data) TO 'output.parquet';

-- Describe tables
DESCRIBE my_table;
SHOW TABLES;

-- String functions
SELECT string_agg(name, ', ') FROM users;

-- Window functions
SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY category) FROM sales;

DuckDB Extensions

PondPilot includes common DuckDB extensions:

• parquet - Parquet file support
• json - JSON functions
• excel - Excel file reading

For complete DuckDB SQL reference, see DuckDB Documentation.