Nushell Storage & File Formats

Guide for data persistence, file format handling, and SQLite storage in Nushell. Covers the stor commands for in-memory SQLite, file format conversions, and efficient data storage patterns.

The stor System

Nushell's stor provides an in-memory SQLite database accessible across commands:

nushell

# Available stor commands
stor create    # Create table
stor delete    # Delete rows
stor export    # Export to file
stor import    # Import from file
stor insert    # Insert rows
stor open      # Open/create database
stor reset     # Reset database
stor update    # Update rows
help stor      # Full documentation

Creating Tables

nushell

# Create table with schema
stor create --table-name users --columns {
    id: int
    name: str
    email: str
    created_at: datetime
    active: bool
}

# View tables
stor open | schema

Inserting Data

nushell

# Insert single row
stor insert --table-name users --data-record {
    id: 1
    name: "Alice"
    email: "alice@example.com"
    created_at: (date now)
    active: true
}

# Insert multiple rows from table
[[id, name, email]; [2, "Bob", "bob@example.com"], [3, "Carol", "carol@example.com"]]
| each { |row|
    stor insert --table-name users --data-record $row
}

Querying Data

nushell

# Query with SQL
stor open | query db "SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1"

# Query with conditions
stor open | query db "SELECT name, email FROM users WHERE id > 1 ORDER BY name"

# Aggregations
stor open | query db "SELECT COUNT(*) as count, active FROM users GROUP BY active"

Updating and Deleting

nushell

# Update rows
stor update --table-name users --update-record {active: false} --where-clause "id = 1"

# Delete rows
stor delete --table-name users --where-clause "active = 0"

Persistence

nushell

# Export to SQLite file
stor export --file-name data.sqlite

# Import from SQLite file
stor import --file-name data.sqlite

# Reset in-memory database
stor reset

File Formats

CSV

nushell

# Read CSV
open data.csv                      # Auto-detect
open data.csv --raw | from csv     # Explicit

# Read with options
open data.tsv | from csv --separator "\t"
open data.csv | from csv --noheaders

# Write CSV
$data | to csv | save output.csv
$data | to csv --noheaders | save output.csv

# Streaming large CSV
open large.csv | take 1000 | to csv | save sample.csv

JSON

nushell

# Read JSON
open data.json                     # Auto-detect
open config.json | get settings    # Navigate structure

# Write JSON
$data | to json | save output.json
$data | to json --indent 2 | save pretty.json

# JSON Lines (newline-delimited)
open events.jsonl | lines | each { from sideways | from json }
$records | each { |r| $r | to json } | str join "\n" | save events.jsonl

Parquet

Parquet provides columnar storage with compression - ideal for large datasets:

nushell

# Read parquet (requires polars or formats plugin)
open data.parquet

# Write parquet
$data | polars into-df | polars save output.parquet

# Read parquet with polars
polars open data.parquet

# Efficient large file handling
polars scan-parquet "data/*.parquet"
| polars filter ((polars col year) == 2024)
| polars collect

TOML and YAML

nushell

# Read TOML
open config.toml
open Cargo.toml | get package.name

# Write TOML
$config | to toml | save config.toml

# Read YAML
open data.yaml
open deployment.yaml | get spec.containers

# Write YAML
$data | to yaml | save output.yaml

NUON (Nushell Object Notation)

NUON is Nushell's native format - preserves types exactly:

nushell

# Read NUON
open data.nuon

# Write NUON
$data | to nuon | save data.nuon

# Benefits over JSON:
# - Preserves dates, durations, filesizes
# - Supports comments
# - More readable

XML

nushell

# Read XML
open feed.xml | from xml

# Navigate XML structure
open pom.xml | from xml | get project.dependencies.dependency

# Write XML (limited)
$data | to xml | save output.xml

Format Conversion

Common Conversions

nushell

# CSV to Parquet (efficient storage)
open large.csv | polars into-df | polars save data.parquet

# JSON to CSV
open data.json | get items | to csv | save data.csv

# Parquet to JSON
polars open data.parquet | polars into-nu | to json | save data.json

# YAML to TOML
open config.yaml | to toml | save config.toml

Batch Conversion

nushell

# Convert all CSV files to parquet
ls *.csv | each { |f|
    let output = $f.name | str replace ".csv" ".parquet"
    open $f.name | polars into-df | polars save $output
    print $"Converted: ($f.name) -> ($output)"
}

Storage Patterns

Configuration Storage

nushell

# config.nu - Store app configuration
export def "config load" [name: string] {
    let path = [$nu.home-path, ".config", $name, "config.toml"] | path join
    if ($path | path exists) {
        open $path
    } else {
        {}
    }
}

export def "config save" [name: string, data: record] {
    let dir = [$nu.home-path, ".config", $name] | path join
    mkdir $dir
    $data | to toml | save --force ([$dir, "config.toml"] | path join)
}

# Usage
let cfg = config load "myapp"
config save "myapp" {api_url: "https://api.example.com", timeout: 30}

Cache Pattern

nushell

# Cache expensive operations
def cached-fetch [url: string, --ttl: duration = 1hr] {
    let cache_dir = [$nu.home-path, ".cache", "nushell"] | path join
    let cache_file = [$cache_dir, ($url | hash md5)] | path join

    mkdir $cache_dir

    if ($cache_file | path exists) {
        let age = (date now) - (ls $cache_file | get 0.modified)
        if $age < $ttl {
            return (open $cache_file)
        }
    }

    let data = http get $url
    $data | to json | save --force $cache_file
    $data
}

Session State

nushell

# Persist state between shell sessions
export def "state save" [key: string, value: any] {
    stor create --table-name state --columns {key: str, value: str} | ignore
    stor delete --table-name state --where-clause $"key = '($key)'" | ignore
    stor insert --table-name state --data-record {key: $key, value: ($value | to nuon)}
}

export def "state load" [key: string, default?: any] {
    let result = stor open | query db $"SELECT value FROM state WHERE key = '($key)'"
    if ($result | is-empty) {
        $default
    } else {
        $result.0.value | from nuon
    }
}

Database Patterns

Schema Migrations

nushell

# Track schema version
def migrate [target_version: int] {
    let current = stor open
    | query db "SELECT version FROM schema_version"
    | get 0?.version
    | default 0

    if $current < $target_version {
        for v in ($current + 1)..=$target_version {
            print $"Migrating to version ($v)..."
            run-migration $v
        }
    }
}

def run-migration [version: int] {
    match $version {
        1 => {
            stor create --table-name users --columns {id: int, name: str}
        }
        2 => {
            stor open | query db "ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN email TEXT"
        }
    }
    stor open | query db $"UPDATE schema_version SET version = ($version)"
}

Bulk Operations

nushell

# Efficient bulk insert
def bulk-insert [table: string, records: list] {
    # Build SQL for bulk insert
    let columns = $records.0 | columns | str join ", "
    let values = $records | each { |r|
        let vals = $r | values | each { |v| $"'($v)'" } | str join ", "
        $"(($vals))"
    } | str join ", "

    stor open | query db $"INSERT INTO ($table) (($columns)) VALUES ($values)"
}

Performance Tips

•Use parquet for large datasets - Columnar format with compression
•Prefer stor for temporary data - Fast in-memory SQLite
•Export stor periodically - Persist important data
•Use lazy loading - polars scan-parquet for large files
•Index frequently queried columns - In SQLite files

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed techniques:

•references/sqlite-tips.md - SQLite optimization
•references/format-comparison.md - When to use each format

Example Files

Working examples in examples/:

•etl-pipeline.nu - Extract, transform, load workflow
•data-migration.nu - Schema migration example