import | SurrealDB

A command that imports a file in SurrealQL format into a local or remote SurrealDB database server.

!NOTE: BEFORE YOU START
Make sure you’ve installed SurrealDB — it should only take a second!

Command options

Arguments	Description
`-e` / `--endpoint`	Sets the url of the database server to connect to. Defaults to http://127.0.0.1:8000 if not specified
`-u` / `--user`	Sets master username for the database
`-p` / `--pass`	Sets master password for the database
`-t` / `--token`	Sets the authentication token to use when connecting to the server. Connect to SurrealDB using a JWT instead of user credentials
`--ns`	Sets the desired namespace in which to import data
`--db`	Sets the desired database into which to import data

Positional argument

Arguments	Description
`file`	Sets the path to the file to import

Example usage

To perform a SurrealQL database import from a local file, in a terminal run the surreal import command with the required arguments.

surreal import --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass secret \
  --ns main --db main downloads/surreal_deal_v1.surql

Using token-based authentication:

surreal import --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --token <token> --ns main \
  --db main downloads/surreal_deal_v1.surql

Note

If you are using Surrealist, you can import files into your database by using the Import database button in the Explorer view. See the Surrealist documentation for more information.

Validating files before import

A good practice before importing for the first time is to use the surreal validate command to ensure that the statements therein are valid SurrealQL. This allows you to save time by failing quickly on the command line if there is invalid SurrealQL instead of starting a full database instance that will eventually fail in the middle of the import process.

Using environment variables

When using the surreal import command, you can also use environment variables to set the values for the command-line flags.

Important

Most of the flags mentioned in the command output above also mention a corresponding environment variables.

For example, the --username flag can be configured with the SURREAL_USER environment variable instead.

For more on the environment variables available for CLI commands or SurrealDB instances in general, see the environment variables page.

OPTION IMPORT

The output of a database export includes a line that contains the keywords OPTION IMPORT. This command is used internally to ensure that side effects do not run when the data is imported, such as events and table views.

As of SurrealDB 3.0.4, this line must be present in order to use the /import endpoint. If side effects when importing a .surql file are desired, remove the OPTION IMPORT line and use the /sql endpoint instead.

Importing data from other databases and sources

To import data from other sources besides .surql files (such as PostgreSQL, MongoDB, CSV data, Kafka, etc.), see the migrations section of the documentation.

Command help

To see the help information and usage instructions, in a terminal run the surreal import --help command without any further arguments. This command gives general information on the arguments, inputs, and additional options for the import command.

surreal import --help

The output of the above command:

Import a SurrealQL script into an existing database

Usage: surreal import [OPTIONS] --namespace <NAMESPACE> --database <DATABASE> <FILE>

Arguments:
  <FILE>  Path to the SurrealQL file to import

Options:
  -e, --endpoint <ENDPOINT>      Database endpoint to import to [default: http://localhost:8000]
  -u, --username <USERNAME>      Database authentication username to use when connecting [env: SURREAL_USER=] [aliases: --user]
  -p, --password <PASSWORD>      Database authentication password to use when connecting [env: SURREAL_PASS=] [aliases: --pass]
  -t, --token <TOKEN>            Authentication token in JWT format to use when connecting [env: SURREAL_TOKEN=]
      --auth-level <AUTH_LEVEL>  Level on which the authenticating user is defined [env: SURREAL_AUTH_LEVEL=] [default: root] [possible
                                 values: root, namespace, ns, database, db]
      --namespace <NAMESPACE>    The namespace selected for the operation [env: SURREAL_NAMESPACE=] [aliases: --ns]
      --database <DATABASE>      The database selected for the operation [env: SURREAL_DATABASE=] [aliases: --db]
  -h, --help                     Print help

Logging:
  -l, --log <LOG>                              The logging level for the command-line tool [env: SURREAL_LOG=] [default: info] [possible
                                               values: none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace]
      --log-format <LOG_FORMAT>                The format for terminal log output [env: SURREAL_LOG_FORMAT=] [default: text] [possible
                                               values: text, json]
      --log-socket <LOG_SOCKET>                Send logs to the specified host:port [env: SURREAL_LOG_SOCKET=]
      --log-file-level <LOG_FILE_LEVEL>        Override the logging level for file output [env: SURREAL_LOG_FILE_LEVEL=] [possible values:
                                               none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace]
      --log-otel-level <LOG_OTEL_LEVEL>        Override the logging level for OpenTelemetry output [env: SURREAL_LOG_OTEL_LEVEL=] [possible
                                               values: none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace]
      --log-socket-level <LOG_SOCKET_LEVEL>    Override the logging level for unix socket output [env: SURREAL_LOG_SOCKET_LEVEL=] [possible
                                               values: none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace]
      --log-socket-format <LOG_SOCKET_FORMAT>  The format for socket output [env: SURREAL_LOG_SOCKET_FORMAT=] [default: text] [possible
                                               values: text, json]
      --log-file-enabled                       Whether to enable log file output [env: SURREAL_LOG_FILE_ENABLED=]
      --log-file-path <LOG_FILE_PATH>          The directory where log files will be stored [env: SURREAL_LOG_FILE_PATH=] [default: logs]
      --log-file-name <LOG_FILE_NAME>          The name of the log file [env: SURREAL_LOG_FILE_NAME=] [default: surrealdb.log]
      --log-file-format <LOG_FILE_FORMAT>      The format for log file output [env: SURREAL_LOG_FILE_FORMAT=] [default: text] [possible
                                               values: text, json]
      --log-file-rotation <LOG_FILE_ROTATION>  The log file rotation interval [env: SURREAL_LOG_FILE_ROTATION=] [default: daily] [possible
                                               values: daily, hourly, never]