sqlite-utils 4.1

# Release: sqlite-utils 4.1 Source: [https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/11/sqlite-utils/](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/11/sqlite-utils/) The first dot\-release since[4\.0 a few days ago](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/7/sqlite-utils-4/), introducing a number of minor new features\. > - `sqlite\-utils insert`and`sqlite\-utils upsert`now accept a`\-\-code`option for[providing a block of Python code](https://sqlite-utils.datasette.io/en/stable/cli.html#cli-insert-code)\(or a path to a`\.py`file\) that defines a`rows\(\)`function or`rows`iterable of rows to insert, as an alternative to importing from a file\. \([\#684](https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-utils/issues/684)\) `sqlite\-utils`already had features that allow you to pass blocks of Python code as CLI arguments, for example[this one](https://sqlite-utils.datasette.io/en/stable/cli.html#converting-data-in-columns)for the`sqlite\-utils convert`command: ``` sqlite-utils convert content.db articles headline ' def convert(value): return value.upper()' ``` Allowing blocks of code to[generate new rows directly](https://sqlite-utils.datasette.io/en/stable/cli.html#inserting-rows-generated-by-python-code)was on obvious extension of that pattern: ``` sqlite-utils insert data.db creatures --code ' def rows(): yield {"id": 1, "name": "Cleo"} yield {"id": 2, "name": "Suna"} ' --pk id ``` > - `sqlite\-utils insert`and`sqlite\-utils upsert`now accept`\-\-type column\-name type`to[override the type automatically chosen when the table is created](https://sqlite-utils.datasette.io/en/stable/cli.html#cli-insert-csv-tsv-column-types)\. This is useful for CSV or TSV columns such as ZIP codes that look like integers but should be stored as`TEXT`to preserve leading zeros\. \([\#131](https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-utils/issues/131)\) A long\-standing feature request which turned out to be a[simple implementation](https://github.com/SAY-5/sqlite-utils/commit/d2ac3765ed9f0516bb0cbc2508a5c3907fb6a71a)\. > - New`table\.drop\_index\(name\)`method and`sqlite\-utils drop\-index`command for dropping an index by name\. Both accept`ignore=True`/`\-\-ignore`to ignore a missing index\. \([\#626](https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-utils/issues/626)\) - `sqlite\-utils query`can now read the SQL query from standard input by passing`\-`in place of the query, for example`echo "select \* from dogs" \| sqlite\-utils query dogs\.db \-`\. \([\#765](https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-utils/issues/765)\) Two more small features\. I had Codex review all open issues and highlight the easiest ones\! > - `sqlite\-utils upsert`can now infer the primary key of an existing table, so`\-\-pk`can be omitted when upserting into a table that already has a primary key\. Another Codex suggestion, an obvious missing CLI feature from a Python library improvement that shipped in the 4\.0 release\. > - `table\.transform\(\)`and`table\.transform\_sql\(\)`now accept`strict=True`or`strict=False`to change a table’s[SQLite strict mode](https://www.sqlite.org/stricttables.html)\. Omitting the option preserves the existing mode\. \([\#787](https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-utils/issues/787)\) - The`sqlite\-utils transform`command now accepts`\-\-strict`and`\-\-no\-strict`to change a table’s strict mode\. \([\#787](https://github.com/simonw/sqlite-utils/issues/787)\) These two were inspired by[Prefer STRICT tables in SQLite](https://evanhahn.com/prefer-strict-tables-in-sqlite/)by Evan Hahn, which did the rounds[on Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48873940)today\. Evan pointed out that: > Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way to ALTER a table to make it strict\. I think you have to copy the data out of the non\-strict table into the strict one\. That's exactly what the[sqlite\-utils transform mechanism](https://sqlite-utils.datasette.io/en/stable/python-api.html#transforming-a-table)does, so I extended it to add the ability to switch tables from strict to non\-strict and vice\-versa\. Here's[the GPT\-5\.6 Sol xhigh Codex transcript](https://gist.github.com/simonw/ab8256b81646ad967a601975e206de64)I used to implement those new strict table features\. One of the most useful prompts I ran was this one: > `use uv run python \-c and manually exercise the new \.transform\(strict=\) option, see if you can find any edge\-cases or bugs` Effectively telling the model to manually test its work, outside of the automated tests it had already written\. This turned up two minor issues that we then fixed\.