SemiColon

Philosophy

Most SQL formatters produce code that is syntactically correct but visually noisy.
The SemiColon Style treats SQL as prose: it has a rhythm, a visible structure, and a clear centre of gravity — the River.

The goal is not merely consistency; it is readability at a glance.

Installation

From PyPI

pip install semicolonfmt

From source

git clone https://github.com/mustafaa7med/semicolon.git
cd semicolon
pip install -e .

Verify

semicolon --version

---

Usage

Format a single file

semicolon query.sql

The file is formatted in-place.

Format all .sql files in the current directory

semicolon .

CI/CD check mode

semicolon query.sql --check   # exits 1 if formatting is needed
semicolon . --check           # check all .sql files

No files are written in --check mode — it is safe to use in pipelines.

---

Before & After

Before (messy, unformatted)

with
active_users as (
select u.id, u.name as user_name, u.email as user_email, u.created_at from users u where u.active = true and u.deleted_at is null
),
recent_orders as (
select o.user_id, count(*) as order_count, sum(o.total) as total_spent from orders o where o.created_at between '2024-01-01' and '2024-12-31' group by o.user_id
)
select au.user_name, au.user_email, ro.order_count, ro.total_spent from active_users au left join recent_orders ro on au.id = ro.user_id where ro.total_spent > 500 order by ro.total_spent desc limit 100;

After

WITH active_users AS(
    SELECT  u.id,
            u.name  AS user_name,
            u.email AS user_email,
            u.created_at
      FROM  users u
     WHERE  u.active = TRUE
       AND  u.deleted_at IS NULL
),

recent_orders AS(
    SELECT  o.user_id,
            COUNT(*)     AS order_count,
            SUM(o.total) AS total_spent
      FROM  orders o
     WHERE  o.created_at BETWEEN '2024-01-01'
                             AND '2024-12-31'
  GROUP BY  o.user_id
)

    SELECT  au.user_name,
            au.user_email,
            ro.order_count,
            ro.total_spent
      FROM  active_users au
 LEFT JOIN  recent_orders ro
        ON  au.id = ro.user_id
     WHERE  ro.total_spent > 500
  ORDER BY  ro.total_spent DESC
     LIMIT  100;

---

Pre-commit Integration

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/mustafaa7med/semicolon
    rev: v0.1.4
    hooks:
      - id: semicolon
        args: [--check]

---

License

Apache — see LICENSE.