Turso CLI: AI-Optimized Technical Reference

Core Value Proposition

Problem Solved: Eliminates PostgreSQL connection limits, Redis clustering complexity, and MongoDB's multi-server high availability requirements while providing SQLite that scales globally without server management.

Key Benefit: SQLite with automatic global replication and edge distribution without 3am debugging sessions or connection pooling issues.

Installation Methods & Failure Modes

Homebrew Installation (Recommended First Try)

brew install tursodatabase/tap/turso

Success Rate: Usually works on first try
Time Investment: 30 seconds to 20 minutes depending on dependency rebuilds
Critical Failure Points:

• PATH not updated until terminal restart (macOS Monterey+)
• Brew decides to rebuild dependencies causing 20-minute delays

Recovery:

• Restart terminal or source ~/.zshrc (macOS) / source ~/.bashrc (Linux)
• macOS may require full Terminal.app quit/restart

Universal Install Script (Backup Method)

curl -sSfL https://get.tur.so/install.sh | bash

Requirements: sudo access, installs to /usr/local/bin
Corporate Network Blocker: Often blocked by firewalls - expect "Connection refused" errors
Platform Detection: Fails on ARM setups or Alpine Linux

Go Installation (Expert Mode)

go install github.com/tursodatabase/turso-cli/cmd/turso@latest

Requirements: Go 1.21+ (Ubuntu often ships 1.19)
Common Failures:

• $GOPATH/bin not in PATH (frequent issue)
• Cryptic dependency errors with golang.org/x/sys
• Binary lands in $GOPATH/bin/turso or ~/go/bin/turso

When It Breaks: Expect to question life choices during troubleshooting

Manual Binary Download (Air-Gapped/Controlled Environments)

• Download from GitHub releases
• Platforms: Linux AMD64/ARM64, macOS AMD64/ARM64, Windows
• Required for air-gapped environments or specific version control

Authentication System & OAuth Failures

Primary Authentication Flow

turso auth signup  # New users
turso auth login   # Existing users

OAuth Breaking Points:

• Opens Internet Explorer on Windows (yes, really)
• Hangs indefinitely on WSL2 due to browser bridge issues
• Fails silently on Linux desktop environments
• Random failures after working 9 times successfully

Reliable Fallback (Headless Mode)

turso auth login --headless

Use When: OAuth fails, CI/CD environments, desktop browser issues
Method: Provides copy-paste URL for manual authentication
Reliability: Actually works consistently

Configuration Files Locations

• Linux: ~/.config/turso/settings.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/turso/settings.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\turso\settings.json

Security Warning: Contains auth tokens - never commit to Git

Database Operations & Gotchas

Database Creation

turso db create                    # Auto-generated name
turso db create my-project-db      # Specified name (recommended)
turso db create my-db --location ord  # Specific location

Critical Issue: Global namespace collision

• Database names are globally unique across all Turso users
• Error: "database name 'test' is already taken" with no suggestions
• Solution: Use descriptive names like my-test-db-2025

Core Management Commands

turso db list                      # List databases
turso db show my-db               # Database details
turso db show my-db --url         # Connection URL for apps
turso db destroy my-db            # Permanent deletion (no undo)

Interactive SQL Shell

turso db shell my-db                           # Interactive mode
turso db shell my-db "SELECT * FROM users"    # Single command
turso db shell my-db < migration.sql          # Execute SQL file

Connection Error Causes:

1. Wrong database name (check with turso db list)
2. Corporate firewall blocking api.turso.tech
3. Expired auth token
4. Database doesn't exist (accidentally deleted)

Unhelpful Error: "Error: failed to connect to database" (provides no diagnostic info)

Replication & Edge Distribution

Location Management

turso db locations              # List available regions
turso db replicate my-db lhr    # Add London replica
turso db replicate my-db syd    # Add Sydney replica

Purpose: Sub-100ms latency worldwide through read replicas
Automatic Features: Conflict resolution, edge architecture

Group Management (Schema Consistency)

turso group create production-group --location ord
turso group locations add production-group fra
turso db create prod-db --group production-group

Use Case: Database-per-tenant architectures with automatic schema migrations across thousands of databases

Token System & Access Control

API Token Creation

turso db tokens create my-db                # Read-write
turso db tokens create my-db --readonly     # Read-only
turso db tokens create my-db --expiration 1h # With expiration

Features: Fine-grained permissions, ATTACH permissions for multi-database queries
Production Recommendation: Use long-lived tokens with appropriate scoping

CI/CD Integration

export TURSO_TOKEN="your-api-token"
turso auth login --headless
turso db shell my-db "CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)"

Token Generation: turso auth api-tokens mint for automation

Resource Requirements & Limits

Free Tier Constraints

• Databases: 100 databases
• Storage: 5GB total
• Reality Check: Limits hit faster than expected with multiple prototypes

Usage Monitoring

turso org show  # Current usage

Warning System: Notifications before hitting limits (unlike surprise billing services)

Critical Warnings & Production Gotchas

What Official Documentation Doesn't Tell You

1. Global Namespace: Database names must be unique across ALL Turso users
2. Corporate Networks: Frequently blocked by firewalls
3. Token Expiration: Unhelpful "unauthorized" errors when tokens expire
4. PATH Issues: #1 cause of "command not found" after installation
5. OAuth Reliability: Random failures require headless fallback

Breaking Points

• Installation: Corporate firewalls, PATH configuration, Go version mismatches
• Authentication: Browser integration failures, WSL2 compatibility
• Connection: Network restrictions, expired tokens, wrong database names
• Development: Global name conflicts, quota limits hit unexpectedly

Comparison with Traditional Database CLIs

Complexity Factor	Turso CLI	PostgreSQL psql	MySQL CLI	SQLite CLI
Initial Setup	OAuth dance	47 environment variables	User privileges setup	Just works
Connection Management	Token-based HTTPS	Connection pooling nightmares	TCP/SSL configuration	File-based (local only)
Replication Setup	Built-in edge distribution	Complex streaming replication	Master-slave configuration	Manual file copying
Multi-user Access	Cloud-managed tokens	Role-based access control	User privilege system	File system permissions
Backup Strategy	Cloud-managed automatic	pg_dump manual process	mysqldump manual process	.backup command

Decision Criteria: When Turso CLI Is Worth It

Choose Turso When:

• Need SQLite scalability without server management
• Want sub-100ms global latency automatically
• Tired of PostgreSQL connection limit debugging
• Require database-per-tenant architecture at scale

Avoid When:

• Corporate network restrictions block cloud services
• Need complete air-gapped operation
• Existing PostgreSQL/MySQL expertise and infrastructure investment
• Free tier limits insufficient for use case

Time Investment Reality

• Learning Curve: 1-2 hours for basic operations
• Production Setup: 4-6 hours including authentication, replication, CI/CD
• Migration from SQLite: 2-4 hours depending on complexity
• Troubleshooting Corporate Network: 2-8 hours of IT coordination

This operational intelligence enables AI systems to make informed decisions about Turso CLI adoption and implementation while avoiding documented failure modes.