SQLab

An SQLab adventure is a text-based game where the player evolves through a series of isolated or interconnected puzzles by crafting SQL queries.

It consists in a standalone database encompassing the core dataset, a handful of stored procedures, and a table of encrypted messages (such as narrative elements, puzzle statements, answers, explanations, etc.).

There is no requirement to wrap a dedicated application around this database to “run” the game. It can be played on any generic GUI such as DBeaver, phpMyAdmin, pgAdmin, or directly in a command-line interface.

Each question comes with a unique formula, for example, salt_042(sum(hash) OVER ()). Appended to the SELECT clause, this formula calculates a decryption token, which may unlock the next episode or, if the query is incorrect, a tailored hint (assuming the game's creator has provided one).

In an educational context, this setup enables the students to learn and practice SQL without constant oversight. The instructor might stave off boredom by logging their queries and injecting new hints as needed, improving the game for all involved.

Examples on GitHub

Game	Pitch	Versions	DBMS	Included
SQLab Island	An adaptation of SQL Island by Johannes Schildgen	English	MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite	Sources + SQLab database
SQLab Sessform	A set of independent exercises + Mortelles Sessions, a police investigation on a training company	French	MySQL, PostgresQL	SQLab database
SQLab Corbeau	An original adaptation of the movie Le Corbeau by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1943)	French	MySQL	Sources + SQLab database
SQLab Club	An adaptation of PostgreSQL Exercises by Alisdair Owens	English	PostgreSQL	Sources + SQLab database (coming later)

How can I create my own SQLab adventure?

The sqlab command-line tool is not required to play, but is necessary to create a new adventure.

You must have Python 3.9 or later. SQLite is supported out of the box. For any other DBMS, install the matching extra (mysql, mariadb, postgresql, duckdb), as shown below. Add graph if you want sqlab to render the activity map. Or all to get everything.

With uv (recommended)

uv installs sqlab as a standalone tool, in its own isolated environment, and makes the sqlab command available everywhere:

uv tool install sqlab                      # SQLite only
uv tool install "sqlab[postgresql]"        # SQLite + PostgreSQL
uv tool install "sqlab[mysql,graph]"       # several extras at once

To add an extra to an existing installation, run the command again with --force:

uv tool install "sqlab[postgresql,duckdb]" --force

To upgrade or remove it:

uv tool upgrade sqlab
uv tool uninstall sqlab

To run it once, without installing it:

uvx --from "sqlab[postgresql]" sqlab --help

With uv, inside a project

If your adventure is a uv project (it has a pyproject.toml), add sqlab as a dependency, then run it through uv:

uv add "sqlab[postgresql]"
uv run sqlab --help

To add another extra later, run uv add again with the extra you want:

uv add "sqlab[postgresql,mysql]"

With pip

Use a virtual environment so as not to pollute your system Python:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate        # on Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install sqlab                # SQLite only
pip install "sqlab[postgresql]"  # SQLite + PostgreSQL
pip install "sqlab[all]"         # every supported DBMS + graph rendering

To add an extra later, run pip install again in the same environment:

pip install "sqlab[mysql]"

Documentation

The documentation is not yet available. In the meantime, you may explore the repository of SQLab Island. The provided dataset and Jupyter notebooks serve as source material for the generation of the SQLab database.