Reduce formatting for machine-friendly results.
Section: script-friendly client patterns
Use batch mode for parsable output
bash
bash
mysql -u app_user -p -B -e "SELECT NOW();"Explanation
`-B` outputs tab-separated rows that are easier to parse in shell tools.
Learn the surrounding workflow
Compare similar commands or jump into common fixes when this command is part of a bigger troubleshooting path.
Related commands
Same sheet · prioritizing script-friendly client patterns
Log an interactive session to a file
Write statements and output to a transcript file.
Show connection status in the mysql client
Display host, connection id, server version, and current database.