GDQL (Grateful Dead Query Language) is a SQL-inspired language for querying Grateful Dead shows, setlists, and songs. This site is the documentation — for the main site and sandbox, see gdql.dev.
See it in action
Run this in your terminal (after getting set up):
SHOWS FROM 1977 WHERE "Scarlet Begonias" > "Fire on the Mountain" LIMIT 10;
SETLIST FOR 5/8/77;
PERFORMANCES OF "Dark Star" WITH LENGTH > 20min ORDER BY LENGTH DESC LIMIT 5;Segues, setlists, and long jams — in one place.
Quick start
Get the CLI and run your first query in under a minute.
→ Getting started — Install (or download a release), set up the database, run a query from the shell or a file.
Language reference
The full syntax: query types, clauses, conditions, and operators.
| Section | What you’ll find |
|---|---|
| Conventions | Case, strings, comments, and statement rules |
| Query types | SHOWS, SONGS, PERFORMANCES, SETLIST — with synopsis and examples |
| WHERE conditions | Segues, set position, PLAYED, GUEST, AND/OR/NOT |
| Operators & formats | >, >>, dates, eras, output formats |
Example queries
Copy-paste ready examples for common tasks.
→ Example queries — Scarlet > Fire, setlist for a date, longest jams, SET1 opener / encore, and more.
Other
- Syntax highlighting — Use
```gdqlin docs; how custom highlighting is implemented.
In short: Keywords are case-insensitive. Song names and strings use double quotes. Statements can end with ;. Comments start with --.