Export data from MySQL to JSON via command line on Windows

Want to export MySQL data to JSON Lines (JSONL) file via Command Line Interface (CLI) on Windows?

Using my-cmd, Command Line Interface (CLI) client for MySQL, you can unload MySQL (MariaDB, Percona) data to JSON easily and fast. Direct Interaction or Scripting and Automation.

• No need to install MySQL client library.
• Convenient to deploy to cloud. No need to run installation file, just uncompress and run, immediately.
• Commands are entered into a terminal or command prompt, accessed from local or remote (like SSH).
• Support Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

Download my-cmd Windows version
my-cmd.windows-386.zip
my-cmd.windows-amd64.zip

Export MySQL (MariaDB, Percona) data to JSON via command line on Windows

1. Unload Table.

1) In interactive mode:

my-cmd> unload table=jobs datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs.json filetype=json;

2) In batch mode:

my-cmd dsn="pan:withdata@192.168.0.102/test" task=unload table=jobs datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs.json filetype=json quit=y

2. Unload Query.

1) In interactive mode:

my-cmd> unload query="select job_id,job_title from jobs"
     >  datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs_part.json
     >  filetype=json;

2) In batch mode:

my-cmd dsn="pan:withdata@192.168.0.102/test" task=unload query="select job_id,job_title from jobs" datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs_part.json filetype=json quit=y

3. Unload All Tables.

1) In interactive mode:

my-cmd> unload table=all folder=e:\temp\tables filetype=json;

2) In batch mode:

my-cmd dsn="pan:withdata@192.168.0.102/test" task=unload table=all folder=e:\temp\tables filetype=json quit=y

See parameters detail.

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More about my-cmd – Command Line Interface (CLI) tool for MySQL

MySQL → JSON reference

Type mapping

Value kind	in MySQL	in JSON
Int	INT	1234 (number)
Bigint	BIGINT	9007199254740993
Decimal	DECIMAL(p,s)	1234.56 (number)
Float	DOUBLE	1.234e10 (number)
Text	VARCHAR(n)	"text" (string)
Long text	LONGTEXT	"multi-line\ntext" (escaped newline inside a string)
Date	DATE	"2026-09-18" (string)
Datetime	DATETIME	"2026-09-18T14:30:00Z" (string)
Binary	LONGBLOB	"base64:..." (string)
Boolean	TINYINT(1)	true / false (boolean)
JSON	JSON	nested object or array, kept as structure

Dialect differences

MySQL is a database server and JSON is a file format, so the gap is wider than a dialect difference - the rows below are where values and structure stop lining up.

Property	in MySQL	in JSON
port	3306	—
identifiers	`backtick`	Double quotes; backslash escapes
row limit	LIMIT n	—
dates	DATETIME, TIMESTAMP, DATE, TIME	No date type: dates arrive as strings and the reader must p...
long text	TINYTEXT / TEXT / MEDIUMTEXT / LONGTEXT	—
binary	BLOB / TINYBLOB / LONGBLOB	Not supported natively - base64 inside a string
separator	—	Braces and commas
encoding	—	UTF-8 by definition
typing	—	string, number, boolean, null, object, array - no date type
shape	Tables of rows and columns	Nested objects and arrays
ceiling	—	Whole document is usually parsed into memory

Command line

Side	Command
MySQL	mysqldump, or mysql -e "SELECT ..." > out.csv
MySQL (load)	mysqlimport, or LOAD DATA INFILE

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