If you can use bash, or set up some redirections from whatever you're using to execute ``psql``, you can do:: $ psql somedb --set num=42 <<<'select :num' Timing is on. Expanded display is used automatically. Line style is unicode. Border style is 2. ┌──────────┐ │ ?column? │ ├──────────┤ │ 42 │ └──────────┘ (1 row) Time: 0.517 ms or (more classically):: echo 'select :num' | psql somedb --set num=42 -- Dakkar - <Mobilis in mobile> GPG public key fingerprint = A071 E618 DD2C 5901 9574 6FE2 40EA 9883 7519 3F88 key id = 0x75193F88