Prettier Plugin for BigQuery SQL

1.0.5 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript

A prettier plugin for formatting GoogleSQL (BigQuery dialect) files. Supports pipe syntax, procedural language (BigQuery Scripting), and experimental Jinja template handling. v1.0.5 is current with a moderate release cadence. Requires prettier ^3.2.4 as a peer dependency. Ship TypeScript types. Differentiator vs other SQL formatters: specifically targets GoogleSQL, not generic or MySQL/PostgreSQL dialects. Active development, community-driven.

Common errors

error Cannot find module 'prettier-plugin-bq' ↓

cause The plugin is not installed or not resolved by prettier. Usually because prettier v2 is installed, or the plugin is not listed in .prettierrc.

fix

npm install prettier@latest prettier-plugin-bq --save-dev and add "plugins": ["prettier-plugin-bq"] to .prettierrc

error TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'format') ↓

cause Using require('prettier-plugin-bq') and trying to call it as a function. The plugin is not a module to import programmatically.

fix

Do not import the plugin directly; configure it via .prettierrc or CLI.

Warnings

gotcha Plugin does not work with prettier v2; requires prettier ^3.2.4. If you have prettier v2 installed, the plugin will not be loaded and no formatting will occur. ↓

fix Update prettier to v3.2.4 or later: npm install prettier@latest --save-dev

deprecated Option printPseudoColumnsInUpperCase was merged into printKeywordsInUpperCase. Using the old name may be ignored or cause errors in future versions. ↓

fix Use printKeywordsInUpperCase instead of printPseudoColumnsInUpperCase.

gotcha Jinja template support is experimental and may produce incorrect formatting or errors if Jinja statements do not contain valid SQL expressions. ↓

fix Ensure Jinja tags wrap valid SQL expressions; avoid placing statements like WHERE or JOIN entirely inside Jinja conditionals.

gotcha The plugin does not follow any famous style guides; it formats according to its own heuristics, which may differ from expectations of BigQuery style guides. ↓

fix Review formatting output and adjust options (e.g., printKeywordsInUpperCase) to match preferred style.

Install

npm install prettier-plugin-bq

yarn add prettier-plugin-bq

pnpm add prettier-plugin-bq

Imports

prettier-plugin-bq
wrong
```
const plugin = require('prettier-plugin-bq')
```
correct
```
import {} from 'prettier-plugin-bq' // no export, plugin auto-detected
```
Plugin is not a JavaScript module to import; it's discovered via prettier's plugin resolution. Use .prettierrc or CLI --plugin flag.
prettier
wrong
```
const prettier = require('prettier')
```
correct
```
import prettier from 'prettier'
```
Prettier 3 is ESM-only; use import syntax or dynamic import.
default (prettier instance)
wrong
```
const prettier = require('prettier')
```
correct
```
import * as prettier from 'prettier'
```
For programming usage, use ES module import. CommonJS require will fail in prettier 3.

Quickstart

Install prettier and the plugin, create a SQL file, format it using the CLI with --plugin flag.

npm install --save-dev prettier prettier-plugin-bq
echo "SELECT
    name,
    SUM(salary) AS total_salary
FROM
    employees
WHERE
    department = 'Engineering'
GROUP BY
    name
HAVING
    total_salary > 100000
ORDER BY
    total_salary DESC;" > query.sql
npx prettier --write query.sql --plugin=prettier-plugin-bq