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The kdx document command provides a comprehensive set of tools for inspecting and manipulating local Kodexa documents (KDDB files) directly from your terminal. These commands work offline without requiring a connection to the Kodexa platform.

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What are KDDB Files?

KDDB (Kodexa Document Database) files are SQLite-based document containers that store:
  • Document structure - Hierarchical content nodes with types and content
  • Metadata - Document properties like UUID, version, and custom fields
  • Native files - Embedded binary files (PDFs, images, etc.)
  • External data - Custom key-value data for extensions
  • Features - Node-level attributes like bounding boxes and tags

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Available Commands

Info

Display document summary with metadata and statistics

Print

Pretty print document structure as an ASCII tree

Select

Query nodes by type using selectors

Natives

List and extract embedded files

External

Manage external data key-value store

Metadata

View and modify document metadata

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Quick Start

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View Document Info

Get a summary of document contents: 
kdx document info invoice.kddb

┌────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│   FIELD    │                    VALUE                    │
├────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ uuid       │ e25dab60-cbdf-499f-857e-ff9c82a19d87        │
│ version    │ 6.0.0                                       │
│ metadata   │ {"connector":"folder","source_path":"/..."}│
│ statistics │ {"nodeCount":39,"pageCount":2}              │
└────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Visualize the document tree: 
kdx document print invoice.kddb --depth 3

root
└── page
    └── content-area
        ├── line
        │   └── word: Invoice
        ├── line
        │   ├── word: Date:
        │   └── word: 2024-01-15
        └── line
            ├── word: Total:
            └── word: $1,234.56

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Query Nodes by Type

Find all nodes of a specific type: 
kdx document select invoice.kddb "//line"

┌────┬──────┬─────────────────┬───────┐
│ ID │ TYPE │     CONTENT     │ INDEX │
├────┼──────┼─────────────────┼───────┤
│ 4  │ line │ Invoice         │ 0     │
│ 6  │ line │ Date: 2024-01-15│ 1     │
│ 10 │ line │ Total: $1,234.56│ 2     │
└────┴──────┴─────────────────┴───────┘

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Command Reference

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Info

Display document summary including UUID, version, metadata, and statistics. 
kdx document info <file.kddb>
Output includes:
  • Document UUID and version
  • Source metadata (connector, path)
  • Statistics (node count, page count)
  • Labels and custom metadata

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Print

Pretty print the document structure as an ASCII tree. 
kdx document print <file.kddb> [flags]
Flags:
FlagDescription
--page NPrint only page N (1-indexed)
--depth NLimit tree depth (0 = unlimited)
--featuresShow node features (bounding boxes, etc.)
Examples: 
# Print first page only
kdx document print invoice.kddb --page 1

# Limit to 2 levels deep
kdx document print invoice.kddb --depth 2

# Show features on nodes
kdx document print invoice.kddb --features --depth 3

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Select

Run a selector query to find matching nodes. 
kdx document select <file.kddb> <selector>
Selector syntax:
  • //type - Select all nodes of a type
Examples: 
# Find all paragraphs
kdx document select doc.kddb "//paragraph"

# Find all pages
kdx document select doc.kddb "//page"

# Find all words
kdx document select doc.kddb "//word"

# Find all lines
kdx document select doc.kddb "//line"

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Output Formats

All document commands support the global -o flag for output format: 
# JSON output for scripting
kdx document info invoice.kddb -o json

# YAML output
kdx document select invoice.kddb "//page" -o yaml

# Default table output
kdx document info invoice.kddb -o table

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Use Cases

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Document Inspection

Quickly inspect a document’s structure before processing: 
# Get overview
kdx document info invoice.kddb

# Check structure
kdx document print invoice.kddb --depth 2

# Count specific node types
kdx document select invoice.kddb "//paragraph" | wc -l

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Debugging Extraction Issues

When extraction isn’t working as expected: 
# View full tree with features
kdx document print problematic.kddb --features

# Check what node types exist
kdx document info problematic.kddb

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Scripting and Automation

Use JSON output for automated processing: 
# Get metadata for processing
kdx document metadata get invoice.kddb -o json | jq '.uuid'

# Check if document has pages
PAGE_COUNT=$(kdx document info invoice.kddb -o json | jq '.statistics.pageCount')

Native Files

List and extract embedded files

External Data

Manage external data store

Metadata

View and modify document metadata

Document Structure

Print and select commands