diff --git a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 038373591..997156a54 100644
--- a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -173,16 +173,48 @@ build featurebase:
       for goos in "darwin" "linux"; do
         for goarch in "amd64" "arm64"; do
           GOOS="${goos}" GOARCH="${goarch}" make build FLAGS="-o featurebase_${goos}_${goarch}"
-          GOOS="${goos}" GOARCH="${goarch}" make build-fbsql FLAGS="-o fbsql_${goos}_${goarch}"
         done
       done
   artifacts:
     paths:
       - featurebase_*
-      - fbsql_*
   needs:
     - job: build lattice
 
+build fbsql amd64:
+  stage: test
+  variables:
+    BUILD_NAME: build_${CI_COMMIT_SHA}_${CI_CONCURRENT_ID}
+  tags:
+    - shell
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "web"'
+  script:
+    - export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%ct)
+    - date
+    - GOOS="linux" GOARCH="amd64" make docker-build-fbsql BUILD_CGO=1
+    - GOOS="darwin" GOARCH="amd64" make docker-build-fbsql
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - ./build/fbsql_*
+
+build fbsql arm64:
+  stage: test
+  variables:
+    BUILD_NAME: build_${CI_COMMIT_SHA}_${CI_CONCURRENT_ID}
+  tags:
+    - shell-arm64
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "web"'
+  script:
+    - export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%ct)
+    - date
+    - GOOS="linux" GOARCH="arm64" make docker-build-fbsql BUILD_CGO=1
+    - GOOS="darwin" GOARCH="arm64" make docker-build-fbsql
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - ./build/fbsql_*
+
 build amd container fb:
   stage: test
   tags:
@@ -649,14 +681,16 @@ s3 dump:
     - |
       for goos in "darwin" "linux"; do
         for goarch in "amd64" "arm64"; do
-          for binary in "featurebase" "fbsql"; do
-            aws s3 cp ${binary}_${goos}_${goarch} s3://molecula-artifact-storage/featurebase/${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH}/${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}/${binary}_${goos}_${goarch}
-            aws s3 cp ${binary}_${goos}_${goarch} s3://molecula-artifact-storage/featurebase/${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH}/_latest/${binary}_${goos}_${goarch}
-          done
+          aws s3 cp featurebase_${goos}_${goarch} s3://molecula-artifact-storage/featurebase/${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH}/${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}/featurebase_${goos}_${goarch}
+          aws s3 cp featurebase_${goos}_${goarch} s3://molecula-artifact-storage/featurebase/${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH}/_latest/featurebase_${goos}_${goarch}
+          aws s3 cp ./build/fbsql_${goos}_${goarch} s3://molecula-artifact-storage/featurebase/${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH}/${CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}/fbsql_${goos}_${goarch}
+          aws s3 cp ./build/fbsql_${goos}_${goarch} s3://molecula-artifact-storage/featurebase/${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH}/_latest/fbsql_${goos}_${goarch}
         done
       done
   needs:
     - job: build featurebase
+    - job: build fbsql amd64
+    - job: build fbsql arm64
 
 s3 dump tag:
   stage: post build
diff --git a/Dockerfile-fbsql b/Dockerfile-fbsql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..305bc84dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile-fbsql
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+ARG GO_VERSION=1.19
+
+FROM golang:1.19-buster as builder
+
+WORKDIR /
+RUN apt-get update -y -qq && apt-get install -y -qq \
+  build-essential \
+  git \
+  musl-tools \
+  netcat \
+  unixodbc \
+  unixodbc-dev \
+  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+RUN ["git", "clone", "https://github.com/edenhill/librdkafka.git"]
+WORKDIR /librdkafka
+RUN ./configure --prefix /usr && \
+  make && \
+  make install
+
+WORKDIR /featurebase
+
+COPY . .
+
+ARG MAKE_FLAGS
+ARG GO_BUILD_FLAGS
+ARG SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
+
+WORKDIR /featurebase/
+
+ENV SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=${SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH}
+RUN make build-fbsql GO_BUILD_FLAGS="-mod=vendor ${GO_BUILD_FLAGS}" ${MAKE_FLAGS}
+
+FROM ubuntu:20.04 as runner
+
+RUN apt-get update -y -qq && apt-get install -y -qq \
+  ca-certificates \
+  musl-tools \
+  netcat \
+  unixodbc-dev \
+  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY --from=builder /featurebase/fbsql /usr/local/bin/
+
+# Verify that the linker can find everything.
+FROM runner as linkcheck
+RUN if [ -e /usr/local/bin/fbsql ] ; then ldd /usr/local/bin/fbsql; fi
+
+FROM runner
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 58b084c66..12e674136 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: build clean build-lattice cover cover-viz default docker docker-build docker-tag-push generate generate-protoc generate-pql generate-statik generate-stringer install install-protoc-gen-gofast install-protoc install-statik install-peg test docker-login
+.PHONY: build clean build-lattice cover cover-viz default docker docker-build docker-build-fbsql docker-tag-push generate generate-protoc generate-pql generate-statik generate-stringer install install-protoc-gen-gofast install-protoc install-statik install-peg test docker-login
 
 SHELL := /bin/bash
 VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags 2> /dev/null || echo unknown)
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ SHARD_WIDTH = 20
 COMMIT := $(shell git describe --exact-match >/dev/null 2>&1 || git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 LDFLAGS="-X github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3.Version=$(VERSION) -X github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3.BuildTime=$(BUILD_TIME) -X github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3.Variant=$(VARIANT) -X github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3.Commit=$(COMMIT) -X github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3.TrialDeadline=$(TRIAL_DEADLINE)"
 GO_VERSION=1.19
+GO_BUILD_FLAGS=
 DOCKER_BUILD= # set to 1 to use `docker-build` instead of `build` when creating a release
 BUILD_TAGS += 
 TEST_TAGS = roaringparanoia
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ version:
 
 # We build a list of packages that omits the IDK and batch packages because
 # those packages require fancy environment setup.
-GOPACKAGES := $(shell $(GO) list ./... | grep -v "/idk" | grep -v "/batch")
+GOPACKAGES := $(shell $(GO) list ./... | grep -v "/v3/idk" | grep -v "/v3/batch")
 
 # Run test suite
 test:
@@ -120,11 +121,6 @@ cover-viz: cover
 build:
 	$(GO) build -tags='$(BUILD_TAGS)' -ldflags $(LDFLAGS) $(FLAGS) ./cmd/featurebase
 
-# Build fbsql
-build-fbsql:
-	$(GO) build -tags='$(BUILD_TAGS)' -ldflags $(LDFLAGS) $(FLAGS) ./cmd/fbsql
-
-
 package:
 	GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) $(MAKE) build
 	GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) $(MAKE) build-fbsql
@@ -167,7 +163,7 @@ install-idk:
 	$(MAKE) -C ./idk install
 
 install-fbsql:
-	$(GO) install ./cmd/fbsql
+	CGO_ENABLED=1 $(GO) install ./cmd/fbsql
 
 # Build the lattice assets
 build-lattice:
@@ -345,3 +341,53 @@ test-external-lookup:
 
 bnf:
 	ebnf2railroad --no-overview-diagram  --no-optimizations ./sql3/sql3.ebnf
+
+#################################
+# fbsql builds in docker
+#################################
+
+# This allows multiple concurrent builds to happen in CI without
+# creating container name conflicts and such. (different BUILD_NAMEs
+# are passed in from gitlab-ci.yml)
+BUILD_NAME ?= fbsql-build
+
+LDFLAGS_STATIC="-linkmode external -extldflags \"-static\" -X 'github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/fbsql.Version=$(VERSION)' -X 'github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/fbsql.BuildTime=$(BUILD_TIME)' "
+
+UNAME_P := $(shell uname -p)
+BUILD_CGO ?= 0
+
+# Build fbsql
+build-fbsql:
+	@echo GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) uname -p=$(UNAME_P) build_cgo=$(BUILD_CGO)
+ifeq ($(BUILD_CGO), 0)
+	make build-fbsql-non-cgo
+endif
+ifeq ($(BUILD_CGO), 1)
+	make build-fbsql-cgo
+endif
+
+build-fbsql-non-cgo:
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GO) build -ldflags $(LDFLAGS) $(GO_BUILD_FLAGS) -o fbsql ./cmd/fbsql
+
+build-fbsql-cgo:
+ifeq ($(GOARCH), arm64)
+	CGO_ENABLED=1 $(GO) build -tags dynamic $(GO_BUILD_FLAGS) -o fbsql ./cmd/fbsql
+endif
+ifeq ($(GOARCH), amd64)
+	CC=/usr/bin/musl-gcc CGO_ENABLED=1 $(GO) build -tags "musl static" -ldflags $(LDFLAGS_STATIC) $(GO_BUILD_FLAGS) -o fbsql ./cmd/fbsql
+endif
+
+docker-build-fbsql: vendor
+	DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0 docker build \
+		--file Dockerfile-fbsql \
+	    --build-arg GO_VERSION=$(GO_VERSION) \
+	    --build-arg MAKE_FLAGS="GOOS=$(GOOS) GOARCH=$(GOARCH) BUILD_CGO=$(BUILD_CGO)" \
+	    --build-arg GO_BUILD_FLAGS=$(GO_BUILD_FLAGS) \
+		--build-arg SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH) \
+	    --target builder \
+	    --tag fbsql:$(BUILD_NAME) .
+	mkdir -p build
+	docker create --name $(BUILD_NAME) fbsql:$(BUILD_NAME)
+	docker cp $(BUILD_NAME):/featurebase/fbsql ./build/fbsql_$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)
+	docker rm $(BUILD_NAME)
+
diff --git a/batch/batcher.go b/batch/batcher.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..596c51632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/batch/batcher.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package batch
+
+import (
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/dax"
+)
+
+// Batcher is an interface implemented by anything which can allocate new
+// batches.
+type Batcher interface {
+	NewBatch(cfg Config, tbl *dax.Table, fields []*dax.Field) (RecordBatch, error)
+}
+
+// Config is the configuration options passed to NewBatch for any implementation
+// of the Batcher interface.
+type Config struct {
+	Size         int
+	MaxStaleness time.Duration
+}
diff --git a/cli/batch/inserter.go b/cli/batch/inserter.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6401e8523
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/batch/inserter.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package batch
+
+// Inserter can be implemented by anything which can handle a SQL statement
+// representing a write operation. An example is `BULK INSERT`. The Insert()
+// method on this interface does not return any results other than an error.
+type Inserter interface {
+	Insert(sql string) error
+}
diff --git a/cli/batch/sql.go b/cli/batch/sql.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1f84420be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/batch/sql.go
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+package batch
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	fbbatch "github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/batch"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/dax"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/errors"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/pql"
+)
+
+// Ensure type implements interface.
+var _ fbbatch.Batcher = (*sqlBatcher)(nil)
+
+type sqlBatcher struct {
+	inserter Inserter
+	fields   []*dax.Field
+}
+
+func NewSQLBatcher(i Inserter, flds []*dax.Field) *sqlBatcher {
+	return &sqlBatcher{
+		inserter: i,
+		fields:   flds,
+	}
+}
+
+func (b *sqlBatcher) NewBatch(cfg fbbatch.Config, tbl *dax.Table, flds []*dax.Field) (fbbatch.RecordBatch, error) {
+	fields := flds
+	if b.fields != nil {
+		fields = b.fields
+	}
+	return &sqlBatch{
+		table:        tbl,
+		fields:       fields,
+		size:         cfg.Size,
+		maxStaleness: cfg.MaxStaleness,
+		ids:          make([]interface{}, 0, cfg.Size),
+		rows:         make([][]interface{}, 0, cfg.Size),
+		inserter:     b.inserter,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// Ensure type implements interface.
+var _ fbbatch.RecordBatch = (*sqlBatch)(nil)
+
+type sqlBatch struct {
+	table  *dax.Table
+	fields []*dax.Field
+	size   int
+
+	ids  []interface{}
+	rows [][]interface{}
+
+	// staleTime tracks the time the first record of the batch was inserted
+	// plus the maxStaleness, in order to raise ErrBatchNowStale if the
+	// maxStaleness has elapsed
+	staleTime    time.Time
+	maxStaleness time.Duration
+
+	// inserter handles SQL INSERT statements generated for each batch.
+	inserter Inserter
+}
+
+func (b *sqlBatch) Add(rec fbbatch.Row) error {
+	// Clear rec.Values and rec.Clears upon return.
+	defer func() {
+		for i := range rec.Values {
+			rec.Values[i] = nil
+		}
+		for k := range rec.Clears {
+			delete(rec.Clears, k)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	if len(b.ids) == cap(b.ids) {
+		return fbbatch.ErrBatchAlreadyFull
+	}
+	if len(rec.Values) != len(b.fields) {
+		return errors.Errorf("record needs to match up with batch fields, got %d fields and %d record", len(b.fields), len(rec.Values))
+	}
+
+	// Append the ID to b.ids.
+	b.ids = append(b.ids, rec.ID)
+
+	// Convert decimal fields (which come in as int64, along with the scale in
+	// field) to pql.Decimal.
+	for i, fld := range b.fields {
+		switch b.fields[i].Type {
+		case dax.BaseTypeDecimal:
+			if val, ok := rec.Values[i].(int64); ok {
+				rec.Values[i] = pql.NewDecimal(val, fld.Options.Scale)
+			}
+		case dax.BaseTypeTimestamp:
+			if val, ok := rec.Values[i].(int64); ok {
+				ts := time.Unix(val, 0)
+				rec.Values[i] = ts.Format(time.RFC3339)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Append the record to b.rows.
+	vals := make([]interface{}, 0, len(rec.Values))
+	vals = append(vals, rec.Values...)
+	b.rows = append(b.rows, vals)
+
+	// Check for batch full or stale.
+	if len(b.ids) == cap(b.ids) {
+		return fbbatch.ErrBatchNowFull
+	}
+	if b.maxStaleness != time.Duration(0) { // set maxStaleness to 0 to disable staleness checking
+		if len(b.ids) == 1 {
+			b.staleTime = time.Now().Add(b.maxStaleness)
+		} else if time.Now().After(b.staleTime) {
+			return fbbatch.ErrBatchNowStale
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (b *sqlBatch) Import() error {
+	if len(b.rows) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Construct the BULK INSERT statement based on the table and fields.
+	sql, err := buildBulkInsert(b.table, b.fields, b.ids, b.rows)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "building bulk insert statement")
+	}
+
+	// Reset batch data.
+	b.reset()
+
+	// Submit the SQL statement.
+	return b.inserter.Insert(sql)
+}
+
+func (b *sqlBatch) reset() {
+	b.ids = b.ids[:0]
+	b.rows = b.rows[:0]
+}
+
+func (b *sqlBatch) Len() int {
+	return len(b.rows)
+}
+
+func (b *sqlBatch) Flush() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func buildBulkInsert(tbl *dax.Table, fields []*dax.Field, ids []interface{}, rows [][]interface{}) (string, error) {
+	// Validation.
+	if tbl.Name == "" {
+		return "", errors.New(errors.ErrUncoded, "table name is required")
+	} else if len(fields) == 0 {
+		return "", errors.New(errors.ErrUncoded, "at least one field is required")
+	}
+
+	var sb strings.Builder
+
+	sb.WriteString(`BULK INSERT INTO `)
+	sb.WriteString(string(tbl.Name))
+	sb.WriteString(` (_id,`)
+
+	flds := make([]string, 0, len(fields))
+	maps := make([]string, 0, len(fields))
+	for i := range fields {
+		flds = append(flds, string(fields[i].Name))
+		maps = append(maps, fmt.Sprintf("'$.col_%d' %s", i, fields[i].FullType()))
+	}
+	// Fields
+	sb.WriteString(strings.Join(flds, ","))
+
+	// MAP
+	keyType := dax.BaseTypeID
+	if tbl.StringKeys() {
+		keyType = dax.BaseTypeString
+	}
+	sb.WriteString(`) MAP ('$._id' `)
+	sb.WriteString(keyType)
+	sb.WriteString(`,`)
+	sb.WriteString(strings.Join(maps, ","))
+	sb.WriteString(`) FROM x'`)
+
+	// Row values.
+
+	// m is a map representing a single row to be marshalled and added to the
+	// bulk insert as one line in the NDJSON payload. We re-use the map for each
+	// row.
+	m := make(map[string]interface{})
+	for i := range rows {
+		// Write the ID value.
+		m[string(dax.PrimaryKeyFieldName)] = ids[i]
+		// Write the rest of the data values.
+		for col := range rows[i] {
+			m[fmt.Sprintf("col_%d", col)] = rows[i][col]
+		}
+
+		// Marshal the map to json and add to the sql statement.
+		if j, err := json.Marshal(m); err != nil {
+			return "", errors.Wrap(err, "marshalling row to json")
+		} else {
+			sb.Write(j)
+			sb.WriteString("\n")
+		}
+	}
+
+	// WITH
+	sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(`' WITH BATCHSIZE %d FORMAT 'NDJSON' INPUT 'STREAM'`, len(rows)))
+
+	return sb.String(), nil
+}
diff --git a/cli/batch/sql_test.go b/cli/batch/sql_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..04467a258
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/batch/sql_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package batch
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/dax"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestBatchSQL(t *testing.T) {
+	tbl := &dax.Table{
+		Name: "foo",
+	}
+	fields := []*dax.Field{
+		{
+			Name: "name",
+			Type: dax.BaseTypeString,
+		},
+		{
+			Name: "age",
+			Type: dax.BaseTypeInt,
+		},
+	}
+	ids := []interface{}{
+		0, 1, 2,
+	}
+	rows := [][]interface{}{
+		{
+			[]interface{}{"Alice", int64(11)},
+		},
+		{
+			[]interface{}{"Bob", int64(22)},
+		},
+		{
+			[]interface{}{"Carl,Comma", int64(33)},
+		},
+	}
+
+	s, err := buildBulkInsert(tbl, fields, ids, rows)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	exp := `BULK INSERT INTO foo (_id,name,age) MAP ('$._id' id,'$.col_0' string,'$.col_1' int) FROM x'{"_id":0,"col_0":["Alice",11]}
+{"_id":1,"col_0":["Bob",22]}
+{"_id":2,"col_0":["Carl,Comma",33]}
+' WITH BATCHSIZE 3 FORMAT 'NDJSON' INPUT 'STREAM'`
+	assert.Equal(t, exp, s)
+}
diff --git a/cli/cli.go b/cli/cli.go
index e684961ed..9d251ac7c 100644
--- a/cli/cli.go
+++ b/cli/cli.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/chzyer/readline"
 	featurebase "github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli/batch"
 	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli/fbcloud"
 	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/errors"
 	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/logger"
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ Type "\q" to quit.
 
 // Ensure type implments interfaces.
 var _ printer = (*Command)(nil)
+var _ batch.Inserter = (*Command)(nil)
 
 type Command struct {
 	host string
@@ -129,49 +131,78 @@ func NewCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *Command {
 
 // Run is the main entry-point to the CLI.
 func (cmd *Command) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
-	cmd.setupConfig()
+	if err := cmd.run(ctx); err != nil {
+		cmd.Errorf(err.Error() + "\n")
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// run is effectively wrapped by the Run() method, but it's split out this way
+// so that run() can simply return errors, rather than worrying about how errors
+// should be printed; printing errors returned by run() is left up to the Run()
+// method.
+func (cmd *Command) run(ctx context.Context) error {
+	if err := cmd.setupConfig(); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "setting up config")
+	}
 
 	// Check to see if Command needs to run in non-interactive mode.
-	if len(cmd.Commands) > 0 || len(cmd.Files) > 0 {
+	if len(cmd.Commands) > 0 ||
+		len(cmd.Files) > 0 ||
+		cmd.Config.KafkaConfig != "" {
 		cmd.nonInteractiveMode = true
-
-		if err := cmd.setupClient(); err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "setting up client")
-		}
-		if err := cmd.connectToDatabase(cmd.database); err != nil {
-			cmd.Errorf(errors.Wrap(err, "connecting to database").Error() + "\n")
-		}
-
-		// Run Commands.
-		for _, line := range cmd.Commands {
-			if err := cmd.handleLine(line); err != nil {
-				cmd.Errorf(err.Error())
-				return nil
-			}
-		}
-
-		// Run Files.
-		for _, fname := range cmd.Files {
-			if _, err := executeFile(cmd, fname); err != nil {
-				cmd.Errorf(err.Error())
-				return nil
-			}
-		}
-
-		return nil
 	}
 
 	// Print the splash message.
-	cmd.Printf(splash)
-	cmd.setupHistory()
+	if !cmd.nonInteractiveMode {
+		cmd.Printf(splash)
+	}
+
 	if err := cmd.setupClient(); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "setting up client")
 	}
 	cmd.printConnInfo()
 	if err := cmd.connectToDatabase(cmd.database); err != nil {
 		cmd.Errorf(errors.Wrap(err, "connecting to database").Error() + "\n")
+		// We intentionally do not return err here.
 	}
 
+	// Run in non-interactive mode based on flags and configuration.
+	// This includes either handling `-c` and/or `-f` flags, or handling a
+	// `--kafka-config` flag.
+	if len(cmd.Commands) > 0 || len(cmd.Files) > 0 {
+		// Run Commands.
+		for _, line := range cmd.Commands {
+			if err := cmd.handleLine(line); err != nil {
+				return errors.Wrapf(err, "handling line: %s", line)
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Run Files.
+		for _, fname := range cmd.Files {
+			if _, err := executeFile(cmd, fname); err != nil {
+				return errors.Wrapf(err, "executing file: %s", fname)
+			}
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	} else if cmd.Config.KafkaConfig != "" {
+		runner, err := cmd.newKafkaRunner(cmd.Config.KafkaConfig)
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "getting new kafka runner")
+		}
+		if err := runner.Main.Run(); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "running kafka")
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// From this point on, we should be in interactive mode.
+
+	// Set up history for saving user input.
+	cmd.setupHistory()
+
 	rl, err := readline.NewEx(&readline.Config{
 		Prompt:                 promptBegin,
 		HistoryFile:            cmd.historyPath,
@@ -308,9 +339,9 @@ func (cmd *Command) close() error {
 
 // setupConfig sets up private struct members based on values provided via the
 // configuration flags.
-func (cmd *Command) setupConfig() {
+func (cmd *Command) setupConfig() error {
 	if cmd.Config == nil {
-		return
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	cmd.host = cmd.Config.Host
@@ -320,6 +351,8 @@ func (cmd *Command) setupConfig() {
 	cmd.database = cmd.Config.Database
 
 	cmd.historyPath = cmd.Config.HistoryPath
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (cmd *Command) executeAndWriteQuery(qry query) error {
@@ -429,16 +462,12 @@ func (cmd *Command) connectToDatabase(dbName string) error {
 	}
 
 	// Look up dbID based on dbName.
-	qry := []queryPart{
-		newPartRaw("SHOW DATABASES"),
-	}
-
-	qr, err := cmd.executeQuery(qry)
+	wqr, err := cmd.executeQuery(newRawQuery("SHOW DATABASES"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "executing query")
 	}
 
-	for _, db := range qr.Data {
+	for _, db := range wqr.Data {
 		// 0: _id
 		// 1: name
 		if db[1] == dbName {
@@ -462,7 +491,7 @@ func (cmd *Command) connectionMessage() string {
 	if cmd.databaseName == "" {
 		return "You are not connected to a database.\n"
 	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf("You are now connected to database \"%s\" (%s) as user \"???\".\n", cmd.databaseName, cmd.databaseID)
+	return fmt.Sprintf("You are now connected to database \"%s\" (%s).\n", cmd.databaseName, cmd.databaseID)
 }
 
 func (cmd *Command) setupClient() error {
@@ -695,3 +724,11 @@ func (cmd *Command) handleLineAsQueryParts(line string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (cmd *Command) Insert(sql string) error {
+	wqr, err := cmd.executeQuery(newRawQuery(sql))
+	if wqr.Error != "" {
+		return errors.Errorf(wqr.Error)
+	}
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/cli/config.go b/cli/config.go
index 3953388c1..6d9722871 100644
--- a/cli/config.go
+++ b/cli/config.go
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	// CloudAuth
 	CloudAuth CloudAuthConfig `json:"cloud-auth"`
 
+	// Kafka
+	KafkaConfig string `json:"kafka-config"`
+
 	HistoryPath string `json:"history-path"`
 }
 
diff --git a/cli/kafka.go b/cli/kafka.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a111c8785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/kafka.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli/batch"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli/kafka"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/errors"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+)
+
+func (cmd *Command) newKafkaRunner(cfgFile string) (*kafka.Runner, error) {
+	// Read the kafka config file.
+	v := viper.New()
+	v.SetConfigFile(cfgFile)
+	v.SetConfigType("toml")
+	err := v.ReadInConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading configuration file '%s': %v", cfgFile, err)
+	}
+
+	cfg := kafka.Config{}
+	if err := v.Unmarshal(&cfg); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "unmarshalling config")
+	}
+
+	if err := kafka.ValidateConfig(cfg); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "validating config")
+	}
+
+	// Create a new config with defaults.
+
+	// Look up fields based on table provided in the config.
+	wqr, err := cmd.executeQuery(newRawQuery("SHOW COLUMNS FROM " + cfg.Table))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "executing query")
+	}
+
+	scr, err := wqr.ShowColumnsResponse()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "getting show columns from wire query response")
+	}
+
+	// If no fields were provided in the config, use the fields defined on the
+	// table and assume a 1-to-1 mapping of source to destination.
+	if len(cfg.Fields) == 0 {
+		cfg.Fields = kafka.FieldsToConfig(scr.Fields)
+	} else {
+		cfg.Fields, err = kafka.CheckFieldCompatibility(cfg.Fields, scr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "validating config fields")
+		}
+	}
+
+	idkCfg, err := kafka.ConvertConfig(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "cleaning config")
+	}
+
+	flds, err := kafka.ConfigToFields(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "getting fields from config")
+	}
+
+	return kafka.NewRunner(
+		idkCfg,
+		batch.NewSQLBatcher(cmd, flds),
+		cmd.Stderr,
+	), nil
+}
diff --git a/cli/kafka/config.go b/cli/kafka/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..582b8ea2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/kafka/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+package kafka
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	featurebase "github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/dax"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/idk"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+)
+
+// Config is the user-facing configuration for kafka support in the CLI. This is
+// unmarshalled from the the toml config file supplied by the user.
+type Config struct {
+	Hosts  []string `mapstructure:"hosts" help:"Kafka hosts."`
+	Group  string   `mapstructure:"group" help:"Kafka group."`
+	Topics []string `mapstructure:"topics" help:"Kafka topics to read from."`
+
+	BatchSize         int           `mapstructure:"batch-size" help:"Batch size."`
+	BatchMaxStaleness time.Duration `mapstructure:"batch-max-staleness" help:"Maximum length of time that the oldest record in a batch can exist before flushing the batch. Note that this can potentially stack with timeouts waiting for the source."`
+	Timeout           time.Duration `mapstructure:"timeout" help:"Time to wait for more records from Kafka before flushing a batch. 0 to disable."`
+
+	Table  string  `mapstructure:"table" help:"Destination table name."`
+	Fields []Field `mapstructure:"fields"`
+}
+
+// Field is a user-facing configuration field.
+type Field struct {
+	Name       string   `mapstructure:"name"`
+	SourceType string   `mapstructure:"source-type"`
+	SourcePath []string `mapstructure:"source-path"`
+	PrimaryKey bool     `mapstructure:"primary-key"`
+}
+
+// ConfigForIDK represents Config converted to values suitable for IDK. In
+// particular, the idk.RawField is used in parsing the schema in IDK.
+type ConfigForIDK struct {
+	Hosts  []string
+	Group  string
+	Topics []string
+
+	BatchSize         int
+	BatchMaxStaleness time.Duration
+	Timeout           time.Duration
+
+	Table   string
+	IDField string
+	Fields  []idk.RawField
+}
+
+// ValidateConfig validates the config is usable.
+func ValidateConfig(c Config) error {
+	if c.Table == "" {
+		return errors.Errorf("table is required")
+	} else if len(c.Topics) == 0 {
+		return errors.Errorf("at least one topic is required")
+	} else if len(c.Fields) > 0 {
+		// We only need to do these checks if any fields are specified at all.
+		// If no fields are specified, that's ok because then we default to
+		// using fields based off the existing table.
+		if len(c.Fields) < 2 {
+			return errors.Errorf("at least two fields are required (one should be a primary key)")
+		} else {
+			var found int
+			for i := range c.Fields {
+				if c.Fields[i].PrimaryKey {
+					found++
+				}
+			}
+			if found != 1 {
+				return errors.Errorf("exactly one primary key field is required")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// ConvertConfig converts a Config to one that suitable for IDK.
+func ConvertConfig(c Config) (ConfigForIDK, error) {
+	// Set a default kafka host in case one isn't provided.
+	hosts := []string{"localhost:9092"}
+	if len(c.Hosts) > 0 {
+		hosts = c.Hosts
+	}
+
+	// Copy all the shared members from Config to ConfigForIDK.
+	out := ConfigForIDK{
+		Hosts:             hosts,
+		Group:             c.Group,
+		Topics:            c.Topics,
+		BatchSize:         c.BatchSize,
+		BatchMaxStaleness: c.BatchMaxStaleness,
+		Timeout:           c.Timeout,
+		Table:             c.Table,
+	}
+
+	if len(c.Fields) == 0 {
+		return out, errors.New("fields cannot be empty")
+	}
+
+	// rawFields wil be the same as c.Fields, but possibly enhanced.
+	rawFields := make([]idk.RawField, 0, len(c.Fields))
+
+	var foundPK bool
+	for _, fld := range c.Fields {
+		if fld.PrimaryKey {
+			out.IDField = fld.Name
+			foundPK = true
+		}
+
+		typ, quals, err := dax.SplitFieldType(fld.SourceType)
+		if err != nil {
+			return out, errors.Wrap(err, "getting base type")
+		}
+
+		rawFld := idk.RawField{
+			Name: fld.Name,
+			Type: string(typ),
+			Path: fld.SourcePath,
+		}
+		// If a SourcePath wasn't provided, default to using the field name.
+		if len(rawFld.Path) == 0 {
+			rawFld.Path = []string{fld.Name}
+		}
+
+		switch typ {
+		case dax.BaseTypeInt:
+			// We don't have to handle min/max because we don't create the table.
+		case dax.BaseTypeDecimal:
+			if len(quals) != 1 {
+				return out, errors.Errorf("expected decimal scale")
+			}
+			rawFld.Config = []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`{"scale":%d}`, quals[0]))
+		case dax.BaseTypeID:
+			rawFld.Config = []byte("{\"mutex\":true}")
+		case dax.BaseTypeIDSet:
+			rawFld.Type = "ids"
+		case dax.BaseTypeString:
+			rawFld.Config = []byte("{\"mutex\":true}")
+		case dax.BaseTypeStringSet:
+			rawFld.Type = "strings"
+		case dax.BaseTypeTimestamp:
+			// No timestamp options are handled for now.
+		}
+
+		rawFields = append(rawFields, rawFld)
+	}
+	if !foundPK {
+		return out, errors.New("primary-key not found in fields")
+	}
+
+	out.Fields = rawFields
+
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// ConfigToFields returns a list of *dax.Field based on the IDField and Fields
+// in the Config.
+func ConfigToFields(c Config) ([]*dax.Field, error) {
+	// We don't know if a primary key will be found, so we can't set the
+	// capacity to `len(c.Fields)-1`.
+	out := make([]*dax.Field, 0, len(c.Fields))
+
+	for _, fld := range c.Fields {
+		if fld.PrimaryKey {
+			continue
+		}
+		typ, quals, err := dax.SplitFieldType(fld.SourceType)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "splitting field type")
+		}
+		dfld := &dax.Field{
+			Name: dax.FieldName(fld.Name),
+			Type: typ,
+		}
+		switch typ {
+		case dax.BaseTypeDecimal:
+			if len(quals) != 1 {
+				return nil, errors.Errorf("expected decimal scale")
+			}
+			scale, ok := quals[0].(int64)
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid decimal scale: %v", quals[0])
+			}
+			dfld.Options.Scale = scale
+		}
+		out = append(out, dfld)
+	}
+
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// FieldsToConfig returns a Config.Fields based on a list of *dax.Field.
+func FieldsToConfig(flds []*dax.Field) []Field {
+	out := make([]Field, 0, len(flds))
+	for _, fld := range flds {
+		out = append(out, Field{
+			Name:       string(fld.Name),
+			SourceType: fld.FullType(),
+			PrimaryKey: fld.IsPrimaryKey(),
+		})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// CheckFieldCompatibility ensures that the fields provided in the kafka config
+// are compatible with the fields in the existing table. It returns a copy of
+// the kafka config fields with empty values defaulted to the table field
+// configuration.
+func CheckFieldCompatibility(cflds []Field, scr *featurebase.ShowColumnsResponse) ([]Field, error) {
+	out := make([]Field, len(cflds))
+	for i, cfld := range cflds {
+		out[i] = cfld
+		cfldName := dax.FieldName(cfld.Name)
+
+		// Primary key field.
+		if cfld.PrimaryKey {
+			f := scr.Field(dax.PrimaryKeyFieldName)
+			if f == nil {
+				return nil, dax.NewErrFieldDoesNotExist(dax.PrimaryKeyFieldName) // It should be impossible to hit this.
+			}
+			if out[i].SourceType == "" {
+				if f.StringKeys() {
+					out[i].SourceType = dax.BaseTypeString
+				} else {
+					out[i].SourceType = dax.BaseTypeID
+				}
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Non primary key fields.
+		if cfldName == dax.PrimaryKeyFieldName {
+			return nil, errors.Errorf("field named '%s' must be a primary key", dax.PrimaryKeyFieldName)
+		}
+
+		f := scr.Field(cfldName)
+		if f == nil {
+			return nil, dax.NewErrFieldDoesNotExist(cfldName)
+		}
+
+		if out[i].SourceType == "" {
+			out[i].SourceType = f.FullType()
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
diff --git a/cli/kafka/runner.go b/cli/kafka/runner.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cacde76bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/kafka/runner.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package kafka
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"time"
+
+	fbbatch "github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/batch"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/errors"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/idk"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/idk/kafka_static"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/logger"
+)
+
+// Runner is a CLI-specific kafka consumer. It's similar to
+// idk.kafka_static.Main in that it embeds idk.Main and contains additional
+// functionality specific to its use case.
+type Runner struct {
+	idk.Main   `flag:"!embed"`
+	KafkaHosts []string       `help:"Comma separated list of host:port pairs for Kafka."`
+	Group      string         `help:"Kafka group."`
+	Topics     []string       `help:"Kafka topics to read from."`
+	Timeout    time.Duration  `help:"Time to wait for more records from Kafka before flushing a batch. 0 to disable."`
+	Header     []idk.RawField `help:"Header configuration."`
+}
+
+func NewRunner(cfg ConfigForIDK, batcher fbbatch.Batcher, logWriter io.Writer) *Runner {
+	idkMain := idk.NewMain()
+	idkMain.IDField = cfg.IDField
+	idkMain.Index = cfg.Table
+	idkMain.Batcher = batcher
+	idkMain.BatchSize = cfg.BatchSize
+	idkMain.BatchMaxStaleness = cfg.BatchMaxStaleness
+	idkMain.SetBasic()
+	idkMain.SetLog(logger.NewStandardLogger(logWriter))
+
+	kr := &Runner{
+		Main:       *idkMain,
+		KafkaHosts: cfg.Hosts,
+		Group:      cfg.Group,
+		Topics:     cfg.Topics,
+		Header:     cfg.Fields,
+		Timeout:    cfg.Timeout,
+	}
+	kr.OffsetMode = true
+	kr.Main.Namespace = "cli_kafka_runner"
+	kr.Main.Pprof = "" // don't initialize pprof until we actually use it in tests
+	kr.NewSource = func() (idk.Source, error) {
+		source := kafka_static.NewSource()
+		source.Hosts = kr.KafkaHosts
+		source.Group = kr.Group
+		source.Topics = kr.Topics
+		source.Log = kr.Main.Log()
+		// source.TLS = m.KafkaTLS
+		source.Timeout = kr.Timeout
+		// source.SkipOld = m.SkipOld
+		source.HeaderFields = kr.Header
+		// source.S3Region = m.S3Region
+		// source.AllowMissingFields = m.AllowMissingFields
+
+		err := source.Open()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "opening source")
+		}
+		return source, nil
+	}
+	return kr
+}
diff --git a/cli/parts.go b/cli/parts.go
index a936ebc59..fd704cae6 100644
--- a/cli/parts.go
+++ b/cli/parts.go
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ type queryPart interface {
 	Reader() io.Reader
 }
 
+func newRawQuery(s string) query {
+	return []queryPart{
+		newPartRaw(s),
+	}
+}
+
 // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // raw
 // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/cli/writer.go b/cli/writer.go
index d84e71a75..7ee68c93c 100644
--- a/cli/writer.go
+++ b/cli/writer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package cli
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"time"
 
 	featurebase "github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3"
 	"github.com/jedib0t/go-pretty/table"
@@ -87,11 +88,20 @@ func writeTable(r *featurebase.WireQueryResponse, format *writeOptions, qOut io.
 			t.AppendHeader(schemaToRow(r.Schema))
 		}
 		for _, row := range r.Data {
-			// If the value is nil, replace it with a null string; go-pretty doesn't
-			// expect nil pointers in the data values.
+			// Loop through all the colums of each row and modify any based on
+			// type.
+			//
+			// If the value is nil, replace it with a null string; go-pretty
+			// doesn't expect nil pointers in the data values.
+			//
+			// If the value is a time.Time, we want to print it using
+			// RFC3339Nano to be consistent with everything else.
 			for i := range row {
-				if row[i] == nil {
+				switch v := row[i].(type) {
+				case nil:
 					row[i] = nullValue
+				case time.Time:
+					row[i] = v.Format(time.RFC3339Nano)
 				}
 			}
 			t.AppendRow(table.Row(row))
diff --git a/cmd/auth_token.go b/cmd/auth_token.go
index 7921c1f91..1fb52a20b 100644
--- a/cmd/auth_token.go
+++ b/cmd/auth_token.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func newAuthTokenCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 Retrieves an auth-token for use in authenticating with FeatureBase from the configured identity provider.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 
 	flags := ccmd.Flags()
diff --git a/cmd/backup.go b/cmd/backup.go
index cf962fc42..d5234c5eb 100644
--- a/cmd/backup.go
+++ b/cmd/backup.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func newBackupCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 Backs up a FeatureBase server to a local, tar-formatted snapshot file.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 
 	flags := ccmd.Flags()
diff --git a/cmd/backup_tar.go b/cmd/backup_tar.go
index 641f4ee51..3deaf8039 100644
--- a/cmd/backup_tar.go
+++ b/cmd/backup_tar.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func newBackupTarCommand(logdest io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 Backs up a FeatureBase server to a local, tar-formatted snapshot file.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 
 	flags := ccmd.Flags()
diff --git a/cmd/chksum.go b/cmd/chksum.go
index 4160114f4..8edaaf458 100644
--- a/cmd/chksum.go
+++ b/cmd/chksum.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func newChkSumCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 			Generates a digital signature of all the data associated with a provided FeatureBase server
 			WARNING: could be slow if high cardinality fields exist
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 
 	flags := ccmd.Flags()
diff --git a/cmd/cli.go b/cmd/cli.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 09e7428d4..000000000
--- a/cmd/cli.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2021 Molecula Corp. All rights reserved.
-package cmd
-
-import (
-	"io"
-
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli"
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/ctl"
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/logger"
-	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-	"github.com/spf13/viper"
-)
-
-var cliCmd *cli.Command
-
-// NewCLICommand runs the FeatureBase CLI subcommand.
-func NewCLICommand(stderr io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
-	logdest := logger.NewStandardLogger(stderr)
-	cliCmd = cli.NewCommand(logdest)
-	cobraCmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "fbsql",
-		Short: "Query FeatureBase with SQL from the command line",
-		Long:  ``,
-		RunE:  usageErrorWrapper(cliCmd),
-		PersistentPreRunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			v := viper.New()
-			return setAllConfig(v, cmd.Flags(), "FBSQL")
-		},
-		SilenceErrors: true,
-	}
-
-	// Attach flags to the command.
-	ctl.BuildCLIFlags(cobraCmd, cliCmd)
-	return cobraCmd
-}
diff --git a/cmd/dataframe-csv-loader.go b/cmd/dataframe-csv-loader.go
index fd0679b1d..39b77b0bb 100644
--- a/cmd/dataframe-csv-loader.go
+++ b/cmd/dataframe-csv-loader.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func newDataframeCsvLoaderCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "load dataframe integer and floating point values into featurebase",
 		Long: `
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 	flags := loaderCmd.Flags()
 	flags.StringVar(&cmd.Path, "csv", "", "path to csv input file")
diff --git a/cmd/export.go b/cmd/export.go
index 88c817fd5..dbb0ec77e 100644
--- a/cmd/export.go
+++ b/cmd/export.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ The format of the CSV file is:
 
 The file does not contain any headers.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(Exporter),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(Exporter),
 	}
 	flags := exportCmd.Flags()
 
diff --git a/cmd/fbsql/main.go b/cmd/fbsql/main.go
index d498d1703..07655bcd5 100644
--- a/cmd/fbsql/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fbsql/main.go
@@ -2,12 +2,63 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"io"
 	"os"
 
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli"
 	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cmd"
+	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/logger"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
 func main() {
-	command := cmd.NewCLICommand(os.Stderr)
+	command := newCLICommand(os.Stderr)
 	command.Execute()
 }
+
+// newCLICommand runs the FeatureBase CLI subcommand.
+func newCLICommand(stderr io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
+	logdest := logger.NewStandardLogger(stderr)
+	cliCmd := cli.NewCommand(logdest)
+	cobraCmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "fbsql",
+		Short: "Query FeatureBase with SQL from the command line",
+		Long:  ``,
+		RunE:  cmd.UsageErrorWrapper(cliCmd),
+		PersistentPreRunE: func(cobraCmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			v := viper.New()
+			return cmd.SetAllConfig(v, cobraCmd.Flags(), "FBSQL")
+		},
+		SilenceErrors: true,
+	}
+
+	// Attach flags to the command.
+	buildFlags(cobraCmd, cliCmd)
+	return cobraCmd
+}
+
+// buildFlags attaches a set of flags to the command for a cli instance.
+func buildFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, cliCmd *cli.Command) {
+	flags := cmd.Flags()
+
+	// Base struct flags.
+	flags.StringSliceVarP(&cliCmd.Commands, "command", "c", cliCmd.Commands, "Command to run in non-interactive mode. Provide multiple flags to execute more than one command. All `--command` flags run before all `--file` flags.")
+	flags.StringSliceVarP(&cliCmd.Files, "file", "f", cliCmd.Files, "File to run in non-interactive mode. Provide multiple flags to execute more than one file. All `--command` flags run before all `--file` flags.")
+
+	// Config flags.
+	flags.StringVarP(&cliCmd.Config.Host, "host", "", cliCmd.Config.Host, "hostname of FeatureBase.")
+	flags.StringVarP(&cliCmd.Config.Port, "port", "", cliCmd.Config.Port, "port of FeatureBase.")
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.HistoryPath, "history-path", cliCmd.Config.HistoryPath, "path for history files.")
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.OrganizationID, "org-id", cliCmd.Config.OrganizationID, "OrganizationID.")
+	flags.StringVarP(&cliCmd.Config.Database, "dbname", "d", cliCmd.Config.Database, "Name of the database to connect to.")
+
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.ClientID, "client-id", cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.ClientID, "Cognito Client ID for FeatureBase Cloud access.")
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.Region, "region", cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.Region, "Cloud region for FeatureBase Cloud access (e.g. us-east-2).")
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.Email, "email", cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.Email, "Email address for FeatureBase Cloud access.")
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.Password, "password", cliCmd.Config.CloudAuth.Password, "Password for FeatureBase Cloud access.")
+
+	flags.StringVar(&cliCmd.Config.KafkaConfig, "kafka-config", cliCmd.Config.KafkaConfig, "Kafka configuration file to read from.")
+
+	flags.String("config", "", "Configuration file to read from.")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/generate_config.go b/cmd/generate_config.go
index 012da9fd3..882b51bbf 100644
--- a/cmd/generate_config.go
+++ b/cmd/generate_config.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func newGenerateConfigCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Print the default configuration.",
 		Long: `generate-config prints the default configuration to stdout
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(generateConf),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(generateConf),
 	}
 
 	return confCmd
diff --git a/cmd/keygen.go b/cmd/keygen.go
index 4dc25df38..ae8c2d60f 100644
--- a/cmd/keygen.go
+++ b/cmd/keygen.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func newKeygenCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 Generate secret key to configure FeatureBase for Authentication.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 
 	flags := ccmd.Flags()
diff --git a/cmd/parquet-info.go b/cmd/parquet-info.go
index 746b1ec21..12c496e79 100644
--- a/cmd/parquet-info.go
+++ b/cmd/parquet-info.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Displays schema and sample data from the specified file
 			c.Path = args[0]
 			return nil
 		},
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(c),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(c),
 	}
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/presort.go b/cmd/presort.go
index 1bd4aba21..23c48965b 100644
--- a/cmd/presort.go
+++ b/cmd/presort.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func newPreSortCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 Takes all input files and writes PartitionN numbered files to a directory, where each file contains only records that will go into the partition it is named for.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 
 	flags := ccmd.Flags()
diff --git a/cmd/rbf.go b/cmd/rbf.go
index 500d54dbe..2ca84be87 100644
--- a/cmd/rbf.go
+++ b/cmd/rbf.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Executes a consistency check on an RBF data directory.
 			c.Path = args[0]
 			return nil
 		},
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(c),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(c),
 	}
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ Dumps the raw hex data for one or more RBF pages.
 
 			return nil
 		},
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(c),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(c),
 	}
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ Prints a line for every page in the database with its type/status.
 			c.Path = args[0]
 			return nil
 		},
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(c),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(c),
 	}
 
 	flags := cmd.Flags()
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ Prints the header & cell data for one or more pages.
 
 			return nil
 		},
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(c),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(c),
 	}
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/restore.go b/cmd/restore.go
index f94b9de71..931b117e2 100644
--- a/cmd/restore.go
+++ b/cmd/restore.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func newRestoreCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 The Restore command will take a backup archive and restore it to a new, clean cluster.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 	flags := restoreCmd.Flags()
 	flags.StringVarP(&cmd.Path, "source", "s", "", "backup file; specify '-' to restore from stdin tar stream")
diff --git a/cmd/restore_tar.go b/cmd/restore_tar.go
index 9a1cdc3fc..32b323926 100644
--- a/cmd/restore_tar.go
+++ b/cmd/restore_tar.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func newRestoreTarCommand(logdest logger.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 		Long: `
 The Restore command will take a tar-formatted backup archive and restore it to a new, clean cluster.
 `,
-		RunE: usageErrorWrapper(cmd),
+		RunE: UsageErrorWrapper(cmd),
 	}
 	flags := restoreCmd.Flags()
 	flags.StringVarP(&cmd.Path, "source", "s", "", "backup file; specify '-' to restore from stdin tar stream")
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 9a67365fc..d05956e9f 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ type runner interface {
 	Run(context.Context) error
 }
 
-// usageErrorWrapper takes a thing with a Run(context) error, and produces
+// UsageErrorWrapper takes a thing with a Run(context) error, and produces
 // a func(*cobra.Command, []string) error from it which will run that
 // command, and then set Cobra's SilenceUsage flag unless the returned
 // error errors.Is() a ctl.UsageError.
-func usageErrorWrapper(inner runner) func(*cobra.Command, []string) error {
+func UsageErrorWrapper(inner runner) func(*cobra.Command, []string) error {
 	return func(c *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return considerUsageError(c, inner.Run(context.Background()))
 	}
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ at https://docs.featurebase.com/.
 			case "dax":
 				v.Set("future.rename", true) // always use FEATUREBASE env for dax
 			}
-			if err := setAllConfig(v, cmd.Flags(), ""); err != nil {
+			if err := SetAllConfig(v, cmd.Flags(), ""); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 
@@ -114,17 +114,17 @@ at https://docs.featurebase.com/.
 	return rc
 }
 
-// setAllConfig takes a FlagSet to be the definition of all configuration
+// SetAllConfig takes a FlagSet to be the definition of all configuration
 // options, as well as their defaults. It then reads from the command line, the
 // environment, and a config file (if specified), and applies the configuration
 // in that priority order. Since each flag in the set contains a pointer to
-// where its value should be stored, setAllConfig can directly modify the value
+// where its value should be stored, SetAllConfig can directly modify the value
 // of each config variable.
 //
-// setAllConfig looks for environment variables which are capitalized versions
+// SetAllConfig looks for environment variables which are capitalized versions
 // of the flag names with dashes replaced by underscores, and prefixed with
 // envPrefix plus an underscore.
-func setAllConfig(v *viper.Viper, flags *pflag.FlagSet, envPrefix string) error { // nolint: unparam
+func SetAllConfig(v *viper.Viper, flags *pflag.FlagSet, envPrefix string) error { // nolint: unparam
 	// add cmd line flag def to viper
 	err := v.BindPFlags(flags)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/ctl/cli.go b/ctl/cli.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 564f708a5..000000000
--- a/ctl/cli.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-package ctl
-
-import (
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/cli"
-	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
-)
-
-// BuildCLIFlags attaches a set of flags to the command for a cli instance.
-func BuildCLIFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, cliCmd *cli.Command) {
-	flags := cmd.Flags()
-
-	// Base struct flags.
-	flags.StringSliceVarP(&cliCmd.Commands, "command", "c", cliCmd.Commands, "Command to run in non-interactive mode. Provide multiple flags to execute more than one command. All `--command` flags run before all `--file` flags.")
-	flags.StringSliceVarP(&cliCmd.Files, "file", "f", cliCmd.Files, "File to run in non-interactive mode. Provide multiple flags to execute more than one file. All `--command` flags run before all `--file` flags.")
-
-	// Config flags.
-	flags.AddFlagSet(cliConfigFlagSet(cliCmd.Config))
-}
-
-// cliConfigFlagSet returns a pflag.FlagSet for the CLI Config struct.
-func cliConfigFlagSet(cfg *cli.Config) *pflag.FlagSet {
-	flags := pflag.NewFlagSet("cli", pflag.ExitOnError)
-
-	flags.StringVarP(&cfg.Host, "host", "", cfg.Host, "hostname of FeatureBase.")
-	flags.StringVarP(&cfg.Port, "port", "", cfg.Port, "port of FeatureBase.")
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.HistoryPath, "history-path", cfg.HistoryPath, "path for history files.")
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.OrganizationID, "org-id", cfg.OrganizationID, "OrganizationID.")
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.Database, "db", cfg.Database, "Name of the database to connect to.")
-
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.CloudAuth.ClientID, "client-id", cfg.CloudAuth.ClientID, "Cognito Client ID for FeatureBase Cloud access.")
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.CloudAuth.Region, "region", cfg.CloudAuth.Region, "Cloud region for FeatureBase Cloud access (e.g. us-east-2).")
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.CloudAuth.Email, "email", cfg.CloudAuth.Email, "Email address for FeatureBase Cloud access.")
-	flags.StringVar(&cfg.CloudAuth.Password, "password", cfg.CloudAuth.Password, "Password for FeatureBase Cloud access.")
-
-	flags.String("config", "", "Configuration file to read from.")
-
-	return flags
-}
diff --git a/dax/table.go b/dax/table.go
index 37bcc0179..e3e078426 100644
--- a/dax/table.go
+++ b/dax/table.go
@@ -693,6 +693,42 @@ func BaseTypeFromString(s string) (BaseType, error) {
 	}
 }
 
+// SplitFieldType splits a string into a BaseType and, when applicable, a slice
+// of qualifiers for that type. For example, the string `decimal(2)` would be
+// split into BaseType `decimal` and []interface{}{int64(2)}.
+func SplitFieldType(s string) (BaseType, []interface{}, error) {
+	var base string
+	var paren string
+
+	parts := strings.Split(s, "(")
+	base = parts[0]
+	if len(parts) > 1 {
+		parenParts := strings.Split(parts[1], ")")
+		if len(parenParts) != 2 {
+			return "", nil, errors.Errorf("invalid type qualifier: %s", s)
+		}
+		paren = parenParts[0]
+	}
+
+	baseType, err := BaseTypeFromString(base)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Handle the string found in parenthesis.
+	args := []interface{}{}
+	switch baseType {
+	case BaseTypeDecimal:
+		scale, err := strconv.ParseInt(paren, 10, 64)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "parsing int from string: %s", paren)
+		}
+		args = append(args, scale)
+	}
+
+	return baseType, args, nil
+}
+
 // Field represents a field and its configuration.
 type Field struct {
 	Name    FieldName    `json:"name"`
@@ -707,6 +743,17 @@ func (f *Field) String() string {
 	return string(f.Name)
 }
 
+// FullType returns the field type along with its parenthetical (when
+// applicable).
+func (f *Field) FullType() string {
+	switch f.Type {
+	case BaseTypeDecimal:
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s(%d)", f.Type, f.Options.Scale)
+	default:
+		return string(f.Type)
+	}
+}
+
 // StringKeys returns true if the field uses string keys.
 func (f *Field) StringKeys() bool {
 	switch f.Type {
diff --git a/idk/header.go b/idk/header.go
index cb7a2166d..20912a0ff 100644
--- a/idk/header.go
+++ b/idk/header.go
@@ -506,13 +506,18 @@ func (t PathTable) FlatMap() map[string]int {
 	return m
 }
 
+// RawField is used in cases where header fields are configured as json,
+// typically read from a file. But this type is also used by the kafka runner in
+// fbsql.
+type RawField struct {
+	Name   string   `json:"name"`
+	Path   []string `json:"path"`
+	Type   string   `json:"type"`
+	Config json.RawMessage
+}
+
 func ParseHeader(raw []byte) ([]Field, PathTable, error) {
-	var rawSchema []struct {
-		Name   string   `json:"name"`
-		Path   []string `json:"path"`
-		Type   string   `json:"type"`
-		Config json.RawMessage
-	}
+	var rawSchema []RawField
 	err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &rawSchema)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, errors.Wrap(err, "parsing schema")
diff --git a/idk/ingest.go b/idk/ingest.go
index e760c2588..e5b01dda4 100644
--- a/idk/ingest.go
+++ b/idk/ingest.go
@@ -124,6 +124,12 @@ type Main struct {
 
 	NewImporterFn func() pilosacore.Importer `flag:"-"`
 
+	Batcher pilosabatch.Batcher `flag:"-"`
+
+	// basic, when true, will only set up the things required to run a basic
+	// ingester. For example, it does not set up the pilosa client.
+	basic bool
+
 	SchemaManager SchemaManager       `flag:"-"`
 	Qtbl          *dax.QualifiedTable `flag:"-"`
 
@@ -210,8 +216,6 @@ func (m *Main) Log() logger.Logger                 { return m.log }
 func (m *Main) SetLog(log logger.Logger)           { m.log = log }
 
 func NewMain() *Main {
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Molecula Consumer %s, build time %s\n", Version, BuildTime)
-
 	return &Main{
 		PilosaHosts:      []string{"localhost:10101"},
 		PilosaGRPCHosts:  []string{"localhost:20101"},
@@ -241,7 +245,18 @@ func (m *Main) Rename() {
 	}
 }
 
+// SetBasic sets up Main with basic functionality, excluding those things which
+// are not required for some implementations (such as the kafka runner in
+// fbsql).
+func (m *Main) SetBasic() {
+	m.basic = true
+}
+
 func (m *Main) Run() (err error) {
+	if !m.basic {
+		m.log.Printf("Molecula Consumer %s, build time %s\n", Version, BuildTime)
+	}
+
 	onFinishRun, err := m.Setup()
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "setting up")
@@ -674,6 +689,100 @@ initialFetch:
 }
 
 func (m *Main) Setup() (onFinishRun func(), err error) {
+	if m.basic {
+		return m.basicSetup()
+	}
+	return m.setup()
+}
+
+// basicSetup contains a lot of the same functionality as setup(), but it
+// exludes anything which involves interacting with a "destination" featurebase
+// installation. A basic setup is useful for something which wants to use the
+// ingest loop and its batching logic, but doesn't want to send results directly
+// to a featurebase installation. An example of this would be the CLI (i.e.
+// fbsql), which generates BULK INSERT statements and sends those to a /sql
+// endpoint.
+func (m *Main) basicSetup() (onFinishRun func(), err error) {
+	if err := m.validate(); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "validating configuration")
+	}
+
+	// setup logging
+	var f *logger.FileWriter
+	var logOut io.Writer = os.Stderr
+	if m.LogPath != "" {
+		f, err = logger.NewFileWriter(m.LogPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "opening log file")
+		}
+		logOut = f
+	}
+	if m.Verbose {
+		m.log = logger.NewVerboseLogger(logOut)
+	} else {
+		m.log = logger.NewStandardLogger(logOut)
+	}
+
+	if m.TrackProgress {
+		m.progress = &ProgressTracker{}
+	}
+
+	// Set up progress tracking.
+	if m.progress != nil {
+		startTime := time.Now()
+		var wg sync.WaitGroup
+		defer wg.Wait()
+		doneCh := make(chan struct{})
+		defer func() { close(doneCh) }()
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+
+			// Set up a timer to check progress every 10 seconds.
+			tick := time.NewTicker(10 * time.Second)
+			defer tick.Stop()
+
+			prev := uint64(0)
+			stalled := true
+			for {
+				progress := m.progress.Check()
+				switch {
+				case progress != prev:
+					// Forward progress continues.
+					m.log.Printf("sourced %d records (%.2f records/minute)", progress, float64(progress)/time.Since(startTime).Minutes())
+					stalled = false
+				case stalled:
+					// We already told the user that it is stalled.
+				default:
+					// This is the start of a stall.
+					// No records have been sourced in the past 5 seconds.
+					m.log.Printf("record sourcing stalled")
+					stalled = true
+				}
+				prev = progress
+
+				select {
+				case <-tick.C:
+				case <-doneCh:
+					// Generate a final status update.
+					m.log.Printf("sourced %d records in %s", m.progress.Check(), time.Since(startTime))
+					return
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+
+	m.newNexter = func(c int) (IDAllocator, error) {
+		var nexter IDAllocator
+		return nexter, nil
+	}
+
+	onFinishRun = func() {}
+
+	return onFinishRun, nil
+}
+
+func (m *Main) setup() (onFinishRun func(), err error) {
 	if err := m.validate(); err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "validating configuration")
 	}
@@ -2045,12 +2154,35 @@ func (m *Main) batchFromSchema(schema []Field) ([]Recordizer, pilosabatch.Record
 	return recordizers, batch, row, lookupWriteIdxs, nil
 }
 
-func (m *Main) newBatch(fields []*pilosaclient.Field) (pilosabatch.RecordBatch, error) {
+func (m *Main) newBatch(clientFields []*pilosaclient.Field) (pilosabatch.RecordBatch, error) {
+	cfg := pilosabatch.Config{
+		Size:         m.BatchSize,
+		MaxStaleness: m.BatchMaxStaleness,
+	}
+
+	// Table.
+	ii := pilosaclient.FromClientIndex(m.index)
+	tbl := pilosacore.IndexInfoToTable(ii)
+
+	// Fields.
+	fields := pilosaclient.FromClientFields(clientFields)
+
+	// If a custom Batcher has been defined, use that. Otherwise default to
+	// using the standard featurebase batch.
+	if m.Batcher != nil {
+		return m.Batcher.NewBatch(cfg, tbl, pilosacore.FieldInfosToFields(fields))
+	}
+
+	return m.newFeaturebaseBatch(cfg, tbl, fields)
+}
+
+// newFeaturebaseBatch returns a featurebase.Batch based on the provided fields.
+func (m *Main) newFeaturebaseBatch(cfg pilosabatch.Config, tbl *dax.Table, fields []*pilosacore.FieldInfo) (pilosabatch.RecordBatch, error) {
 	opts := []pilosabatch.BatchOption{
 		pilosabatch.OptLogger(m.log),
 		pilosabatch.OptCacheMaxAge(m.CacheLength),
 		pilosabatch.OptSplitBatchMode(m.ExpSplitBatchMode),
-		pilosabatch.OptMaxStaleness(m.BatchMaxStaleness),
+		pilosabatch.OptMaxStaleness(cfg.MaxStaleness),
 		pilosabatch.OptKeyTranslateBatchSize(m.KeyTranslateBatchSize),
 		pilosabatch.OptUseShardTransactionalEndpoint(m.UseShardTransactionalEndpoint),
 	}
@@ -2063,10 +2195,7 @@ func (m *Main) newBatch(fields []*pilosaclient.Field) (pilosabatch.RecordBatch,
 	}
 	opts = append(opts, pilosabatch.OptImporter(importer))
 
-	ii := pilosaclient.FromClientIndex(m.index)
-	tbl := pilosacore.IndexInfoToTable(ii)
-
-	return pilosabatch.NewBatch(importer, m.BatchSize, tbl, pilosaclient.FromClientFields(fields), opts...)
+	return pilosabatch.NewBatch(importer, cfg.Size, tbl, fields, opts...)
 }
 
 // validateField ensures that the field is configured correctly.
diff --git a/idk/interfaces.go b/idk/interfaces.go
index a721694c6..07b4bcb1a 100644
--- a/idk/interfaces.go
+++ b/idk/interfaces.go
@@ -1374,7 +1374,7 @@ func (n *nopSchemaManager) FinishTransaction(id string) (*pilosacore.Transaction
 	return nil, nil
 }
 func (n *nopSchemaManager) Schema() (*pilosaclient.Schema, error) {
-	return nil, nil
+	return pilosaclient.NewSchema(), nil
 }
 func (n *nopSchemaManager) SyncIndex(index *pilosaclient.Index) error {
 	return nil
diff --git a/idk/kafka/source_test.go b/idk/kafka/source_test.go
index d117b83e9..de95c20a7 100644
--- a/idk/kafka/source_test.go
+++ b/idk/kafka/source_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/confluentinc/confluent-kafka-go/kafka"
 	confluent "github.com/confluentinc/confluent-kafka-go/kafka"
 	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/idk"
 	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/idk/common"
@@ -916,14 +915,14 @@ func tPutRecordsKafka(t *testing.T, p *confluent.Producer, topic string, schemaI
 
 func tPutRecordsKafkaPartition(t *testing.T, p *confluent.Producer, topic string, schemaID int, schema *liavro.Codec, key string, partition int32, records ...map[string]interface{}) {
 	t.Helper()
-	delivery_chan := make(chan kafka.Event, 10000)
+	delivery_chan := make(chan confluent.Event, 10000)
 	for _, record := range records {
 		data, err := endcodeAvro(schemaID, schema, record)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("encoding record: %v", err)
 		}
-		err = p.Produce(&kafka.Message{
-			TopicPartition: kafka.TopicPartition{Topic: &topic, Partition: partition},
+		err = p.Produce(&confluent.Message{
+			TopicPartition: confluent.TopicPartition{Topic: &topic, Partition: partition},
 			Key:            []byte(key),
 			Value:          data,
 		}, delivery_chan)
@@ -931,7 +930,7 @@ func tPutRecordsKafkaPartition(t *testing.T, p *confluent.Producer, topic string
 			t.Fatalf("producing record: %v", err)
 		}
 		e := <-delivery_chan
-		m := e.(*kafka.Message)
+		m := e.(*confluent.Message)
 
 		if m.TopicPartition.Error != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("Delivery failed: %v\n", m.TopicPartition.Error)
diff --git a/idk/kafka_static/source.go b/idk/kafka_static/source.go
index b8c871988..6f89f750c 100644
--- a/idk/kafka_static/source.go
+++ b/idk/kafka_static/source.go
@@ -26,14 +26,23 @@ import (
 // source. It is not threadsafe! Due to the way Kafka clients work, to
 // achieve concurrency, create multiple Sources.
 type Source struct {
-	Hosts    []string
-	Topics   []string
-	Group    string
-	TLS      idk.TLSConfig
-	Log      logger.Logger
-	Timeout  time.Duration
-	SkipOld  bool
-	Header   string
+	Hosts   []string
+	Topics  []string
+	Group   string
+	TLS     idk.TLSConfig
+	Log     logger.Logger
+	Timeout time.Duration
+	SkipOld bool
+
+	// Header is a file or url referencing a file containing JSON header
+	// configuration.
+	Header string
+
+	// HeaderFields can be provided instead of Header. It is a slice of
+	// RawFields which will be marshalled and parsed the same way a JSON object
+	// in Header would be. It is used only if a Header is not provided.
+	HeaderFields []idk.RawField
+
 	S3Region string
 
 	AllowMissingFields bool
@@ -162,24 +171,31 @@ func (r *Record) Data() []interface{} {
 
 // Open initializes the kafka source.
 func (s *Source) Open() error {
-	if len(s.Header) == 0 {
-		return errors.New("needs header specification file")
+	if len(s.Header) == 0 && len(s.HeaderFields) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("needs header specification (file or fields)")
 	}
 
-	{
-		headerData, err := s.readFileOrURL(s.Header)
+	var headerData []byte
+	var err error
+	if s.Header != "" {
+		headerData, err = s.readFileOrURL(s.Header)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "reading header file")
 		}
-
-		schema, paths, err := idk.ParseHeader(headerData)
+	} else {
+		headerData, err = json.Marshal(s.HeaderFields)
 		if err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "processing header")
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "marshalling header fields")
 		}
-		s.schema = schema
-		s.paths = paths
 	}
 
+	schema, paths, err := idk.ParseHeader(headerData)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "processing header")
+	}
+	s.schema = schema
+	s.paths = paths
+
 	// init (custom) config, enable errors and notifications
 	config := segmentio.ReaderConfig{
 		Brokers:     s.Hosts,
diff --git a/schema.go b/schema.go
index e78a12f18..29efd4b29 100644
--- a/schema.go
+++ b/schema.go
@@ -280,6 +280,15 @@ func featurebaseFieldOptionsToEpoch(fo *FieldOptions) time.Time {
 	return time.Unix(0, epochNano)
 }
 
+// FieldInfosToFields converts a []*featurebase.FieldInfo to a []*dax.Field.
+func FieldInfosToFields(fis []*FieldInfo) []*dax.Field {
+	fs := make([]*dax.Field, 0, len(fis))
+	for i := range fis {
+		fs = append(fs, FieldInfoToField(fis[i]))
+	}
+	return fs
+}
+
 //
 // Functions to convert from dax to featurebase.
 //
diff --git a/wire_response.go b/wire_response.go
index 2aa91ff2f..dfb08bc00 100644
--- a/wire_response.go
+++ b/wire_response.go
@@ -226,3 +226,70 @@ func (ss StringSet) String() string {
 
 	return sb.String()
 }
+
+// ShowColumnsResponse returns a structure which is specific to a `SHOW COLUMNS`
+// statement, derived from the results in the WireQueryResponse. This is kind of
+// a crude way to unmarshal a WireQueryResponse into a type which is specific to
+// the sql operation.
+// TODO(tlt): see if we can standardize on this logic, because it would be useful to
+// have the same thing for SHOW DATABASES and SHOW TABLES.
+// TODO(tlt): the fields unmarshalled in this method are a subset of the actual
+// columns available; at the moment, we only handled the ones we need in the
+// CLI.
+func (s *WireQueryResponse) ShowColumnsResponse() (*ShowColumnsResponse, error) {
+	// Make a map of header names to index position. We do this to avoid
+	// breaking things if for some reason the format of the SHOW COLUMNS
+	// response defined in the sql3 package changes.
+	m := make(map[string]int)
+	for i, fld := range s.Schema.Fields {
+		m[string(fld.Name)] = i
+	}
+
+	flds := make([]*dax.Field, 0, len(s.Data))
+	for _, row := range s.Data {
+		// name
+		var name dax.FieldName
+		if val, ok := row[m["name"]].(string); ok {
+			name = dax.FieldName(val)
+		}
+
+		// type
+		var typ dax.BaseType
+		if val, ok := row[m["type"]].(string); ok {
+			typ = dax.BaseType(val)
+		}
+
+		// scale
+		var scale int64
+		if val, ok := row[m["scale"]].(int64); ok {
+			scale = val
+		}
+
+		flds = append(flds, &dax.Field{
+			Name: name,
+			Type: typ,
+			Options: dax.FieldOptions{
+				Scale: scale,
+			},
+		})
+	}
+	return &ShowColumnsResponse{
+		Fields: flds,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// ShowColumnsResponse is a type used to marshal the results of a `SHOW COLUMNS`
+// statement.
+type ShowColumnsResponse struct {
+	Fields []*dax.Field
+}
+
+// Field returns the field by name. If the field is not found, nil is returned.
+func (s *ShowColumnsResponse) Field(name dax.FieldName) *dax.Field {
+	for i := range s.Fields {
+		if s.Fields[i].Name == name {
+			return s.Fields[i]
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}