---
title: Your first project
description: Create a table, add a row, and look at it — a two-minute tour of the playground.
sidebar:
  order: 2
---

import Demo from '../../../components/Demo.astro';

This is the shortest possible tour: create a table, put a row in it, and
look at the result. Everything here is in **simple mode**, which is how the
playground starts.

<Demo src="/casts/quickstart.cast" title="The whole tour: create a table, add columns, insert a row, show the data." />

When you launch `rdbms-playground` with no arguments, it opens a fresh
temporary project for you. Type commands into the input field at the bottom
and press <kbd>Enter</kbd> to run them. As you type, the field completes
commands with <kbd>Tab</kbd> and flags mistakes before you run — see
[The assistive editor](/using-the-playground/the-assistive-editor/).

## Create a table

The quickest way to make a table is `with pk` on its own, which gives you a
ready-made primary key column called `id`:

```rdbms
create table authors with pk
```

You never fill `id` in yourself — the database assigns it as you add rows.
(You can also name and type the key yourself; see the
[Tables reference](/reference/tables/).)

## Add a couple of columns

In simple mode you create a table with its key, then add the other columns
one at a time:

```rdbms
add column to authors: name (text)
add column to authors: birth_year (int)
```

## Add a row

`insert` adds a row. List the columns you are supplying — `id` fills itself
in automatically:

```rdbms
insert into authors (name, birth_year) values ('Ada Lovelace', 1815)
```

The playground shows the row it just inserted, including the generated `id`.

## Look at the data

```rdbms
show data authors
```

That is the whole loop: **create → add columns → insert → show**. From here:

- Build the full example database in [Build the library](/guides/build-the-library/).
- Learn how [simple and advanced modes](/getting-started/modes/) differ.
- Let the editor help you: [completion, highlighting, and live error flags](/using-the-playground/the-assistive-editor/).
- Look up any command in the [Reference](/reference/types/).
