> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ngquct-docs-fix-500-query-results.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Query Parameters
> Use :name placeholders in SQL queries, fill values in a panel, execute with prepared statements
Write `:id` where the value goes, then press `Cmd+Enter` twice: once to raise the fields, once to run. A `:word` inside a string, a comment, or a PostgreSQL cast is left alone.
```sql theme={null}
SELECT *
FROM orders
WHERE customer_id = :customer_id
AND status = :status
AND created_at > :since;
```
That query raises three rows, in the order the names first appear. Each row is the parameter name, a value field, a type popup (String, Integer, Decimal, Date or Boolean), and a **NULL** checkbox that binds NULL and disables the field.
Every parameter needs a value or NULL. Running with one empty stops with "Missing value for parameter: :name" instead of going to the server. **Clear All** empties every value field, and the X button hides the panel until the next run.
Where the driver has a parameter API the value is bound, never pasted into the text; everywhere else it is escaped. Either way you never quote a value yourself, and a `'` in a value is not an injection.
## What counts as a parameter
`:name` is detected when `name` starts with a letter or underscore. These are not:
| Pattern | Why |
| -------------- | ---------------------- |
| `':name'` | Inside a string |
| `-- :name` | Inside a comment |
| `/* :name */` | Inside a block comment |
| `col::integer` | PostgreSQL type cast |
| `$$ :name $$` | Dollar-quoted string |
| `:123` | Starts with a digit |
The same name twice (`:id = :id`) gets one field and one value.
## LIKE patterns and IN lists
One placeholder is one value, which is where both of these go wrong.
For a `LIKE`, put the wildcards in the value rather than the SQL. `LIKE '%:term%'` is a string literal and no parameter at all; write `LIKE :term` and type `%acme%` into the field.
For an `IN` list, a single `:ids` binds the whole thing as one value and matches nothing. Write one placeholder per value:
```sql theme={null}
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE status IN (:a, :b, :c);
```
## Values are kept with the tab
Values are saved with the tab and survive tab switches and app restarts. Editing the query keeps the values whose names still match, empties the fields for new names, and drops the ones that are gone.
Values are never recorded in [query history](/features/query-history), so loading a parameterized entry from there raises the panel rather than running it.
## Several statements at once
**Execute All Statements** (`Cmd+Shift+Enter`) collects every unique name across the whole script into one panel. Each statement binds only the parameters it uses.
```sql theme={null}
INSERT INTO users (id, name) VALUES (:id, :name);
SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :id;
```
Both use `:id`. Only the INSERT uses `:name`.
## Where it applies
Parameters are read when a query tab runs: `Cmd+Enter`, **Execute All Statements**, and the [run buttons in the gutter](/features/sql-editor#statement-markers). A parameterized query still goes through [safe mode](/features/safe-mode), so DROP, TRUNCATE, and DELETE without WHERE still ask first.
## Settings
**Settings > Editor > Query parameters (:name syntax)**, on by default. Turn it off and `:name` is sent to the database exactly as written.