diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 91c7001..afa8c77 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
-## Upcoming (TBC)
+## Upcoming (TBD)
+
+### Features
+
+* Add support for opening 'file:' URIs with parameters. [(#234)](https://github.com/dbcli/litecli/pull/234)
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
 * Avoid Click 8.1.* to prevent messing up the pager when the PAGER env var has a string with spaces.
 
+
 ## 1.16.0 - 2025-08-16
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/litecli/sqlexecute.py b/litecli/sqlexecute.py
index bba774a..263cfb3 100644
--- a/litecli/sqlexecute.py
+++ b/litecli/sqlexecute.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 import sqlparse
 import os.path
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 from .packages import special
 
@@ -68,12 +69,19 @@ def connect(self, database=None):
         db = database or self.dbname
         _logger.debug("Connection DB Params: \n\tdatabase: %r", db)
 
-        db_name = os.path.expanduser(db)
-        db_dir_name = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(db_name))
-        if not os.path.exists(db_dir_name):
-            raise Exception("Path does not exist: {}".format(db_dir_name))
+        location = urlparse(db)
+        if location.scheme and location.scheme == "file":
+            uri = True
+            db_name = db
+            db_filename = location.path
+        else:
+            uri = False
+            db_filename = db_name = os.path.expanduser(db)
+            db_dir_name = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(db_filename))
+            if not os.path.exists(db_dir_name):
+                raise Exception("Path does not exist: {}".format(db_dir_name))
 
-        conn = sqlite3.connect(database=db_name, isolation_level=None)
+        conn = sqlite3.connect(database=db_name, isolation_level=None, uri=uri)
         conn.text_factory = lambda x: x.decode("utf-8", "backslashreplace")
         if self.conn:
             self.conn.close()
@@ -81,7 +89,7 @@ def connect(self, database=None):
         self.conn = conn
         # Update them after the connection is made to ensure that it was a
         # successful connection.
-        self.dbname = db
+        self.dbname = db_filename
 
     def run(self, statement):
         """Execute the sql in the database and return the results. The results
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 6d4bc1d..f2365be 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
 import click
+import pytest
 from click.testing import CliRunner
 
 from litecli.main import cli, LiteCli
 from litecli.packages.special.main import COMMANDS as SPECIAL_COMMANDS
-from utils import dbtest, run
+from utils import dbtest, run, create_db, db_connection
 
 test_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 project_dir = os.path.dirname(test_dir)
@@ -330,3 +331,30 @@ def test_get_prompt(mock_datetime):
     # 12. Windows path
     lc.connect("C:\\Users\\litecli\\litecli_test.db")
     assert lc.get_prompt(r"\d") == "C:\\Users\\litecli\\litecli_test.db"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "uri, expected_dbname",
+    [
+        ("file:{tmp_path}/test.db", "{tmp_path}/test.db"),
+        ("file:{tmp_path}/test.db?mode=ro", "{tmp_path}/test.db"),
+        ("file:{tmp_path}/test.db?mode=ro&cache=shared", "{tmp_path}/test.db"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_file_uri(tmp_path, uri, expected_dbname):
+    """
+    Test that `file:` URIs are correctly handled
+    ref:
+        https://docs.python.org/3/library/sqlite3.html#sqlite3-uri-tricks
+        https://www.sqlite.org/c3ref/open.html#urifilenameexamples
+    """
+    # - ensure db exists
+    db_path = tmp_path / "test.db"
+    create_db(db_path)
+    db_connection(db_path)
+    uri = uri.format(tmp_path=tmp_path)
+
+    lc = LiteCli()
+    lc.connect(uri)
+
+    assert lc.get_prompt(r"\d") == expected_dbname.format(tmp_path=tmp_path)