db-client-tui 0.1.1

The lazygit of SQL databases

Connect and query your database from your terminal in seconds.

pipx install db-client-tui

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Connect

Supports all major databases: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MariaDB, FirebirdSQL, Oracle, DuckDB, CockroachDB, ClickHouse, Snowflake, Supabase, CloudFlare D1, Turso, Athena, BigQuery, Spanner, RedShift, IBM Db2, SAP HANA, Teradata, Trino, Presto, Apache Flight SQL, Apache Impala, SurrealDB and osquery.

Query

Syntax highlighting. History. Vim-style keybindings.

Results

Load millions of rows. Inspect data, filter by content, fuzzy search.

Docker Discovery

Automatically finds running database containers. Press 'Enter' to connect, db-client-tui figures out the details for you.

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Features

Connection manager: Save and switch connections without CLI args

Just run db-client-tui: No CLI config needed, pick a connection and go

Multi-database support: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server, and 10+ more

Docker integration: Auto-detect running database containers

Cloud CLI integration: Easily browse and connect to your external databases through Azure, AWS and GCP CLI's

SSH tunnels: Connect to remote databases securely with password or key auth

Secure credentials: Passwords stored in your OS keyring

Vim-style editing: Modal editing for terminal purists

Query history: Searchable, per-connection history

Filter results: Fuzzy search through millions of rows

Context-aware help: Keybindings shown on screen

Browse databases: Tables, views, procedures, indexes, triggers, sequences

Autocomplete: Sophisticated SQL completion engine for tables, columns, and procedures

CLI mode: Execute SQL from the command line

Themes: Rose Pine, Tokyo Night, Nord, Gruvbox

Dependency wizard: Auto-install missing drivers

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Motivation

Throughout my career, the undesputed truth was that heavy GUI's like SSMS was the only respectable way to access a database. It didn't matter that I wasn't a DBA, or that I didn't need complex performance graphs. I was expected to install a gigabyte-heavy behemoth that took ages to launch all for the mere purpose of running a few queries to update and view a couple of rows.

When I switched to Linux, I was suddenly unable to return to the devil I know, and I asked myself: how do I access my data now?

The popular answer was VS Code's SQL extension. But why should we developers launch a heavy Electron app designed for coding just to execute SQL?

I had recently grown fond of Terminal UI's for their speed and keybinding focus. I looked for SQL TUIs, but the options were sparse. The ones I found lacked the user-friendliness and immediate "pick-up-and-go" nature of tools I loved, like lazygit, and I shortly returning to vscode sql extension.

Something wasn't right. I asked myself, why is it that running SQL queries can't be enjoyable? So I created db-client-tui.

db-client-tui is for the developer who just wants to query their database with a user friendly UI without their RAM being eaten alive. It is a lightweight, beautiful, and keyboard-driven TUI designed to make accessing your data enjoyable, fast and easy like it should be-- all from inside your favorite terminal.

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Installation

# pipx (recommended)
pipx install db-client-tui

# uv
uv tool install db-client-tui

# pip
pip install db-client-tui

# Arch Linux (AUR)
yay -S db-client-tui

# Nix (flake)
nix run github:sergey-today/db-client-tui

Usage

db-client-tui

The keybindings are shown at the bottom of the screen.

Try it without a database

Want to explore the UI without connecting to a real database? Run with mock data:

db-client-tui --mock=sqlite-demo

CLI

db-client-tui -c "MyConnection"
db-client-tui --connection "MyConnection"

# Run a query
db-client-tui query -c "MyConnection" -q "SELECT * FROM Users"

# Output as CSV or JSON
db-client-tui query -c "MyConnection" -q "SELECT * FROM Users" --format csv
db-client-tui query -c "MyConnection" -f "script.sql" --format json

# Create connections for different databases
db-client-tui connections add mssql --name "MySqlServer" --server "localhost" --auth-type sql
db-client-tui connections add postgresql --name "MyPostgres" --server "localhost" --username "user" --password "pass"
db-client-tui connections add mysql --name "MyMySQL" --server "localhost" --username "user" --password "pass"
db-client-tui connections add cockroachdb --name "MyCockroach" --server "localhost" --port "26257" --database "defaultdb" --username "root"
db-client-tui connections add sqlite --name "MyLocalDB" --file-path "/path/to/database.db"
db-client-tui connections add turso --name "MyTurso" --server "libsql://your-db.turso.io" --password "your-auth-token"
db-client-tui connections add firebird --name "MyFirebird" --server "localhost" --username "user" --password "pass" --database "employee"
db-client-tui connections add athena --name "MyAthena" --athena-region-name "us-east-1" --athena-s3-staging-dir "s3://my-bucket/results/" --athena-auth-method "profile" --athena-profile-name "default"
db-client-tui connections add athena --name "MyAthenaKeys" --athena-region-name "us-east-1" --athena-s3-staging-dir "s3://my-bucket/results/" --athena-auth-method "keys" --username "ACCESS_KEY" --password "SECRET_KEY"

# Connect via SSH tunnel
db-client-tui connections add postgresql --name "RemoteDB" --server "db-host" --username "dbuser" --password "dbpass" \
  --ssh-enabled --ssh-host "ssh.example.com" --ssh-username "sshuser" --ssh-auth-type password --ssh-password "sshpass"

# Fetch password from a secrets manager (1Password, pass, Vault, etc.)
db-client-tui connections add postgresql --name "ProdDB" --server "prod.example.com" --username "dbuser" \
  --password-command "op read 'op://Work/prod-db/password'"

# Temporary (not saved) connection
db-client-tui connect sqlite --file-path "/path/to/database.db"

# Connect via URL - scheme determines database type (postgresql://, mysql://, sqlite://, etc.)
db-client-tui postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb
db-client-tui mysql://root@localhost/testdb
db-client-tui sqlite:///path/to/database.db

# Save a connection via URL
db-client-tui connections add --url dbtype://user:pass@host/db --name "MyDB"

# Provider-specific CLI help
db-client-tui connect -h
db-client-tui connect supabase -h
db-client-tui connections add -h
db-client-tui connections add supabase -h

# Manage connections
db-client-tui connections list
db-client-tui connections delete "MyConnection"

Keybindings

Key	Action
i	Enter INSERT mode
Esc	Back to NORMAL mode
e / q / r	Focus Explorer / Query / Results
s	SELECT TOP 100 from table
h	Query history
d	Clear query
n	New query (clear all)
y	Copy query (when query editor is focused)
v / y / Y / a	View cell / Copy cell / Copy row / Copy all
Ctrl+Q	Quit
?	Help

Vim Motions (Query Editor, NORMAL mode)

Use with operators like y, d, c (e.g. dw, y$).

Motion	Action
h / j / k / l	Move cursor left / down / up / right
w / W	Next word / WORD
b / B	Previous word / WORD
0 / $	Line start / end
gg / G	File start / end
f{c} / F{c}	Find char forward / backward
t{c} / T{c}	Till char forward / backward
%	Matching bracket

Commands Menu (<space>)

Key	Action
<space>c	Connect to database
<space>x	Disconnect
<space>z	Cancel running query
<space>e	Toggle Explorer
<space>f	Toggle Maximize
<space>t	Change theme
<space>h	Help
<space>q	Quit

Autocomplete triggers automatically in INSERT mode. Use Tab to accept.

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Configuration

Connections and settings are stored in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/db-client-tui/ (default: ~/.config/db-client-tui/). Override the location by setting DB_CLIENT_TUI_CONFIG_DIR.

Custom keybindings

Edit the keymap.json file in your db-client-tui config dir. See config/keymap.template.json for the full default keymap. Keymap.json need to only contain the overriding keymaps.

FAQ

How are sensitive credentials stored?

Connection details are stored in connections.json inside the config directory, but passwords are stored in your OS keyring when available (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Locker, Linux Secret Service).

How does db-client-tui compare to Harlequin, Lazysql, etc.?

db-client-tui is inspired by lazygit - you can just jump in and there's no need for external documentation. The keybindings are shown at the bottom of the screen and the UI is designed to be intuitive without memorizing shortcuts.

Key differences:

• No need for external documentation - db-client-tui embrace the "lazy" approach in that a user should be able to jump in and use it right away intuitively. There should be no setup instructions. If python packages are required for certain adapters, db-client-tui will help you install them as you need them.
• No CLI config required - Just run db-client-tui and pick a connection from the UI
• Lightweight - While Lazysql or Harlequin offer more features, I experienced that for the vast majority of cases, all I needed was a simple and fast way to connect and run queries. db-client-tui is focused on doing a limited amount of things really well.

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Inspiration

db-client-tui is built with Textual and inspired by:

• lazygit - Simple TUI for git
• lazysql - Terminal-based SQL client with connection manager

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, testing, and CI steps.

Driver Reference

Most of the time you can just run db-client-tui and connect. If a Python driver is missing, db-client-tui will show (and often run) the right install command for your environment.

Database	Driver package	pipx	pip / venv
SQLite	(built-in)	(built-in)	(built-in)
PostgreSQL / CockroachDB / Supabase	psycopg2-binary	pipx inject db-client-tui psycopg2-binary	python -m pip install psycopg2-binary
SQL Server	mssql-python	pipx inject db-client-tui mssql-python	python -m pip install mssql-python
MySQL	PyMySQL	pipx inject db-client-tui PyMySQL	python -m pip install PyMySQL
MariaDB	PyMySQL	pipx inject db-client-tui PyMySQL	python -m pip install PyMySQL
Oracle	oracledb	pipx inject db-client-tui oracledb	python -m pip install oracledb
DuckDB	duckdb	pipx inject db-client-tui duckdb	python -m pip install duckdb
ClickHouse	clickhouse-connect	pipx inject db-client-tui clickhouse-connect	python -m pip install clickhouse-connect
Turso	libsql	pipx inject db-client-tui libsql	python -m pip install libsql
Cloudflare D1	requests	pipx inject db-client-tui requests	python -m pip install requests
Snowflake	snowflake-connector-python	pipx inject db-client-tui snowflake-connector-python	python -m pip install snowflake-connector-python
Firebird	firebirdsql	pipx inject db-client-tui firebirdsql	python -m pip install firebirdsql
Athena	pyathena	pipx inject db-client-tui pyathena	python -m pip install pyathena
BigQuery	google-cloud-bigquery	pipx inject db-client-tui google-cloud-bigquery	python -m pip install google-cloud-bigquery
Spanner	google-cloud-spanner	pipx inject db-client-tui google-cloud-spanner	python -m pip install google-cloud-spanner
Apache Arrow Flight SQL	adbc-driver-flightsql	pipx inject db-client-tui adbc-driver-flightsql	python -m pip install adbc-driver-flightsql
Apache Impala	impyla	pipx inject db-client-tui impyla	python -m pip install impyla
Trino	trino	pipx inject db-client-tui trino	python -m pip install trino
SurrealDB	surrealdb	pipx inject db-client-tui surrealdb	python -m pip install surrealdb
osquery	osquery	pipx inject db-client-tui osquery	python -m pip install osquery

SSH Tunnel Support

SSH tunnel functionality requires additional dependencies. Install with the ssh extra:

# pipx
pipx install 'db-client-tui[ssh]'

# uv
uv tool install 'db-client-tui[ssh]'

# pip
pip install 'db-client-tui[ssh]'

If you try to create an SSH connection without these dependencies, db-client-tui will detect this and show you the exact command to install them for your environment.

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Star History

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License

MIT