TabularisDB/tabularis

What is tabularis?

tabularis is an open‑source, cross‑platform desktop application that acts as a full‑featured SQL workspace. It lets you connect to a handful of databases out‑of‑the‑box (PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite) and to many more through a plugin system (DuckDB, ClickHouse, Redis, Firestore, MongoDB, etc.). The app bundles a lightweight MCP server so AI agents such as Claude, Cursor or Devin can read your schema and run queries directly from the same UI you use.

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Core capabilities

Feature	What you get
Connection management	Save profiles, SSH tunneling, secure password storage, per‑connection icons and colors.
Database explorer	Tree view of tables, columns, indexes, ER‑diagram visualisation, one‑click data preview, export/import.
SQL editor	Monaco‑based editor with syntax highlighting, auto‑completion, multi‑statement execution, split‑view tabs, AI‑assist overlay.
SQL notebooks	Mixed SQL + Markdown cells, cross‑cell variables, inline charts, export to HTML/CSV/JSON.
Visual query builder	Drag‑and‑drop table joins, filters, aggregates; live SQL generation.
Visual EXPLAIN	Interactive execution‑plan graphs with optional AI‑generated analysis.
Data grid	Inline editing, batch updates, CSV/JSON export, JSONB syntax highlighting, basic geometry support.
Keyboard shortcuts	Built‑in shortcuts, fully customizable via a JSON keybindings file.
Plugin system	JSON‑RPC 2.0 plugins (any language) can add new drivers; install from the built‑in registry without restarting.
AI features (optional)	Text‑to‑SQL and query‑explanation using OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama (local models) or any OpenAI‑compatible API.
MCP server	Exposes the workspace to external AI agents, enabling them to read schemas and execute queries programmatically.

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How you get it

• Windows – winget install Debba.Tabularis or download the installer from the Releases page.
• macOS – brew install --cask tabularis (signed notarized builds) or download the DMG.
• Linux – available as a Snap, Flatpak, AppImage, .deb, .rpm and an AUR package.

All builds are signed and the app auto‑checks for updates on launch.

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Extensibility

• Drivers & plugins – 3 built‑in drivers + 21 official plugins are shipped. Additional drivers can be added by installing community plugins from the built‑in registry or by writing your own JSON‑RPC executable (any language).
• Themes – Declarative theme packages can be managed from Settings → Appearance.
• Configuration – Stored under the usual OS‑specific config folder (~/.config/tabularis/, ~/Library/Application Support/tabularis/, %APPDATA%\tabularis\). You can relocate the folder or sync it via cloud storage.

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Who might use it?

• Data analysts who want a native desktop client with notebook‑style workflows.
• Developers needing quick ad‑hoc queries across many databases without juggling separate GUIs.
• AI‑enhanced workflows where a language model can generate or explain SQL inside the same environment.
• Plugin authors looking to expose new data sources via a simple JSON‑RPC interface.

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License & community

• Licensed under Apache 2.0 – free for personal and commercial use.
• Active Discord community, regular releases (GitHub Actions CI), and a public plugin registry.

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In short: tabularis is a modern, extensible desktop SQL IDE that blends traditional database tooling with optional AI assistance and a plugin architecture, making it a handy hub for anyone who works with relational or NoSQL stores.