tabularis README

The project's README from github.com/TabularisDB/tabularis. As one markdown file: README.md.

tabularis

Tabularis is an open-source desktop SQL workspace for PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite and 15+ more databases like DuckDB, ClickHouse, Redis and Firestore.
Its built-in MCP server lets Claude, Cursor and Devin (formerly Windsurf) read your schema and run queries in the same app you already use.

README: English | Italiano | Español | 中文 | Français | Deutsch | 日本語 | Русский | Tagalog | 한국어 | Português (Brasil)

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Snap Store Flatpak (Flatpark) AUR WinGet

Tabularis

Download

winget install Debba.Tabularis                                   # Windows
brew install --cask tabularis  # macOS
sudo snap install tabularis                                      # Linux

Or grab an installer directly:

Windows macOS (Apple Silicon) macOS (Intel) Linux AppImage Linux .deb Linux .rpm

The app UI is available in English, Italian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, Russian, Tagalog and Portuguese (Brazilian).

Discord: Join our Discord server to talk with the maintainers, share feedback, and get help from the community.

Table of Contents

Why tabularis?

tabularis DBeaver CE TablePlus Beekeeper Studio
License Apache 2.0, free Apache 2.0, free (Pro is paid) Commercial GPLv3 (paid editions)
SQL notebooks (SQL + Markdown cells, cross-cell variables, charts) ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Built-in MCP server for AI agents ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Plugins in any language (JSON-RPC over stdio) ✅ Java/Eclipse plugins JavaScript plugins ❌
AI text-to-SQL with local models (Ollama) ✅ Cloud-based AI assistant ❌ ❌
Visual EXPLAIN with interactive plan graphs ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Databases out of the box 3 built-in + 16 official plugins 100+ 20+ ~10

Comparison as of June 2026; features in other tools may have changed since. If you need dozens of drivers, use DBeaver. Tabularis focuses on doing a few databases well.

Database support

PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB and SQLite ship built in. Everything else is a plugin. Current coverage, mirroring the driver & plugin coverage on the website:

ClickHouse (shipped), Cloudflare D1 (shipped), DM / Dameng (shipped), DuckDB (shipped), DynamoDB (shipped), Elasticsearch (shipped), Firestore (shipped), IBM Db2 (shipped), IBM Informix (shipped), MongoDB (shipped), Redis (shipped, in Go and Rust), CSV Folder (shipped), Google Sheets (shipped), HackerNews (shipped), Google BigQuery (claimed), LibSQL / Turso (claimed), Meilisearch (claimed), Oracle (claimed), SQL Server (claimed), Amazon Redshift (scoped), CockroachDB (scoped), TiDB (scoped), Snowflake (coming soon), Cassandra (open), Etcd (open), Firebird (open), ScyllaDB (open), SQL Anywhere (open), SurrealDB (open), Trino / Presto (open).

Shipped drivers are installable from the plugin registry. Everything else is on the bounty board: claim one, sponsor one, or request a database. The SQL Server driver is in active development in its own repository, tabularis-sqlserver-plugin.

Installation

Windows

winget install Debba.Tabularis

Direct Download

Download the installer from the Releases page and run it:

tabularis_x.x.x_x64-setup.exe

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

macOS

brew install --cask tabularis

Homebrew

Direct Download

Builds from v0.13.1 onward are signed and notarized by Apple, so they open without any extra steps.

The notes below only apply to older releases (before v0.13.1) downloaded directly:

Linux (Snap)

sudo snap install tabularis

Snap Store

Linux (Flatpak)

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flatpark https://dl.flatpark.org/flatpark.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flatpark dev.tabularis.Tabularis

Flatpak (Flatpark)

Linux (AppImage)

Download the .AppImage file from the Releases page, make it executable and run it:

chmod +x tabularis_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage
./tabularis_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S tabularis-bin

Updates

Tabularis checks for updates automatically on startup and notifies you when a new version is available. You can also download the latest version directly from the Releases page.

Discord

Join our Discord server to talk with the maintainers, share feedback, suggest features, or get help from the community.

Changelog

Features

Connection Management

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Database Explorer

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

SQL Editor

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

SQL Notebooks

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Keyboard Shortcuts

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Visual Query Builder

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Visual EXPLAIN

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Data Grid

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Plugin System

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Tabularis is hackable with an external plugin system. Plugins are standalone executables that communicate with the app over JSON-RPC 2.0 via stdin/stdout, and can be written in any language.

Logging

Configuration Storage

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Configuration is stored in ~/.config/tabularis/ (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/tabularis/ (macOS), or %APPDATA%\tabularis\ (Windows): connection profiles, saved queries, app settings (config.json), custom themes, and per-connection editor preferences. You can move this folder from **Settings > Storage** (or with the TABULARIS_DATA_DIR environment variable), for example to an iCloud Drive or Dropbox folder to sync connections across machines; installed plugins always stay local. Tabs and queries are restored when you reopen a connection. The wiki covers the full file layout and every config.json option, including custom AI model overrides.

AI Features (Optional)

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Optional Text-to-SQL and query explanation powered by OpenAI, Anthropic, MiniMax, OpenRouter, Ollama (local models, no API key, full privacy), and any OpenAI-compatible API (Groq, Perplexity, Azure OpenAI, LocalAI, ...). Model lists are fetched from your provider and cached locally; custom models can be configured per provider.

MCP Server: AI Agent Integration

Full reference on tabularis.dev →

Tabularis includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI agents read your database schema and execute queries directly from their chat interface.

tabularis --mcp

One-click setup for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf: open Settings → MCP Server Integration, click Install Config next to your client, and restart it. Manual configuration is covered in the wiki.

Available tools

Once connected, your AI agent can:

Tool Description
list_connections List all saved database connections
list_databases List all databases available for a connection
list_tables List tables in a connection (with optional schema filter)
describe_table Get full schema: columns, indexes, foreign keys
run_query Execute any SQL query and return results

Example prompts

"Show me all tables in my production database and describe the orders table"

"Write and run a query to find the top 10 customers by total order value this month"

"Check if there are any missing indexes on the users table"

Tech Stack

Development

Setup

pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

Build

pnpm tauri build

Roadmap

tabularis (TabularisDB/tabularis)

Searching Database…

What is this?Tabularis is an open-source desktop SQL workspace for PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite and 15+ more databases like DuckDB, ClickHouse, Redis and Firestore.
Is this a standalone app, or a library I add to a project?It is a standalone desktop application built with Tauri (Rust backend, React/TypeScript frontend), not a library you import into code.
Do I need an API key to use the AI features?No, AI text-to-SQL is optional and can run fully locally through Ollama with no API key; cloud providers like OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter are also supported if you prefer them.
Which databases actually ship, and which are still coming?Only PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB and SQLite are built in; everything else like SQL Server, BigQuery and Snowflake is a plugin that is either shipped, claimed, scoped, or merely 'open' for someone to build.
Where does my connection and query data go?Everything is stored locally in a config folder on your machine (plus optional system Keychain for passwords); you can relocate that folder to sync via iCloud or Dropbox, but installed plugins always stay local.
How does the built-in MCP server work with Claude, Cursor or similar agents?Tabularis ships an MCP server that lets AI agents read your schema and run queries from their own chat interface; Settings > MCP Server Integration gives one-click setup for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf, with tools like listtables, describetable and runquery.
What makes Tabularis different from DBeaver or TablePlus?Instead of 100+ drivers like DBeaver, Tabularis focuses on a handful of databases done well, adding features those tools lack: SQL notebooks mixing SQL and Markdown cells, a built-in MCP server for AI agents, and a plugin system where plugins can be written in any language via JSON-RPC over stdio.
Can I write my own database driver as a plugin?Yes, plugins are standalone executables communicating over JSON-RPC 2.0 via stdin/stdout and can be written in any language; a developer guide (plugins/PLUGINGUIDE.md) explains how to build one.
What are SQL notebooks and how do cells interact?Notebooks combine SQL and Markdown cells with inline results and charts; you can reference another cell's result as a table using {{cellN}} syntax, which expands to a CTE at run time, plus global @paramName parameters.
What are similar projects?TablePro, dbx, tusk, beekeeper-studio, GoNavi, Chat2DB, chartdb, navop
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