dbtui

A terminal-based database client with Vim-style navigation. Browse schemas, write SQL, execute queries, and explore data — all from the terminal.

Built with Rust, Ratatui, and Tokio.

Features

• Multi-database support — Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL
• Vim keybindings — Full modal editing with Normal, Insert, and Visual modes
• Schema explorer — Browse connections, schemas, tables, views, packages, functions, and procedures
• SQL editor — Syntax highlighting, relative line numbers, search (/), and command mode (:)
• Smart query execution — Execute the query block at cursor (<Space>Enter) or visual selection
• Result tabs — Multiple result sets per script, switch with {/}
• Error display — Split pane showing error message and failed SQL side by side
• Data grid — Cell-level navigation, visual selection (v), copy to clipboard (y)
• Horizontal scroll — Navigate wide tables with many columns
• Connection picker — Assign connections to scripts, auto-reconnect saved ones
• Theme system — 6 built-in themes with transparent backgrounds
• Leader key menu — <Space> opens a command palette with all available actions
• Encrypted storage — Connection credentials encrypted at rest (ChaCha20Poly1305 + Argon2)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/your-username/dbtui.git
cd dbtui
cargo build --release

The binary will be at target/release/dbtui.

Dependencies

• Rust 2021 edition
• For clipboard support: wl-copy (Wayland), xclip, or xsel
• For Oracle: Oracle Instant Client libraries

Quick Start

# Run dbtui
./target/release/dbtui

# Or with a PostgreSQL connection via environment variable
DBTUI_POSTGRES_URL="postgres://user:pass@localhost/db" ./target/release/dbtui

Press a to add a new connection, or ? for help.

Keybindings

Global

Leader Commands (<Space>)

Editor (Vim)

Data Grid

Scripts Panel

Supported Databases

Themes

Switch themes with <Space>t:

• Tokyo Night — Blue and purple tones
• Catppuccin — Pastel lavender palette
• Dracula — Purple and pink accents
• Nord — Arctic blue tones
• Gruvbox — Warm brown and orange
• Default — Classic blue

All themes use transparent backgrounds — your terminal's background shows through.

Architecture

src/
  core/       — Database adapter trait, models, errors, storage, encryption
  drivers/    — Per-database implementations (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
  ui/         — Terminal UI (Ratatui rendering, input handling, widgets)
    vim/      — Vim editor engine (buffer, motions, operators, visual mode)
    widgets/  — Sidebar, data grid, status bar, dialogs
    tabs/     — Tab management and workspace state
  main.rs     — Tokio runtime, terminal setup, event loop

Hard constraints:

• No database logic in src/ui/
• No UI logic in src/drivers/ or src/core/
• No blocking in UI thread (all DB operations async via Tokio + mpsc channels)
• No .unwrap() or .expect() in production code

Data Storage

Configuration and scripts are stored in the XDG data directory:

~/.local/share/dbtui/
  connections.enc    — Encrypted connection configs
  scripts/           — SQL script files
  object_filters.json — Saved schema/object filters
  script_connections.json — Script-to-connection mappings
  theme.txt          — Selected theme

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.