gridline/README.md

Gridline

A modern, open-source, high-performance database GUI client for PostgreSQL and beyond. Built with Tauri 2.0, Rust, and React — lightweight by design, powerful by default.

Inspired by DB Pro and Beekeeper Studio's best ideas. Freed from their paywalls. No caps on tabs, connections, or saved queries. Deep PostgreSQL tooling (pg_dump, pg_restore, DB-to-DB sync) that commercial alternatives lock behind paywalls or leave to the CLI.

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Why Gridline?

Most database GUI clients either lock essential productivity features behind paywalls or treat PostgreSQL administration as an afterthought. Gridline is different:

Capability	DB Pro (Free)	Beekeeper (Free)	Gridline
Open tabs	3	Unlimited	Unlimited
Saved connections	2	Unlimited	Unlimited
Saved queries	5	Unlimited	Unlimited
Data export (CSV, JSON, SQL)	❌ (paid only)	Basic only	JSON, CSV, SQL, Markdown
Data import (CSV, JSON)	❌ (paid only)	✅	🟡 Upcoming
pg_dump / pg_restore GUI	❌	❌ (paid only)	First-class UI
DB-to-DB sync	❌	❌	Built-in pipe sync
Object explorer depth	Tables, views	Tables, views	Functions, Triggers, Enums, Sequences, Extensions
ER diagram / schema visualizer	❌ (planned)	❌ (paid only)	✅ Interactive React Flow
Inline cell editing	✅	✅	🟡 Upcoming
SSH tunneling	🟡 (likely paid)	✅	🟡 Config UI done
OS credential vault	✅	✅	Keychain / Secret Service
Workspace / folder hierarchy	❌	❌	Multi-level tree + tags
Changes queue (stage & commit)	❌	❌	✅ Queue → Commit All
Query history	✅ (auto-saved)	✅	🟡 Upcoming
AI assistant	✅ (BYO key)	❌ (paid only)	❌
Open source	❌	✅ (GPLv3)	✅ (MIT)
Desktop shell	Native webview	Electron (~250MB)	Tauri 2.0 (~40MB)

🟡 = In progress or planned. Bold = Gridline's strongest differentiators.

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Features

Connection & Workspace Management

• URI Parser — paste postgres://, mysql://, sqlite://, or redis:// connection strings and have all fields auto-populated
• Workspace Tree — multi-level hierarchy: Workspace → Folder → Connection, with color-coded tags (red = Production, green = Local)
• Credential Security — passwords stored in the OS keychain (macOS Keychain / Linux Secret Service / Windows Credential Manager), never as plaintext
• Production Safeguards — read-only locks and high-visibility warnings on connections tagged Production

PostgreSQL Object Explorer

Full tree-view navigation of all native PostgreSQL schema objects:

• Tables & Views — columns, types, defaults, nullability, primary/foreign keys with popover preview
• Functions & Procedures — source code with syntax highlighting and line numbers, argument signatures, return types, overload support
• Triggers & Rules — event bindings with inline definition inspection, color-coded enabled/disabled status
• Sequences & Enums — current values, increments, cycle flags; enum labels in bordered list view
• Extensions — installed extensions with version, schema, and comment
• Schema Visualizer (ER Diagram) — interactive React Flow graph with dagre auto-layout, crow's foot notation (1:1, 1:N, N:M), color-coded relationships, schema selector, zoom controls, collapsible columns (PK/FK/unique-only), cross-schema FK support for PostgreSQL + SQLite

SQL Editor & Query Workbench

• Multi-Tab Workspace — unlimited named tabs, close with Cmd/Ctrl+W, session persistence across restarts
• Changes Queue — queue INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE changes; preview before committing all
• Smart Default Sort — auto-detects updated_at, created_at, _id columns for logical initial sorting
• (Monaco Editor with SQL autocomplete, query history, and saved snippets — upcoming)

Data Grid & Schema Browser

• Virtualized Grid — row-level virtualization via @tanstack/react-virtual handles 100k+ rows
• Column Management — resize with drag handles (double-click to auto-fit), show/hide per column, multi-column sort
• Server-Side Filtering & Sorting — filters and sorts pushed to SQL WHERE/ORDER BY
• Export — JSON, CSV, SQL, Markdown via toolbar
• FK Preview — click a foreign key cell to preview the referenced row
• JSON/JSONB Viewer — popover with formatted/raw tabs and copy button
• Auto-Refresh — configurable interval timer
• (Inline cell editing, visual filter builder, and data import — upcoming)

PostgreSQL Administrative Tools

• Visual Backup — pg_dump wrapper with format selector (Plain SQL, Custom, Tar, Directory), file browser, schema filter, no-owner toggle, real-time progress bar
• Visual Restore — pg_restore wrapper with file browser, format, clean toggle, destructive confirmation checkbox
• DB-to-DB Sync — pipe pg_dump → pg_restore between two connections with source/target pickers, schema filter, flow indicator

App Portability

• Export — save all workspaces, folders, saved queries, tags, and non-sensitive metadata to a single JSON archive
• Import — restore your exact workspace setup on any machine instantly

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology	Role
Desktop Shell	Tauri 2.0	Native desktop container (~40MB RAM baseline)
Backend	Rust + tokio	Async runtime, connection pooling, CLI tool execution
Database Drivers	sqlx / tokio-postgres	Pure-Rust async PostgreSQL (MySQL, SQLite to follow)
CLI Integration	std::process::Command	Wraps system pg_dump / pg_restore binaries
Frontend	React 19 + TypeScript	Component-based UI
Styling	Tailwind CSS	Utility-first, dark mode, glassmorphic design
State	Zustand / Jotai	Lightweight client-state for tabs, connections, queries
Code Editor	(planned) Monaco Editor	IDE-grade SQL editing with autocomplete (coming soon)
Data Grid	TanStack Virtual	Virtualized row rendering for 100k+ rows
Local DB	SQLite via rusqlite	User settings, saved queries, workspace state

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Development

Prerequisites

• Rust (latest stable)
• Bun (or Node.js + npm)
• Tauri system dependencies (see guide)
• PostgreSQL client tools (pg_dump, pg_restore) for admin features

Setup

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/adrianbonpin/gridline.git
cd gridline

# Install frontend dependencies
bun install

# Run in development mode (hot-reload)
bun run tauri dev

# Build for production
bun run tauri build

Project Structure

gridline/
├── src/                    # React frontend
│   ├── components/         # Reusable UI components
│   ├── stores/             # Zustand/Jotai state stores
│   ├── hooks/              # Custom React hooks
│   ├── lib/                # Utilities, types, Tauri bindings
│   ├── App.tsx             # Root component
│   └── main.tsx            # Entry point
├── src-tauri/              # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs         # Entry point
│   │   ├── lib.rs          # Tauri command registration
│   │   ├── db/             # Database connection & pooling
│   │   ├── commands/       # Tauri IPC command handlers
│   │   └── models/         # Data structures & serde types
│   ├── Cargo.toml
│   └── tauri.conf.json
├── public/                 # Static assets
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── vite.config.ts

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Tauri Shell                     │
│  ┌─────────────────┐   ┌────────────────────────┐ │
│  │   React (WebView)│   │     Rust Backend       │ │
│  │                  │   │                        │ │
│  │  • Monaco Editor │◄──►│ • sqlx/tokio-postgres  │ │
│  │  • Glide Grid    │IPC│ • Connection pool      │ │
│  │  • Tailwind UI   │   │ • pg_dump/restore      │ │
│  │  • Zustand state │   │ • SQLite (local)       │ │
│  │                  │   │ • OS Keychain          │ │
│  └─────────────────┘   └────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                          │
                          ▼
              ┌─────────────────────┐
              │  PostgreSQL / MySQL  │
              │  SQLite / Redis      │
              └─────────────────────┘

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Roadmap

✅ Completed

• Phase 1 — Core Shell — Tauri 2.0 + React project, glassmorphic dark-first UI, Zustand state management, SQLite local persistence, OS keychain credentials
• Phase 2 — Connection Management — Rust connection pool (sqlx/tokio-postgres), PostgreSQL + SQLite browse/query, URI parser with auto-population, SSH/SSL config UI, connection testing for all DB types
• Phase 3 — Schema Explorer — Full PostgreSQL pg_catalog/information_schema introspection, object tree (Tables, Views, Functions, Triggers, Enums, Sequences, Extensions), per-type detail views, FK preview popover, JSON/JSONB viewer
• Phase 4 — Data Grid & Filters — Virtualized grid (@tanstack/react-virtual, 100k+ rows), server-side sorting/filtering, column show/hide, column resize, export (JSON/CSV/SQL/Markdown), auto-refresh, pagination
• Phase 5 — Admin Tools — pg_dump/pg_restore UI wrappers with real-time progress, DB-to-DB sync, backup/restore format selectors
• Phase 6 — Schema Visualizer — Interactive ER diagram with React Flow + dagre, crow's foot notation, schema selector, legend, collapsible column views, PostgreSQL + SQLite support
• Home Screen & Organization — Connection cards by folder, folders CRUD, tags CRUD with colors, global search (Cmd+K), import/export connections (JSON), bulk select/delete, DB type filter, demo SQLite database

🟡 In Progress / Upcoming

• SQL Editor — Monaco Editor integration with schema-aware SQL autocomplete, query history, saved queries
• SSH/SSL Runtime — SSH tunnel via ssh2 crate, SSL/TLS config passed to sqlx/tokio-postgres
• Inline Cell Editing — Edit cells directly in the data grid
• Data Import — CSV, JSON import with column mapping

🔮 Future

• Multi-DB Support — MySQL browsing, Redis key browser, full MySQL/SQLite/Redis parity with PostgreSQL
• Query Workbench — Multiple result sets, query favorites/pinning, visual query builder
• Deeper PostgreSQL — Indexes, constraints, materialized views, stored procedure view, user/role management
• Collaboration — Team workspaces, shared connections, query sharing
• Notebook Reports — SQL-backed markdown reports with embedded results

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License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.

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_{Built with ♥ for developers who believe powerful tools should be free.}