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's best ideas. Freed from its paywalls. No caps on tabs, connections, or saved queries. Deep PostgreSQL tooling (pg_dump, pg_restore, DB-to-DB sync) that commercial alternatives 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)	Gridline
Open tabs	3	Unlimited
Saved connections	2	Unlimited
Saved queries	5	Unlimited
Workspace / folder hierarchy	❌	Multi-level tree
pg_dump / pg_restore GUI	❌	First-class UI
DB-to-DB sync	❌	Built-in diff & migrate
Functions, Triggers, Enums, Sequences	❌	Full object explorer
OS credential vault storage	❌	Keychain / Secret Service
Open source	❌	MIT

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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, indexes
• Functions & Procedures — source code with syntax highlighting, argument signatures, return types
• Triggers & Rules — event bindings (BEFORE/AFTER INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE) with inline definition inspection
• Sequences & Enums — current values, increments, custom enum options
• Indexes & Constraints — usage stats, composite keys, UNIQUE / CHECK definitions
• Extensions — installed extensions view (pgvector, uuid-ossp, postgis) with enable/disable toggling

SQL Editor & Query Workbench

• Monaco Editor — full SQL syntax highlighting, auto-indentation, error markers
• Context-aware Autocomplete — real-time schema introspection suggests tables, columns, and function signatures as you type
• Query Formatter — clean, styled display with keyword highlighting and code folding
• History & Snippets — automatic query logging with timestamps and execution duration; unlimited saved snippets organized by folder
• Multi-Tab Workspace — unlimited named tabs, drag-and-drop reorder, session persistence across restarts

Data Grid & Schema Browser

• Virtualized Grid — canvas/DOM-virtualized rendering handles 100k+ rows at 60fps (Glide Data Grid / TanStack Virtual)
• Inline Editing — double-click cells to edit, delete rows, or insert records directly
• Visual Filter Builder — multi-column filters without writing raw SQL
• Export — CSV, JSON, NDJSON, Excel, raw INSERT statements
• Import — load CSV/JSON files into tables with visual column mapping

PostgreSQL Administrative Tools

• Visual Backup — one-click pg_dump wrapper: Plain SQL, Custom, or Tar format; scope by full DB, schema-only, data-only, or specific tables
• Visual Restore — drag-and-drop pg_restore with dry-run mode and detailed error reporting
• DB-to-DB Sync — migrate data between environments with a table diff viewer showing inserted, modified, and missing rows before committing

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	Monaco Editor	IDE-grade SQL editing with autocomplete
Data Grid	Glide Data Grid / TanStack Virtual	Virtualized 60fps table rendering
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

1. Phase 1 — Core Shell & Storage

   • Tauri 2.0 + React project scaffold
   • SQLite persistence layer for workspaces, folders, connections, saved queries
   • Workspace/folder tree UI

2. Phase 2 — Connection Management

   • Rust connection pool manager (sqlx / tokio-postgres)
   • URI parser with auto-population
   • OS Keychain credential storage

3. Phase 3 — Schema Explorer

   • PostgreSQL pg_catalog / information_schema introspection
   • Full object tree (Tables, Views, Functions, Triggers, Enums, Sequences)

4. Phase 4 — Query Workbench

   • Monaco Editor integration with SQL autocomplete
   • Virtualized data grid for query results
   • Query history & saved snippets

5. Phase 5 — Admin Tools

   • pg_dump / pg_restore UI wrappers
   • DB-to-DB schema & data sync

6. Phase 6 — Multi-Database Support

   • MySQL driver
   • SQLite driver
   • Redis support

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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.}