Connecting a Database #

SELECT supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite.

Adding a connection #

Right-click a folder in the filesystem panel and select New Database…. This opens the connection form where you pick your dialect and configure the DSN.

DSN format depends on dialect:

Dialect	DSN format
PostgreSQL	`host=localhost port=5432 user=admin password=*** dbname=mydb sslmode=require`
MySQL	`user:password@tcp(host:3306)/dbname?parseTime=true`
SQLite	`file:./local.db` or `/path/to/database.sqlite`

The connection form for a PostgreSQL database: dialect, name, the proxy checkbox, the DSN and SSH tunnel modes, and a DSN written from $VAR references.

DSN fields support environment variables ($VAR_NAME), resolved from your workspace .env at connection time. Write the DSN as host=$PG_HOST password=$PG_PASS ... and the password never enters datasource.config.json, which is what makes that file safe to commit.

Testing the connection #

Hit Test connection to check your setup. SELECT attempts to connect and reports any errors inline. There is no save step: the form writes datasource.config.json once the settings are valid.

Configuration storage #

Each database lives in its own folder inside the workspace, named after the database. The folder contains a datasource.config.json with the connection settings:

workspace/
  analytics/
    datasource.config.json
    queries/
      report.sql
  billing-eu/
    datasource.config.json

The folder name is the name: renaming the database renames the folder, and renaming the folder, in SELECT or in a terminal or in a branch someone else pushed, renames the database. There is nowhere else the name is written down, so a diff shows which database changed rather than an identifier you have to look up.

Rename a database from its row in the filesystem panel, or from the Name field in its connection form. A database is named on the same terms as a folder, because it is one: a name another entry in the folder already has is refused, and so is a name your filesystem will not take.

You can organize SQL files and subfolders inside each database folder. The datasource.config.json file is managed by SELECT and written as you change connection settings in the form. It holds the DSN exactly as you typed it, so a DSN built from $VAR references contains no secrets and belongs in git with the rest of the workspace.

For team databases where credentials should not live on individual machines, see Proxified Connections.