Getting Started

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DevDb is an extension for VS Code and for editors that use VS Code extensions, for example Cursor and Windsurf. It finds the database of your project and shows it in a panel in your editor.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90 or later, or an editor that is compatible with it.
• A trusted workspace. DevDb runs project tools (for example php artisan, bin/rails and python manage.py), so it does not run in Restricted Mode.
• A database that your project can connect to.

Supported platforms

Operating system	Architectures
macOS	x64, arm64 (Apple silicon)
Windows	x64, arm64
Linux	x64, arm64, armhf
Alpine Linux	x64, arm64

The Marketplace installs the correct package for your platform. SQLite works on all platforms: if the native SQLite driver cannot load, DevDb uses a WebAssembly SQLite. See Troubleshooting. DuckDB is not available on Linux armhf.

Ubuntu 20.04 and older are not supported.

Install

Install DevDb from one of these registries:

• VS Code Marketplace (VS Code)
• Open VSX Registry (Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors)

You can also search for DevDb in the Extensions view of your editor.

Open the DevDb panel

DevDb shows in the bottom panel, next to Terminal.

• Press Cmd+K Cmd+D (macOS) or Ctrl+K Ctrl+D (Windows, Linux) to show or hide the panel.
• Or click the DevDb tab in the panel.

Connect to your first database

Zero-config

Open your project folder. If DevDb knows your framework or tool, it shows your database under Local Databases. Click it to connect.

See Zero-Config Detection for the list of frameworks and tools.

Config file

If DevDb does not find your database, add a .devdbrc file to the root of your project:

[
  {
    "name": "My app",
    "type": "postgres",
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 5432,
    "username": "postgres",
    "password": "secret",
    "database": "my_app"
  }
]

The editor validates the file and gives autocompletion. See Config File.

WARNING

Add .devdbrc to .gitignore. It can contain passwords.

SQLite file

To open any SQLite file, select SQLite Database File Picker under Local Databases, then select the file.

Remote connection Pro

With a Pro license, click Add under Remote Connections. See Remote Connections.

Use the panel

• Click a table in the sidebar to open it in a new tab. Cmd+Click (macOS) or Ctrl+Click opens it in the current tab.
• Press Cmd+K Cmd+G (macOS) or Ctrl+K Ctrl+G to go to a table by name.
• Click a value to preview it in the right pane. DevDb formats JSON values.
• The right pane also shows the schema of the table.
• Use the column filters to find rows.

Edit data

• Cmd+Click (macOS) or Ctrl+Click a value to edit it.
• Click Set null on a value to set it to null.
• Click the trash icon on a row to delete the row.

DevDb does not write changes immediately. It collects them in an edit session:

Key	Action
Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z	Undo the last change
Cmd+Y / Ctrl+Y	Redo the change
Cmd+S / Ctrl+S	Save all changes to the database

Free and Pro

The free version includes:

• Zero-config detection for all supported frameworks and tools, including DATABASE_URL, Prisma, Drizzle and docker-compose. This includes SQLite, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server and MongoDB databases that DevDb detects.
• SQLite, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server from .devdbrc.
• The SQLite file picker.
• Cloudflare D1 local databases.
• Editor features: go to table, open table from code, Laravel factory generator, query explainer and export.
• The MCP server.

DevDb Pro adds:

• The SQL Editor.
• Remote connections: direct MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL (with TLS), SSH tunnels and MongoDB.
• Redis / Valkey, ClickHouse, DuckDB and Neon.
• pgvector similarity search.
• Cloudflare D1 remote databases, Turso / libSQL and DynamoDB.

If zero-config detection finds a Pro datastore, DevDb shows it as a locked row until you activate a license.

See Pro and Licensing to activate a license.

Next steps

• Zero-Config Detection
• Config File
• MCP Server
• Troubleshooting