⚡ BarSQL

A fast, local-first SQL workbench built with Rust and GPUI.

No cloud. No accounts. No telemetry.
Just a focused, native desktop tool for working with databases.

🌐 barsql.bare7a.eu · 📖 User Guide

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⬇️ Download

Grab the latest build for Windows, macOS, or Linux from the Releases page.

Recommended assets:

• Windows: BarSQL-windows-amd64.zip (portable) or BarSQL-amd64-installer.exe (installer)
• Linux: BarSQL-linux-amd64.tar.gz (portable)
• macOS: BarSQL-darwin-arm64.zip or BarSQL-darwin-amd64.zip (the same universal .app)

Additional options:

• Windows: BarSQL.exe (standalone)
• Linux: BarSQL-x86_64.AppImage, BarSQL.deb, BarSQL.rpm, BarSQL.pkg.tar.zst, BarSQL (standalone)
• macOS: BarSQL-macos-universal.dmg

No account required - just download and run.

Every build above updates itself. The installer, the Linux packages and copies in protected folders ask for admin rights first.

Prefer to build it yourself? See Build from source below.

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⚡ SQL tools are usually overkill. BarSQL isn’t.

Work with SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL / MariaDB, SQL Server, ClickHouse and Turso / libSQL in a single fast desktop app that runs entirely on your machine.

🧳 Portable
⚡ Fast startup
🔒 Local-first
🧠 Developer-focused
🔄 Auto-updating

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👉 Everything you need. Nothing you don’t.

• Query faster with smart, schema-aware autocomplete - functions included, with their signatures on hover
• Edit SQL the VS Code way - multiple cursors, line commands, go to definition and a command palette
• See what the server said - notices, warnings and PRINT output in a Messages tab
• Check what a server is doing in one click - activity, blocking, sessions, table statistics
• Reach databases behind a bastion over an SSH tunnel
• Stream results - rows arrive as the driver yields them
• Run multi-statement scripts and get a result tab per output
• Edit rows in the grid - in a table, or in the results of a SELECT from one
• Plot any result as a bar or line chart
• Explore schemas instantly - down to indexes, constraints and triggers, or as an ER diagram
• Design tables in a Structure tab and see the exact SQL before it runs
• Rename, truncate, drop and back up tables straight from the schema tree
• Compare two schemas and get the script that syncs them
• Copy any object's DDL in one click
• Import a CSV or run a .sql script
• Save and reuse queries
• Export anything in one click
• Let AI assistants such as Claude read your databases over MCP - and change them only where you allow it
• Auto-update with one click

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🖥️ Screenshots

Editor	Transactions & multiple results	Table data
Cell editor	Grid	Export
Connections	Quick Search	DDL viewer
Plan viewer	CSV & SQL import	Structure editor
ER diagram	Quick charts	Appearance

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⚡ What BarSQL is

BarSQL is a desktop SQL client built for developers who want speed, clarity and control.

It combines:

• 🦀 Rust from the database drivers up to the window
• 🖥️ GPUI, the GPU-accelerated UI framework behind the Zed editor
• 🧩 GPUI Kit components, including a code editor with tree-sitter highlighting
• 🔌 Native drivers for each engine: tokio-postgres, mysql_async, a bundled SQLite, tiberius for SQL Server, and BarSQL's own HTTP clients for ClickHouse and Turso

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🚨 Why it exists

Most SQL tools today are:

• slow to start and heavy on memory
• cloud-connected by default
• tied to subscriptions or accounts
• overloaded with features you don’t use

BarSQL focuses on one thing:

A fast, local environment for working with databases.

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🗄️ Supported Databases

Database	Read & write	Read-only mode	Secure transport	SSH tunnel
PostgreSQL	✅	✅	SSL - disable / require / verify-full	✅
MySQL	✅	✅	TLS	✅
MariaDB	✅	✅	TLS	✅
SQLite	✅	✅	local file	n/a
SQL Server	✅	✅	TLS - disable / require / verify-full / strict (TDS 8.0)	✅
ClickHouse	✅	✅	HTTP or HTTPS - disable / require / verify-full	✅
Turso / libSQL	✅	✅	HTTPS, or HTTP for a local sqld	self-hosted sqld

Per-engine details are in the engine notes.

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📖 User Guide

Every feature in detail, one area per page:

Page	What it covers
🔌 Connections	Folders, read-only mode, SSL and TLS, SSH tunnels, SQLite extensions, engine notes
🧠 SQL Editor	Autocomplete, multiple cursors, scripts, transactions, the query plan viewer, saved queries and history
🗃️ Schema Explorer	The schema tree, ER diagrams, schema compare, Copy DDL, schema changes, the structure editor, table backups
📊 Results Grid	Sorting, selection stats, quick charts, the cell and JSON viewers, editing data
📥 Import & Export	CSV and SQL import, export formats
🤖 AI Assistants (MCP)	Letting AI apps read your databases, and change them only where you allow it
🌍 The App	Themes, languages, palettes, the status bar, keyboard shortcuts, the data folder, auto updates

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🧳 Portable by Design

Everything lives in a single BarSQL-data/ folder. When the app sits somewhere writable, that folder is created right next to the executable (beside the .app bundle on macOS) - move it to a USB stick, network drive, or another PC and it just works.

What's in it, and where it goes when the app can't write beside itself: The App.

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⚙️ Build from source

cargo run -p barsql --release

Requirements, tests and the project layout are in CONTRIBUTING.md, packaging and releases in RELEASING.md.

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📄 License

GPL-3.0-only; see LICENSE.