Tabellum for desktop · Chapter 2

Connections

A connection is the address of one database and how to log in to it. Tabellum keeps as many as you like and can have several open at once.

2.1 Adding a connection#

1. Click + next to CONNECTIONS in the sidebar.
2. Pick the Driver 1: PostgreSQL, MySQL / MariaDB, SQL Server, BigQuery, SQLite or MongoDB.
3. Fill in the host, port, database, user and password.
4. Click Test 4. When the test passes, click Save.

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1. The database type
2. Fill the form from a connection string
3. Refuse every write on this connection
4. Try the connection before saving

Three switches decide what may happen on the connection:

• Read-only 3: every session opens read-only. The server refuses writes, and Tabellum refuses them before they reach it.
• Sensitive: the connection is drawn in a warning color, and the AI agent gets only its schema.
• Agent may see rows: off by default. While it is off, the agent sees tables, columns and row counts, never values.

2.2 Cloud databases#

For a hosted database, pick its provider under Cloud preset 1. The preset fills in the port, TLS mode and driver settings the provider needs and explains what is special about it 2 — for example, that a transaction pooler has no prepared statements.

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1. A cloud provider's settings
2. What the provider needs

2.3 Pasting a connection string#

If you have a connection string (postgres://…, mysql://…, mongodb+srv://…, a JDBC URL), click the clipboard button 2 in the first picture and paste it. Tabellum fills in the form, puts the password into the keychain and lists what it set and what it could not 1.

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1. What the string set, and what it could not

2.4 SQLite files#

An SQLite database is a file, so its connection has no host or login. Browse… 2 picks an existing file and New… 3 creates an empty one. On the Mac App Store version a picked file is copied into the workspace’s sqlite/ folder, because the app may only keep access to its own folder.

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1. The database file
2. Pick an existing file
3. Create a new database file

2.5 Editing a connection#

Each connection in the sidebar has a pencil button, Edit, that opens the same form. The other buttons on the row refresh the schema and connect or disconnect. A connection that cannot connect shows one line saying what failed and what to check — a refused port, a timeout, a wrong password or a TLS problem. Copy details copies the full message.

After the computer sleeps, Tabellum reconnects the open connections by itself. A read that failed because the connection dropped is retried once; anything else offers Run again.

2.6 SSH and WireGuard tunnels#

When a database is only reachable through a server or a VPN, add a tunnel and choose it in the connection’s Tunnel field.

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1. SSH, or a WireGuard peer
2. How the server's key is checked
3. Reach it through another tunnel

• SSH 1 logs in with a private key (and its passphrase) or a password. WireGuard connects as a peer; paste a wg-quick configuration and the fields are filled in. Neither needs a system VPN or administrator rights.
• Host key 2 decides how the server’s key is checked. With Ask on first connection, Tabellum shows the key’s fingerprint the first time and remembers it.
• Via (jump host) 3 reaches the server through another tunnel.

2.7 Sharing connections#

Connections and tunnels move to another window or device with a code. Choose Share connections… in the Tabellum menu (⋯ at the foot of the sidebar, the File menu on a Mac) or the command palette, or Share… in a connection’s menu or in Tunnels….

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1. Pick the connections; their tunnels come along
2. Passwords and keys, encrypted, only if you ask
3. A QR code for a phone's camera
4. The same code as text
5. Or saved as a file

Tick what to send 1 a connection’s tunnel comes along by itself. Then send it whichever way suits: scan the QR code 3 with a phone, copy it as text 4 into another window, or save it as a file 5 and send it by mail or AirDrop.

Passwords and keys stay on this computer unless you turn on Include passwords and keys 2. Then you type a passphrase twice, at least 6 characters, and the code carries them encrypted with it.

On the other side, choose Import connections….

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1. Paste the code
2. Or open the file
5. Or a photo or screenshot of the QR code
3. The passphrase, when the code carries passwords
4. What is added, and what to do with a name taken here

Paste the code 1 or open the file 2. The first panel reads the QR code: hold it up to the camera on a Mac, or choose a photo or screenshot of it 5. If the code carries passwords, type the passphrase 3 and choose Unlock, or Skip the passwords to type them later. The list 4 shows what will be added. When a connection or tunnel of that name is already here, choose Import as a copy, Replace mine or Skip, keep mine nothing is written until Import.