Help with Schema Explorer
Installing
On a Mac
Schema Explorer is coming soon to the Mac App Store. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). The App Store installs it and keeps it up to date, and it opens like any other app.
On Windows
Schema Explorer is coming soon to the Microsoft Store. It needs Windows 10 or 11 on x64; Windows on Arm runs it under emulation. The Microsoft Store installs it and keeps it up to date, and it opens like any other app.
Connecting to a database
Click the connection name at the top left, then New connection. Give it a name, choose SQL Server or PostgreSQL, and fill in the address (host:port), the database, the user and the password. Test checks that the server answers, and Save keeps it.
Schema Explorer doesn’t open tunnels. If your database is behind SSH or AWS Systems Manager, open the tunnel as you usually do, then point Schema Explorer at its local end, such as 127.0.0.1:5432, and put the server’s real name in Certificate name, so its certificate is still checked against that name.
Connections are kept in ~/.SchemaExplorer/connection.toml, which you can also edit by hand; your comments and layout survive when the app saves it. One connection looks like this:
engine = "postgres" # or "sqlserver" addr = "127.0.0.1:5432" # host:port, or the local end of a tunnel tls_host = "db.internal.example" # the name on the server's certificate database = "shop" username = "reader"
Choose the user with care. The query console runs exactly what you type, so a connection made as a user that can write can write. For anything live, connect as a read-only user and let the server enforce it.
Questions
Where is my data?
Everything is in ~/.SchemaExplorer (%USERPROFILE%\.SchemaExplorer on Windows), apart from passwords, which are in the system’s credential store under “SchemaExplorer”. To move your workspaces to another computer, export them from the workspace menu and import them there.
How do I uninstall it?
On a Mac, drag Schema Explorer from Applications to the Trash. On Windows, uninstall it from Settings → Apps. To also remove your data, delete the folder above and the “SchemaExplorer” entries in Keychain Access or Credential Manager.
Does it work with MySQL, SQLite or other databases?
Not yet: SQL Server and PostgreSQL only.
Terms of use
Schema Explorer is free to use, at home and at work. It’s provided as is, without warranty of any kind, and I’m not liable for any loss or damage arising from its use. You may not sell it or distribute modified copies of it. Its typeface is IBM Plex, under the SIL Open Font License.
Contact
Questions, problems or ideas: support@schemaexplorer.app. Please mention your version of Schema Explorer (shown at the bottom of its side panel) and of macOS or Windows.