

Show HN: PSequel – a free PostgreSQL GUI Tool for Mac OS X - yliang
http://www.psequel.com/
Happy Cyber Monday!
======
thejerz
SequelPro is the gold standard. I've used it for years, and I love it.
Unfortunately, like many developers, I'm slowly moving away from MySQL to
PostgreSQL, and none GUI tools measure up. Instead of making YAPC (Yet Another
Postgres Client), I wish a developer would just write a PostgreSQL adapter for
SequelPro[1]. I'd happily contribute $50 or $100 towards a Bountysource.

[https://github.com/sequelpro/sequelpro/issues/362](https://github.com/sequelpro/sequelpro/issues/362)

~~~
elsurudo
Try Navicat ([http://navicat.com](http://navicat.com) – looks like they even
have a Cyber Monday sale right now). Been using it for a couple of years now,
and it's great (also "feels native", which is a must for me). There are many
editions (I have "Premium Essentials", which was affordable and does all that
I need).

As a bonus, it connects to all the major RDBMSes.

~~~
wefarrell
I used navicat for postgres briefly but was disappointed coming from sequel
pro. I've moved to Valenta studio, which has a nice bonus of being free.

~~~
bradleyland
For anyone else fervently googling "valenta studio", it's actually Valentina
Studio:

[http://www.valentina-db.com/valentina-studio-overview](http://www.valentina-
db.com/valentina-studio-overview)

------
bsg75
What I wish some of these projects would focus on are DBA features that only
PgAdmin performs today. The market (both OSS and commercial) is filled with
data editors, but none that focus on schema, user, and object management.

PgAdmin does handle these functions, but the UI can be buggy, and is subject
to problems with slow network connections - forced restarts can be common.

~~~
jakobegger
The unfortunate reason for that is a data editor can be whacked out in a
couple of weeks (well, at least an MVP).

Making object editors takes a lot more effort, especially considering all the
different objects PostgreSQL has: schemas, tables view, materialized views,
indices, functions, sequences, etc.

I'm struggling with this myself. I'm currently trying to add object editors to
PG Commander, and it's months and months of work. I wanted to have a table
structure editor in PG Commander 1.0, and now, more than a year later, I'll
finally be able to deliver a basic table & view editor in version 2.0 -- you
can try a prerelease here: [https://eggerapps.at/pgcommander-
prerelease/](https://eggerapps.at/pgcommander-prerelease/)

~~~
bsg75
In my case, I almost never _edit_ an object in a UI, but I often view it.
Sometimes in a grid (ex. table columns in a grid of type, nullability,
default, etc.) or as a single view of all the DDL for the object. I don't
trust UIs to edit objects, but they can make the work of creating ALTER
scripts much easier.

The latter is where PgAdmin is most useful for DB objects. The DDL view not
only shows me things like CREATE TABLE/VIEW/FUNCTION etc., but also shows
dependent objects such as constraints, indexes, permissions in the same
window. Most of the JDBC based tools do not.

Graphical explain plans can be very nice to have, along with status views that
make things like pg_stat_activity easy to consume in an actively refreshing
compact view.

------
abruzzi
Nice starting point, a few comments/suggestions:

1\. When I first make a connection, the application window jumps to full
screen size. This is very annoying. I running on a 4k screen with 1:1 pixels,
so that is far more real estate than the application needs. Even on smaller
screens, I would immediately have to resize the window after I connect.

2\. I would like to be able to not provide the database name and allow me to
switch from one DB to another using the same connection. (also, currently if
you leave DB blank and attempt to connect, it crashes.)

3\. 80% of the time I directly connect to my databases with a tool like this,
it is not to look at the data, it is to create/drop/modify tables and other
design and admin stuff. I'll occasionally use it to test complex queries
before putting them in my code, but most of my queries are simple enough that
they don't need testing prior to coding. So I'd see this as more useful if it
had the ability to simplify the admin stuff. As it is, since I'd need to use
pgAdmin 80% of the time, its not compelling to us something else for the other
20%.

~~~
yliang
Thanks for your suggestions! To replay,

1\. I'll fix this.

2\. When you switch from one DB to another in postgres, you are essentially
making a new connection instead of reusing the same connection[1]. In PSequel,
you could create different connection bookmarks for different databases and
open multiple connections at the same time in multiple windows.

3\. In my company, we write migration scripts (activerecord migration) to
modify table structures. We usually don't modify them directly/manually. 80%
of the time we use GUI tools just for viewing data and testing out complicated
SELECT queries. I didn't realize that many other people's usage patterns are
different. Anyway, the feature of modifying table structures is in PSequel's
roadmap.

[1] [http://stackoverflow.com/q/10335561](http://stackoverflow.com/q/10335561)

------
joshstrange
This looks really neat! Another Sequel Pro inspired client that was posted to
HN recently was pgweb [0] which is open source that you all might want to
check out as well.

[0] [https://github.com/sosedoff/pgweb](https://github.com/sosedoff/pgweb)

------
interstateone
I always end up searching for something like this every few months.
Congratulations on the launch!

Some feedback for you, though:

"I don't want to pay Apple for delivering a free app."

I can understand this out of context, but I don't think it's a reasonable
answer to the question of why the app isn't code-signed (i.e. that has nothing
to do with distribution). It's quite the favor to ask of your users for a
closed-source app.

~~~
drivingmenuts
So don't use it. Problem solved.

------
radimm
Thanks for sharing. Will give it try - but so far been happily using
[https://eggerapps.at/pgcommander/](https://eggerapps.at/pgcommander/)

~~~
backwardm
I've also really enjoyed PGCommander. Updates often and works well with remote
connections via SSH.

~~~
gerry_shaw
Remote connections via SSH is the killer feature for PGCommander.

Still nice to see another good looking app in this field.

------
gknapp
I've used SQLWorkbenchJ on the daily for the last year and a half for postgres
(on OSX). It gets a lot of flak because it's java based, can be a bit buggy,
and doesn't have the nicest interface. However, if you look past those items,
it has some really great features:

\- DB Explorer (tab for exploring schema, allows you to search through large
sets of tables and other items very easily - primo)

\- SQL Formatting

\- Well thought out user shortcuts for executing queries

\- Intelligent auto-completion

Really, they essentially loaded it with every feature imaginable, which may
make it feel clunky, but it's a total Clydesdale in terms of functionality.

[http://www.sql-workbench.net/](http://www.sql-workbench.net/)

~~~
radiowave
Agreed. It's not my main tool (pgAdmin usually works well enough for my
purposes), but I fire up SQLWorkbenchJ once in a while when I need something
that pgAdmin won't do.

Also it's scriptable data import function works nicely - we have it running
here every 15 minutes, loading data from other systems into postgres.

------
BradRuderman
Thank god someone has done this. I have spent so much time looking for a
halfway decent psql tool, I currently use 0xDBE, and still not happy. My
favorite was Sequel Pro (currently only mysql) and I think its not supported
any more.

~~~
dguaraglia
Navicat provides a really nice tool for Postgres. It's paid, but the OS X
'starter' (or something like that) version can be bought for $15 or so. It's
by far the best client I've used on OS X.

~~~
BradRuderman
I haven't see that software for less then $100. Also I think its java based
which will have laggy performance.

~~~
robin_reala
Navicat feels snappy to me. I only use the features in the ‘Essential’ version
which is £10: [https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/navicat-essentials-for-
postg...](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/navicat-essentials-for-
postgresql/id466725643)

------
bshimmin
This looks nice - Sequel Pro is great for MySQL but for working with
PostgreSQL the only GUI I could find for the Mac, last I checked, was
Valentina Studio, which, whilst it does pretty much everything you would
probably want of a DB GUI, also satisfies every stereotype of cross-platform
applications (ie. it doesn't offer a very Mac-like experience).

Looking forward to giving this a try.

------
stevepike
I'm still on the hunt for an OSX PostgreSQL client with a table editor as
awesome as aqua data studio's [0] (their java client doesn't work great on
mac). With ADS you can edit the results of any query as if it was a
spreadsheet, hit "save", and ADS will generate the correct insert/update
statements for you and run them. It handles copy/paste across multiple rows
pretty well, even with thousands of update/inserts, and I haven't found any
other editors (I've tried pgadmin, jetbrains thing, navicat, this PSequel, and
some others) that do this.

[http://www.aquafold.com/aquadatastudio/table_data_editor.htm...](http://www.aquafold.com/aquadatastudio/table_data_editor.html)

~~~
bsg75
DbVisualizer has a similar feature, and works as well on a Mac as the Win and
Linux versions - subject to occasional issues common to the JRE on your
machine.

[http://www.dbvis.com/](http://www.dbvis.com/)

~~~
stevepike
Thanks, just tried it out. This is almost there - it doesn't seem to handle
copy/pasting multiple rows from excel into the grid.

------
sauce71
I'm new to PostgreSQL and get nervous twitches from using pgAdmin. At the
moment I run my queries in Toad. Tried PSequel, connected but it say (no
schema) in the dropdown top left. Hope It will move forward, would be great if
it came close to Sequel Pro. Think the uptake of Postgre among novices and
webdesigners would increase if there at least was an easy way to connect and
backup restore a db.

~~~
yliang
Did you delete all schemas in your db, including the "public" schema? Could
you report a bug at
[http://www.psequel.com/report_bugs](http://www.psequel.com/report_bugs)?
Thanks!

~~~
sauce71
Hope not! Connected to a live DB :-) I'll try to post a bug report tomorrow
(GMT+1).

------
timetraveller
Navicat Premium is complete and fantastic GUI for PostgreSQL.

~~~
JoshGlazebrook
I always found it overly complicated and sluggish (java based I think?)

~~~
timetraveller
Yes, it's based on Java and far from perfect but it's the best Postgres client
available today.

------
sandGorgon
One lesser known tool is PGStudio, which can be run as a web tool using jetty
on your machine.

as a side note, everyone seems to be on a Mac... And nobody on desktop Linux.
Didn't really think that possible that from a postgres (or a mysql) crowd.

~~~
burke
There are exactly two things that always dissuade me from using desktop linux:

1\. The font rendering is bad on linux. Especially non-anti-aliased monospace
fonts, for some reason, which is what I spend 90% of my day looking at.

2\. Multimonitor support is a real pain to configure, whereas on OS X you just
plug and go. I have cinema displays at home and at work, and I move around
between them a lot. That's really painful on linux.

~~~
simoncion
> 2\. Multimonitor support is a real pain to configure...

Are you using a somewhat recent KDE? At least on the three machines that I
regularly use, the management UI looks like [0], and works at least as well as
the one in Windows 7.

[0]
[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9XFAUJBqajo/TrrwUNlBE3I/AAAAAAAAGY...](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9XFAUJBqajo/TrrwUNlBE3I/AAAAAAAAGYE/GCUyXGKWh9Q/s1600/kde-
display-settings.png)

~~~
burke
Likely my problem is that I really like tiling WMs, so end up trying to make
my world work with something like xmonad or even dwm. It's entirely possible
multimonitor is satisfactory with KDE, and maybe I should give that another
shot.

I do, however, know that OS X does font rendering so much better that I have
trouble with pretty much any alternative.

~~~
phaemon
Well, if by "better" you mean "much worse". OSX font rendering is basically
inconsistent, blurry blobs (yes, I've used OSX for years as well as various
Linux distros).

That's fine if that's what you like, but don't try and pretend that it's in
any way objectively "better".

------
asnyder
Looks like a good start. Though in my experience the best PostgreSQL GUI is
EMS SQL Manager
([http://www.sqlmanager.net/en/products/postgresql/manager](http://www.sqlmanager.net/en/products/postgresql/manager)),
bar none. As someone who's been using PostgreSQL for over 10 years now,
nothing comes close. Honestly, every other GUI/manager feels pretty basic in
comparison, even Navicat. If you're on a Mac, it's most definitely worth using
it in VMWare Fusion, or Parallels.

An aside: I don't work for them, and yes, I do buy their licenses.

------
maslam
Looks interesting, thanks for sharing. Does not work with Amazon Redshift.

~~~
sehrope
Most Postgres clients have issues connecting to Amazon Redshift. The wire
protocol is the same so basic interactions ( _ex: connect via psql and run a
SELECT_ ) usually works but things get hairy when you start doing more
complicated things or even just querying the data dictionary ( _the basic
information_schema is there but Redshift has it 's own tables for it's
specific features_).

My company[1] makes a database client that runs in your web browser that has
explicit support for Redshift (as well as Postgres, MySQL, and more). I
encourage you to check it out.

[1]: [https://www.jackdb.com/](https://www.jackdb.com/)

~~~
maslam
I've used JackDB and really like it. Thanks for sharing it again!

------
psychometry
Is there a technical reason why it's only for Yosemite or greater? Programs
compiled from Swift are supported on OS 10.9 (I'm on Mountain Lion) and it
would be great to try this.

~~~
yliang
Because it uses some APIs introduced in 10.10.

------
attheodo
UI looks promising but unfortunately performance was sluggish. Will have it
under my radar for future, for now sticking to pgcommander.

~~~
rotten
Performance for everything under Yosemite is terrible for me. I won't upgrade
my main work-mac until I'm convinced they've gotten Yosemite more stable and
better performing.

This looks like a promising tool, but its limit platform support kills it for
me, for now.

------
laveur
Personally I will just keep using PGSQLAdmin 3 for this kind of stuff. It
supports pretty much everything PG Supports already.

------
msvan
Very cool! Any plans on open sourcing it?

~~~
cheshire137
I myself would either like to see the source or have the developer pay the $99
to get Apple to review the code and make it more trustworthy. As it is, I'm a
little nervous running the app and letting it auto-update daily when I have no
idea who the dev is or what's in the app.

~~~
foodstances
You do realize that Apple doesn't review code, right? An application in the
App Store can issue malicious or accidental "DROP TABLE" statements just as
easily as an application you downloaded from GitHub. Apple only reviews apps
(in binary format) to make sure they mostly do what they say they do, and that
they don't violate Apple's distribution guidelines (porn, trademarks, etc.)

~~~
josephlord
They do at least in theory establish a legal entity that is responsible. It
also provides a mechanism for removing the app if malicious behaviour is
detected and reported.

You are right about "DROP TABLE" risk in this case but some other threats are
mitigated by the sand boxing of apps.

------
ckorhonen
Am I missing something? I don't appear to be able to do anything on the main
screen.

[https://www.dropbox.com/s/4zlhcun6w26512s/Screenshot%202014-...](https://www.dropbox.com/s/4zlhcun6w26512s/Screenshot%202014-12-02%2009.34.40.png?dl=0)

------
Chris911
I see "Query bookmark" in the TODO list. I've been looking a simple, clean
PostgreSQL "bookmark manager" that will just hold and execute my saved
queries. Would really like to see this feature implemented.

------
Danilka
This is so needed. Thank you for working on the project! Will try out later
today.

------
Void_
What does it matter that it's written in Swift if it's not open-source?

~~~
robotvert
Since it's a developer oriented tool, how it's been made is always good trivia
IMHO. Also helps legitimating the "Mac OS X only" part I guess.

------
pestaa
If you're looking for a Postgres (and general) database frontend, check out
DBeaver. Not exactly a thin app, but comes with all the batteries included.
It's been indispensable in my day-to-day work.

~~~
icebraining
Looks great, thanks!

------
ankushio
I have been using PG Commander so far and it's very similar to SequelPro

~~~
BradRuderman
pgcommander sucks. It is slow, its interface is horrible, and query window is
strange!

~~~
sleepyhead
I don't find it slow. Which parts of it is slow? I'm not a huge fan of the
query window and yeah the continual view can be a bit confusing.

~~~
BradRuderman
The slowness I find I think its related to the continual view. What happens is
I ran I ton of large queries, and then the window lags when I scroll. I should
be better about limiting my queries when I only want to see a few records,
however I am so use to sequel pro where it shows you the first 1000 by
default.

~~~
jakobegger
If you get too many queries you can hit Cmd-L to clear the display in
Terminal. I recently also added a cancel command to stop queries when you
forgot a limit clause.

I know the Terminal in PG Commander isn't for everybody; maybe I'll change it
in a future version.

------
pablosanta
Looks neat! Won't display metadata correctly on PosgreSQL 8.3 or earlier
versions though. This is the error I'm getting: "column "typcategory" does not
exist".

UPDATE: added 8.3 version number.

~~~
yliang
Thanks for the reply! It's using libpq 9.3 under the hood. I'll work on
supporting earlier versions if it gets enough demands.

~~~
onyxraven
It'd be awesome to get 8.x support for working with quick Redshift queries. As
is, there isn't a graphical interface to Redshift which is a bummer.

------
CodeWriter23
:( No support for SSL connections. I'll be eagerly awaiting an update.

~~~
yliang
Just released a new version with SSL support. Please try it out.

------
raquo
Thanks for building this, looks very clean. I'm sorely missing a PostgreSQL
client similar to Sequel Pro. Valentina Studio is okay but the UI is too
clumsy.

~~~
psychometry
PG Commander has a better UI. Not as good as Sequel Pro for MySQL, but it's
something.

------
fndrplayer13
Very cool, like that its in swift. I still feel like I've never had a very
compelling reason to move away from psql itself, though?

------
yliang
Just released v1.0.2. Now supports SSL connections. Use the "Check for
Update..." menu item to download the update.

------
coleifer
For SQLite users, I've released a web-based, python-powered database browser:
[https://github.com/coleifer/sqlite-
browser](https://github.com/coleifer/sqlite-browser)

~~~
pestaa
Quite clean, nice job! I might have a use for this.

------
k_sze
Where the fork is the forking "fork me on github" ribbon?

(i.e. is it going to be FOSS?)

------
aren55555
brew cask install psequel

