fordb

A lean, keyboard-first, open-source desktop database client. PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MongoDB — every engine free in core. Electron + TypeScript.

Lighter than DataGrip/DBeaver, but multi-engine unlike the single-database clients. Fast to open, driven from the keyboard, and honest about your data — every destructive change is previewed as SQL and confirmed before it runs.

Status: active development. Grab a packaged installer from Releases, install via apt/dnf (below), or run from source.

Install

Linux (apt / dnf) — new versions arrive with a normal system update:

# Debian / Ubuntu
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/forinda/fordb/setup.deb.sh' | sudo -E bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install fordb

# Fedora / RHEL
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/forinda/fordb/setup.rpm.sh' | sudo -E bash
sudo dnf install fordb

Or download a standalone .AppImage / .deb / .rpm / Windows .exe from Releases.

macOS — download fordb-<version>-universal.dmg (runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel) from Releases, open it, and drag fordb to Applications.

The build is unsigned (code signing is on the roadmap), so on first launch macOS Gatekeeper says it "can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer." Right-click the app → Open and confirm once, or clear the quarantine flag:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/fordb.app

Run from source

Prerequisites: Node.js ≥ 22 and pnpm.

pnpm install
pnpm dev                 # launch in dev mode
pnpm dev:sandboxless     # Linux, if you hit a chrome-sandbox error

Common tasks: pnpm build · pnpm test · pnpm lint · pnpm typecheck. Contract tests need Docker (pnpm db:up then pnpm test:contract).

Architecture

Three Electron processes so a compromised renderer can never touch a driver or a secret directly: renderer (React, no Node) → main (windows, OS keychain, stores) → db-host (utilityProcess, all DB drivers). Secrets never reach the renderer — connections are addressed by an opaque connectionId. The DbAdapter interface is the core contract, enforced by a shared contract-test suite.

Contributors: see AGENTS.md for conventions and CONTRIBUTING.md for setup. Cutting a release: RELEASING.md.

License

MIT © fordb contributors.