tableplus

TablePlus

TablePlus is a native app (Swift on Mac, C# on Windows) known for being incredibly fast and lightweight.

When to Use

• Native Multi-Database Administration: Connecting to PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, SQLite, SQL Server, and Cassandra natively.
• Secure Bastion & SSH Tunneling: Querying internal production and staging databases through bastion jump-hosts securely.
• Inline Table Data Editing: Modifying column values, adding rows, and previewing generated SQL before committing changes.
• Database Backup & Migration Inspection: Dumping database schemas, restoring SQL snapshots, and reviewing pending migrations.

Quick Start

1. Open Database via TablePlus CLI URL

# Connect directly to Postgres instance via connection string
tableplus "postgres://postgres:secret@localhost:5432/my_database"

2. Essential Shortcuts

Cmd + T          - Open New SQL Tab
Cmd + Enter      - Run Current Statement
Cmd + Shift + E  - Run All Statements
Cmd + P          - Quick Open Table
Cmd + S          - Commit Staged Changes

Core Concepts

Bastion SSH Tunnel Connection Configuration

Connecting securely to an Amazon RDS PostgreSQL database via a private VPC jump-host:

TablePlus Connection Settings:
- Driver: PostgreSQL
- Host: prod-db.internal.vpc (or 10.0.4.15)
- Port: 5432
- User: db_admin
- Database: production_v2
- Password: [SECURE_PASSWORD]

SSH Tunnel Tab:
- SSH Host: bastion.example.com
- SSH Port: 22
- SSH User: ec2-user
- Auth Method: SSH Key
- Private Key: ~/.ssh/bastion-id_ed25519

TablePlus Connection URI Scheme

Opening database connections directly from terminal or scripts:

# Connect to local PostgreSQL
open "tableplus://postgres:password@localhost:5432/my_app_dev?statusColor=007AFF&env=local"

# Connect via custom connection string with SSH Tunnel parameters
open "postgresql://admin:secret@prod-db:5432/analytics?sslmode=require"

Inline Data Modification & Commit Preview

• Double-click table in sidebar (e.g. users).
• Double-click any cell to modify values in-place (turns yellow to indicate uncommitted state).
• Press Cmd + Shift + P (or Ctrl + Shift + P) to Preview SQL Changes:

  UPDATE "users" SET "is_active" = TRUE WHERE "id" = '9b1deb4d-3b7d-4bad-9bdd-2b0d7b3dcb6d';
  

• Press Cmd + S (Ctrl + S) to execute and commit transaction atomically.

Common Patterns

Atomic Staged Edits Review

Problem: Review generated SQL statements before committing GUI cell modifications.
Solution: Inspect the staged SQL script generated by TablePlus.

-- Generated review script in TablePlus (Cmd + Shift + D)
BEGIN;
UPDATE "public"."users" SET "status" = 'active' WHERE "id" = '42';
UPDATE "public"."orders" SET "processed" = true WHERE "user_id" = '42';
COMMIT;

Redis Key Inspection & Scanning

Problem: Inspect Redis cache keys without blocking single-threaded Redis process.
Solution: Run safe cursor scanning from TablePlus query workspace.

# TablePlus Redis Console execution
SCAN 0 MATCH session:* COUNT 100

Best Practices

Do:

• Assign distinct Environment Colors (Red for Production, Orange for Staging, Green for Local) in connection settings.
• Enable Safe Mode on production database connections to enforce confirmation dialogs for UPDATE and DELETE queries.
• Authenticate bastion hosts using modern Ed25519 SSH keys with passphrase protection.
• Preview generated SQL (Cmd+Shift+P) before committing inline modifications to production tables.

Don't:

• Store plaintext production database passwords in unencrypted cloud backup profiles.
• Run unbounded queries (SELECT * FROM logs) on billion-row tables without LIMIT clauses.
• Share exported TablePlus connection files containing embedded private keys or passwords.

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
SSH Tunnel: Connection refused	Bastion host port 22 blocked or SSH key permissions invalid	Verify SSH key has chmod 600 permissions and bastion security group permits inbound traffic.
pq: SSL is required when connecting to AWS RDS / Heroku Postgres	SSL mode disabled in connection settings	In TablePlus connection settings, set SSL Mode to REQUIRED or VERIFY-CA.
Query output truncated or slow on large tables	Default limit fetching thousands of heavy columns	Add explicit LIMIT 100 to query or adjust row pagination limit in TablePlus preferences.

References

• TablePlus Documentation