Prostgles Desktop is a cross-platform database management tool designed exclusively for PostgreSQL databases. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced SQL developer, Prostgles Desktop offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface that simplifies database management, query execution, and data visualization. With its robust feature set, it empowers users to interact with their databases more efficiently and effectively, making it an essential tool for anyone working with PostgreSQL.
Installation
To get started with Prostgles Desktop, download and install the binary file that’s appropriate for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux) from our website.
- Linux: We provide .deb, .rpm or .AppImage files to suit your distribution,
- macOS: Open the downloaded .dmg file, drag the Prostgles Desktop icon into your Applications folder, and launch the application.
- Windows - Run the downloaded .exe file and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
Alternatively, you can visit the releases page for checksums, release notes or older versions.
Setting up
When you open Prostgles Desktop, you see the Welcome screen while it loads. You’ll need to complete two initial setup steps:
- Accept the privacy policy
- Connect to a state database
State database
Prostgles Desktop stores its state and configuration data in a PostgreSQL database. To maintain a secure and responsive environment, we highly recommend installing Postgres on your local machine. You’ll need to create a dedicated database and superuser account with a strong password for Prostgles Desktop.
Using Prostgles Desktop
Once the setup is complete you will be taken to the connections page that will contain the state connection “Prostgles UI state database”.
Connections
In Prostgles Desktop, a connection is defined as a unique combination of database, host, port, and user that allow connecting to a PostgreSQL instance. Connections are grouped together based on host, port, and user to make it easier to distinguish access rights.
Creating a connection
To add a new connection you can use one of the two options:
- Press the “New connection” button. This will take you to the Add connection form where you need to fill in the required details such as the host, port, username, password, and database name.
- By pressing the plus icon button above any existing connection groups which will reuse the connection details. You will then be allowed to create or add an existing database from the selected server.
Any connection errors will be shown before the connection can be added. After successfully adding a connection you will be taken to the connection workspace.
Editing or configuring a connection
To edit or delete a connection you can:
- Go to connections page, hover over the connection item and press the pencil button in the top right corner.
- From the connection workspace press the top left database cog button “Configure database connection”. This option only works if the database connection is still reachable
Workspaces
Clicking a connection or creating a connection will connect to the database and open up a Workspace. Here is where most of the database interactions will take place: running sql queries, opening tables, charts, etc. All significant interactions within the workspace are auto-saved and you don’t need to worry about losing your work.
SQL Editor
The SQL Editor allows you to run raw SQL queries against your connected PostgreSQL database. It includes features like:
- Syntax Highlighting: Making it easier to write and review SQL queries with clear color coding for SQL keywords, table names, and other items.
- Autocomplete: Suggesting table and column names as you type, speeding up the process of writing queries.
- Result View: view results in a sortable table or as JSON
- Chart View: Timechart or Map depending on the
Table view
Visually explore and manipulate the data in your PostgreSQL tables. It provides a familiar spreadsheet-like interface where you can:
- View, sort, and filter table rows to inspect the data.
- Custom display and styling options: show URLs as media, conditional column styling, barchart and timecharts
- Insert, update, and delete rows
- Schema information and related objcets: view and edit table columns, data types, constraints, indexes, triggers and more.
Map view
Map View is a specialized view designed for tables containing geographical data. Powered by deck.gl it allows:
- Viewing and editing geometry and geography data types.
- Automatic aggregations and filters that react to panning and zooming, to ensure you get the best experience.
- Layer management wich allows adding more layers and controling how they are visualised on the map, including color-coding and filtering options.
Timechart view
Powerful tool for visualising time-series data, providing a dynamic charting interface to track changes over time. Key features include:
- Line and Bar Charts - Display time-series data in various formats to best suit your analysis needs.
- Automatic aggregations - Zoom in and out of specific time periods to focus on the trends that matter most.
- Multiple Series - Plot multiple data series on the same chart to compare different metrics over time.
Backup and Restore
From the connection workspace press the top left database cog button “Configure database connection” then go to the Backup/Restore section. By default, the backups contain the necessary scripts to re-create the current database with the exception of the prostgles schema. The prostgles schema is created and used by Prostgles Desktop to setup triggers and event listeners for realtime schema and data changes.
Creating a backup
- Click Create backup
- Optionally, you can change the backup settings by specifying what to backup (current database or server), backup file destination (local machine or to S3), etc.
- Click Start Backup to initiate the process. A progress bar will show the status of the backup, Live logs can be accessed by pressing Bump logs button.
- Once completed, the backup item will appear below within the Completed backups section together with Delete, Download and Restore… buttons.
Hover over the backup item and press the top right pencil icon to reveal information such as the file location, dump command used, creation timestamp as well as logs.
Restoring from a backup
To restore from a completed backup:
- Click the Restore… button from the desired backup item from the Completed backups section
- Optionally, you can change the restore settings by clicking Options where parameters can be viewed and changed before proceeding.
- Type the three letter confirmation code and press Restore
- A progress bar will show the status of the restore process, Live logs can be accessed by pressing Restore logs button.
- Once completed, the retored backup item will show an updated “Last restored” tiemstamp.
You can also restore from a pg_restore compatible file saved on your machine