🚀 Getting Started

Your First Connection

SQL Gnome uses connection tabs — each tab is an independent database session. Here's how to get up and running in under a minute.

Connection Workflow

Each connection tab represents a completely independent database session and can point at a different environment. The intended model is separate tabs for dev, staging, and production.

Create a new connection tab (⌘+N).
Enter your MySQL host, port, username, and password.
Optionally provide a default database to land in after connecting.
Enable SSH tunneling only if the server is not directly reachable.
Connect.
Select a database, then open a table, view, or the Query tab.

Gnorman Says

Don't mix environments in one tab. Open a fresh tab for production so you know exactly which database you're talking to at all times. Your future self will thank you.

Main Surfaces

Content

Use Content for browsing rows, paging through large tables, filtering, sorting, and direct row editing. This is your main view into what's actually in a table.

Structure

Use Structure for inspecting columns, indexes, foreign keys, and table metadata. This is where you understand how a table is built.

Query

Use Query for manual SQL execution, result inspection, saved queries, and query history. Autocomplete warm-up starts when this tab is opened.

Row Editing

Row editing is only available when SQL Gnome can identify rows safely. This is not a limitation — it's a safety guarantee.

Supported cases:

Table has a primary key
Table has another usable unique index

How it works:

Double-click a row to open the row editor.
The editor attempts to focus the field corresponding to the column you double-clicked.
If SQL Gnome cannot establish safe row identity, edit mode is blocked.

If edit mode is blocked, check whether the table has a primary key or unique index using Structure. A table without either cannot be safely edited row-by-row.

Performance Model

SQL Gnome avoids database-wide schema preloading during initial table browsing. The goal is that the first Content load is dominated by your actual table query — not unrelated metadata work.

Current behavior:

Per-table structure loads lazily.
Query autocomplete warm-up starts when Query is opened.
First content load is intentionally lean.

If the first table load after connecting is still slow, common causes are:

Network latency to the server
Server-side query latency
First-session warm-up on the MySQL server
Expensive views or complex table definitions

If reopening the same table after the first load is fast, the delay is almost certainly a server-side warm-up issue rather than anything SQL Gnome is doing.