DBCatz is the database client of the Catzoid family: MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis, Valkey, MongoDB and Elasticsearch in one window, with a tab per connection. It is free and open source (GPL-3.0), runs on macOS 13 or later (Apple silicon and Intel) and on Windows 10 and 11 (x64), and needs no administrator rights — it installs nothing outside its own folders.
These pages explain every part of it. The DBCatz page has the short tour, and Getting started covers installing.
On a Mac the app is signed and notarized, and updates itself. Homebrew works too:
brew tap catzoidhub/catz && brew trust catzoidhub/catz
brew install --cask dbcatzOn Windows the installer is DBCatz-Setup-<version>.exe, from the download page. It installs for your
account only — into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\DBCatz, with no administrator prompt. Its pages: Welcome, Only
me or Anyone (all users, which does need an administrator), the install folder, then Shortcuts — DBCatz is
always added to the Start menu, so Windows search finds it, and Create a desktop shortcut is ticked by default. To
pin it, right-click DBCatz in Start and choose Pin to taskbar. The last page, DBCatz is ready, has Open DBCatz
now.
The Windows installer is a full release, but it is not code-signed yet (why): the first time, Windows SmartScreen may stop it, and More info → Run anyway lets it start. After that DBCatz updates itself as on a Mac.
The engines DBCatz opens
| Engine | What DBCatz calls things | Default port |
|---|---|---|
| MySQL | database / table / row | 3306 |
| MariaDB | database / table / row | 3306 |
| PostgreSQL | database / table / row (tables outside public show as schema.table) |
5432 |
| SQLite | file / table / row | — (a file on your computer) |
| Redis | database / key / command | 6379 |
| Valkey | database / key / command | 6379 |
| MongoDB | database / collection / document | 27017 |
| Elasticsearch | cluster / index / document / request | 9200 |
Menus and dialogs follow these words: on MongoDB the Table menu says Collection, on Elasticsearch it says Index, and so on.
Mac and Windows
DBCatz is the same app on both: every engine, view, dialog and Settings tab is on Windows, and connections, URLs, SSH, AWS IAM, Vault, saved queries and the safety modes work alike. What differs is short:
| On Windows | Why |
|---|---|
| Shortcuts use Ctrl where a Mac uses ⌘ | The shortcuts on these pages follow the macOS / Windows switch at the top of the page. |
| The app menu behind ☰ | The tab strip is the title bar, with minimize, maximize and close at its right end. The ☰ button in the header, next to Jobs, opens the whole app menu (DBCatz, File, Edit, Database, Table, Query, View, Go, Window, Help), and every menu shortcut works with Ctrl. |
| A local connection is a named pipe, for MySQL and MariaDB only | MySQL and MariaDB on Windows listen on a named pipe, not a Unix socket. PostgreSQL, Redis, Valkey and MongoDB get no local-socket option there: they connect over TCP/IP or SSH. See Connections. |
| ssh-agent is the OpenSSH Authentication Agent | When SSH_AUTH_SOCK is not set, DBCatz uses Windows’ agent pipe \\.\pipe\openssh-ssh-agent. Keys are listed from %USERPROFILE%\.ssh. |
| Secrets are encrypted with Windows’ protected storage (DPAPI) | Instead of the macOS Keychain: connection passwords, SSH passphrases, AWS keys, Vault tokens and the AI keys, tied to your Windows account. |
Files live in %APPDATA% |
%APPDATA%\DBCatz and %APPDATA%\Catzoid instead of ~/Library/Application Support/… — see Where DBCatz keeps your data. |
| Closing the window quits DBCatz | On a Mac the app stays open until you quit it. |
| The Recycle Bin and File Explorer | Uninstall moves DBCatz’s data to the Recycle Bin, and Reveal shows a file in File Explorer — instead of the Trash and Finder. |
Mac-only: the Homebrew cask, the three-finger swipe for back and forward, and Unix sockets for PostgreSQL, Redis, Valkey and MongoDB.
Menu paths on these pages — File → Export…, Database → Drop Database…, Table → Show Data and the like — are the Mac menu bar. On Windows the same menus open from the ☰ button in the header: ☰ → Database → Drop Database….
The window
DBCatz has one window. Across the title bar runs the tab strip — on Windows it is the title bar, with minimize, maximize and close at its right end:
- The Connections tab is always first: your connection list on the left and the connection form on the right (see Connections).
- Every open connection gets a tab of its own, with its colour accent, the engine’s logo, its name, a PROD or READ-ONLY badge when it has one (see Production safety) and × to close it.
- + at the end of the strip starts a new connection (mod+N).
Top right sit the Jobs button — a count badge, and a dot while an export, import or backup runs (see Export, import and backup) — and the Settings gear (mod+,), which wears a dot when an update is ready.
Inside a connection tab:
- The sidebar on the left: the connection’s name, engine, badge and server version, the database picker (mod+P), and the list of tables, collections, indexes or — on Redis — a note to use the key pattern instead. Its foot holds Query (or Command, mod+T), Logs (mod+L), Export (mod+E), Import (mod+I) and ↻ refresh (mod+R).
- The breadcrumb at the top: database › table, with the row count, and ‹ › back / forward to its left.
- The view tabs: Data · Structure · Query · Logs — or Keys · Command · Logs on Redis and Valkey.
Messages pop up as toasts at the bottom, to the left of the ✦ Ask DBCatz button (when AI is on), with a small cat whose mood matches the news. The same cat shows up in errors and warnings.
DBCatz runs once: opening it a second time, or clicking a dbcatz:// link, brings the running window forward.
Closing the window leaves DBCatz running; quit it with mod+Q.Closing
the window quits DBCatz.
The Welcome dialog
The very first time DBCatz opens — no saved connection, never launched before — it shows Welcome to DBCatz with Three things to know first:
- Connect to a database — with a New connection button.
- Mark what is production — the safety modes, explained on Production safety.
- Your DevCatz databases, already here — with a DevCatz found badge when DevCatz is installed.
It also notes No administrator password, nothing installed on this Macthis PC, and links to What DBCatz sends. Press Get started, or Maybe later to close it.
Your first connection, in short
- A database DevCatz runs needs no setup: it is already in the list under DevCatz services, with a live status dot. Click it. A database service running in DoCatz shows up by itself under DoCatz services.
- Anything else: press + (mod+N), pick the engine, fill in the form, press Test connection, then
Connect. Or switch the form to From a URL and paste a
DATABASE_URL. - Mark it: choose Production or Read-only under Safety for a server that matters.
Every field and option is on Connections.
Tabs
- Close a tab: ×, mod+W, or a middle-click.
- Next / previous tab: ⌃Tab / ⌃⇧Tab (Window → Next Tab / Previous Tab)Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab.
- Right-click a tab for Duplicate tab, New tab, same connection, Close tab and Close other tabs. Several tabs can share one connection, each at its own database and table.
Back and forward
DBCatz remembers where you have been, like a browser. A screen is a tab at a database, table or view — or the Connections tab, or Settings.
- Back (mod+[) and Forward (mod+]), also in the Go menu.
- The ‹ › buttons left of the breadcrumb, and in the Connections and Settings headers.
- Mouse buttons 4 and 5, and a three-finger swipe if System Settings → Trackpad → Swipe between pages is on.
- Right-click ‹ or › to see the recent screens with their times (Back to / Forward to) and jump straight to one.
Up to 50 screens are kept, and they survive a restart: going back to a screen from an earlier session reopens its connection. Following a foreign key adds a screen too, so mod+[ takes you back to where you came from.
Where to next
- Connections — the connection list, groups and favourites, URLs, SSH, AWS IAM, Vault, sockets and named pipes, every advanced option, what a failed connection tells you, and the links with DevCatz and DialCatz.
- Production safety — Normal, Production and Read-only; which statements ask first, which are refused, and the checks before a structure change.
- Data and JSON — the grid, filters and saved filters, cell editors, inserting and deleting, foreign keys and the JSON viewer and editor.
- Databases, tables and structure — the database picker, the table list, bulk actions, columns, indexes, foreign keys and creating databases and tables.
- Queries — the editor, autocomplete, results, saved queries, history and the Logs tab.
- Redis and Valkey — the key browser, the value drawer, TTL, PHP
serialize()values and the Command tab. - MongoDB and Elasticsearch — documents in a grid, filters, mongosh methods and console requests.
- Export, import and backup — formats per engine, imports,
.tar.gzbackups and the Jobs panel. - AI in DBCatz — Ask AI, Ask DBCatz, AI in Logs, and exactly what is sent.
- Settings and shortcuts — every shortcut, Settings, themes, updates, About, reporting a bug, where data lives, uninstalling and troubleshooting.
Last updated 2026-11-01