Keyboard shortcuts
Every shortcut in DBCatz’s menus, menu by menu, on macOS and on Windows. On Windows the tab strip is the title bar and the menus open from the ☰ button in the header, next to Jobs (☰ → Database → Drop Database…); every shortcut works with Ctrl. About, Check for Updates, Report a bug and Send feedback are also in Settings → About there.
DBCatz menu
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| About DBCatz (opens the About tab of Settings) | — | — |
| Check for Updates… (or Update Available…) | — | — |
| Settings… | ⌘, | Ctrl+, |
| Hide DBCatz · Hide Others | ⌘H · ⌥⌘H | Mac only |
| Services · Show All | — | Mac only |
| Quit DBCatz | ⌘Q | Close the window |
File
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| New Connection… | ⌘N | Ctrl+N |
| Open Connection… — the Connections tab | ⌘O | Ctrl+O |
| New Query Tab | ⌘T | Ctrl+T |
| Close Tab | ⌘W | Ctrl+W |
| Export… | ⌘E | Ctrl+E |
| Import… | ⌘I | Ctrl+I |
| Backup as .tar.gz… | ⇧⌘B | Ctrl+Shift+B |
Edit
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Undo / Redo | ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z | Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y |
| Cut / Copy / Paste | ⌘X / ⌘C / ⌘V | Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V |
| Paste and Match Style | ⌥⇧⌘V | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Select All — text in a text field; every shown table when the table list has focus | ⌘A | Ctrl+A |
Database
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Choose Database… | ⌘P | Ctrl+P |
| Refresh — reload the databases and tables | ⌘R | Ctrl+R |
| Show Logs | ⌘L | Ctrl+L |
| Create Database… | ⇧⌘N | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Disconnect · Flush Keys… (Redis / Valkey) · Drop Database… | — | — |
Table
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Create Table… | ⇧⌘T | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Show Data | ⌘1 | Ctrl+1 |
| Show Structure | ⌘2 | Ctrl+2 |
| Filter Rows | ⌘F | Ctrl+F |
| Insert Row (Redis / Valkey: a new key) | ⇧⌘I | Ctrl+Shift+I |
| Delete Selected Rows (Redis / Valkey: the selected keys) | ⌘⌫ | Ctrl+Backspace |
| Copy Table Name · Copy CREATE Statement · Export Table… · Rename Table… · Truncate Table… · Drop Table… | — | — |
The items without a shortcut are also in a table’s right-click menu in the sidebar.
Query
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Run — everything, or the selected text | ⌘⏎ | Ctrl+Enter |
| Format SQL (SQL engines) | ⇧⌘F | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Ask AI… in the Query tab | ⇧⌘K | Ctrl+Shift+K |
| Ask DBCatz… | ⌘K | Ctrl+K |
| New Query Tab | ⌘T | Ctrl+T |
Go and Window
| Item | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Back | ⌘[ | Ctrl+[ |
| Forward | ⌘] | Ctrl+] |
| Minimize | ⌘M | Ctrl+M |
| Next Tab | ⌃Tab | Ctrl+Tab |
| Previous Tab | ⌃⇧Tab | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Zoom · Bring All to Front | — | Mac only |
On a Mac the View menu is the standard one (reload, zoom, full screen, developer tools), and Help has Report a Bug… and Send Feedback…, without shortcuts.
Keys outside the menus
| Where | What it does | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Query editor (SQL, Redis / Valkey, mongosh, Elasticsearch) | Show suggestions | Ctrl+Space | Ctrl+Space |
| Editors | Insert two spaces (or accept a suggestion) | Tab | Tab |
| Dialogs, Settings, drawers, the table list | Close; clear the table selection | Esc | Esc |
| Insert form | Insert row | ⌘⏎ | Ctrl+Enter |
| JSON viewer and editor | Find · next / previous | ⌘F · ⌘G / ⇧⌘G, ⏎ / ⇧⏎ | Ctrl+F · Ctrl+G / Ctrl+Shift+G, Enter / Shift+Enter |
| JSON editor | Find & Replace | ⌥⌘F | Ctrl+H |
| JSON editor | Save the value | ⌘S | Ctrl+S |
| Database picker | Move, open, close | ↑ ↓ PgUp PgDn ⏎ Esc | ↑ ↓ PgUp PgDn Enter Esc |
| Ask AI prompt | Ask / new line | ⏎ / ⇧⏎ | Enter / Shift+Enter |
| Anywhere | Back / forward | Mouse buttons 4 / 5 | Mouse buttons 4 / 5 |
| Anywhere (if Swipe between pages is on) | Back / forward | Three-finger swipe | Mac only |
| A tab | Close it | Middle-click | Middle-click |
| Grid, table list, keys | Select a range, toggle one | ⇧-click, ⌘-click | Shift-click, Ctrl-click |
Format SQL is mod+shift+F; formatting JSON is the Format button in the JSON editor, with no shortcut. The Query tab has no mod+S — save a query with Save….
Settings
Open Settings with the gear top right (left of the window buttons), or mod+,. It opens inside the window; ✕ or Esc closes it. The gear shows a dot when an update is ready. Settings has four tabs: General · AI · Updates · About.
General: theme and privacy
Appearance and themes
Theme: Auto, Light or Dark. Auto follows macOS (System Settings → Appearance)Windows (Settings → Personalization → Colors). All Catzoid apps use the same theme — the section is marked Shared with Catzoid apps, so switching it here switches DevCatz and DialCatz too. See What the cats share.
Crash reports
Send crash reports is off until you are asked. After the first error, DBCatz asks once — DBCatz ran into an error — with Don’t send and Send crash reports. The setting shows how many reports are queued, and links to What is sent.
AI
The AI tab turns AI on, picks the shared provider, key and model, and has a switch per feature. Everything on it is explained in AI in DBCatz.
Updates
The Updates tab shows DBCatz <version> and Last checked, with Check now (or Show the update when one is waiting).
- Check automatically — 30 seconds after launch, then every 6 hours. Nothing downloads without you.
- Channel — Stable or Beta.
- Notify me — once per version.
Check for Updates… is also in About, and in the DBCatz menu. On Windows an update installs for your account, without an administrator prompt, like any other release.
Installing an update
- DBCatz <version> is available shows What’s new and the size: Skip this version, Later or Update now.
- The download shows its speed, the time left and Verifying…, with Cancel and Hide.
- Ready to install: Install when I quit or Restart now. Restart first lists running jobs and open connections, with Restart anyway.
If something fails: Download from the site, Close or Retry.
Updates come from catzoid.com (/updates/dbcatz/), with the GitHub release as a fallback. An update check sends an
anonymous install id — see What the apps send.
About
The About tab — also DBCatz → About DBCatz — shows the logo, the slogan Curiosity won’t kill this cat., and the version and architecture.
- Links: DBCatz website, Docs, What’s new, Report an issue, GitHub, and Third-party licences (a file shipped in the app).
- Buttons: Check for Updates (or Update available…), Report a bug, Send feedback.
- The licence line, and ★ If DBCatz helps you, star it on GitHub and tell a friend.
- Part of the Catzoid family: DevCatz (local dev environment), DBCatz (database viewer), DialCatz (API client) and DoCatz (container manager).
- Details: the macOSWindows version, Electron, Chromium and Node.js versions and the data folder, with Copy — handy for a bug report.
- Uninstall DBCatz with Uninstall… (below).
DBCatz is free and open source under GPL-3.0; the names and logos are trademarks, so a fork needs its own name. See Licences.
Report a bug or send feedback
Help → Report a Bug… or Send Feedback…, or theThe buttons in About — Report a bug and Send feedback — open one dialog:
- Kind: Bug, Idea or Question.
- Screenshots (bugs only, up to 3, 2.5 MB each): Capture this window or Attach a screenshot….
- Email for a reply (optional).
- Preview what is sent — the exact report.
Reports go to catzoid.com. Before sending, they are scrubbed — hosts, addresses, quoted values and your home path are taken out — and they wait in a queue while you are offline.
Where DBCatz keeps your data
The data folder
~/Library/Application Support/DBCatz/%APPDATA%\DBCatz\ holds:
| File | What is in it |
|---|---|
config.json |
Saved connections (secrets encrypted), the list layout (order, favourites, groups), grid settings (column widths and order, saved filters per table), starred and recent databases, saved queries per database, settings (AI on / off, samples, feature switches) and update settings. |
bridge.json |
The connection list for DialCatz: names, engines, hosts, ports and databases — no users, passwords or URLs. |
dbviewer/rds-global-bundle.pem |
Amazon’s RDS certificate bundle, downloaded on the first AWS IAM connect. |
| The window’s local storage | Back / forward history, the list’s sort and grouping, panel sizes. |
Secrets
In the Keychain:
- DBCatz Safe Storage — the key that encrypts connection passwords, passphrases, AWS keys and Vault tokens.
- Catzoid AI — your AI keys, one per provider, shared by the Catzoid apps.
In Windows’ protected storage (DPAPI), tied to your Windows account:
- The key that encrypts connection passwords, passphrases, AWS keys and Vault tokens, kept in DBCatz’s data folder.
- Your AI keys, one file per provider in
%APPDATA%\Catzoid\keys\(<provider>.dpapi), shared by the Catzoid apps.
Shared with the Catzoid apps
~/Library/Application Support/Catzoid/shared.json%APPDATA%\Catzoid\shared.json
holds the theme, the AI provider and models, and the Catzoid site address. Only you can read it
(folder 0700, file 0600). DBCatz follows changes to it live. See What the cats share.
What is not saved
- Query history and the Logs activity live in memory for the window’s life — they are gone when DBCatz quits.
- Exports and backups go where you save them (Downloads by default), and stay there.
What DBCatz sends on its own
Only three things, and only when they are on: the update check, the RDS certificate bundle download (first AWS IAM connect), and crash reports. AI requests go out only when you press an AI button. Every call is listed in What the apps send.
DBCatz needs no administrator rights and installs nothing outside its own folders.
Uninstall DBCatz
Settings → About → Uninstall… removes DBCatz completely. The dialog lists everything it will remove:
- the data folder — Saved connections, starred and recent databases, history, bridge.json (history here is the back / forward history);
- Logs, Caches, Update downloads, Preferences, Saved window state and Web storage;
- Connection secrets (Keychain) — the DBCatz Safe Storage item;
- the app itself — to the Trash, or
brew uninstall --cask dbcatzif Homebrew installed it.
- the data folder
%APPDATA%\DBCatz— Saved connections and their secrets (Windows’ protected storage (DPAPI)), starred and recent databases, history, bridge.json (history here is the back / forward history); - Update downloads (
%LOCALAPPDATA%\dbcatz-updater); - The app, its shortcuts and its entry in Installed apps — through DBCatz’s own uninstaller.
DBCatz quits and a small window, Removing DBCatz from this PC, finishes the job: it waits for DBCatz to close,
removes the app, its shortcuts, its entry in Installed apps and the dbcatz:// link, and moves the data to the
Recycle Bin, where it stays until you empty it.
Also remove the shared Catzoid settings removes shared.json and the Catzoid AI keys too —
on Windows the whole %APPDATA%\Catzoid folder goes to the Recycle Bin. It starts off when
other Catzoid apps are installed, since they use them.
Type DBCatz to confirm. The removal runs after DBCatz quits. Your exports, backups and SQLite files stay where they are. To do it by hand instead, see Uninstall.
Troubleshooting
A connection fails
Test and Connect show every step — Vault, AWS, SSH, reach, sign in — and stop at the one that failed, with a readable error. Look at that step: reach failing means the host or port is wrong or blocked (production servers are often reachable only through SSH); sign in failing means the user, password or database. The common errors and their fixes are on Connections.
A DevCatz service says it is stopped
Start it in DevCatz (Database page) and press Try again, or use Open in DevCatz on the error screen.
The certificate is not trusted
For a self-signed certificate, turn off Verify the server certificate under Advanced.
A write is refused, or asks for a name
That is the safety mode doing its job. Confirm it in the dialog — or, if the connection really is not production, set it to Normal with Edit….
The grid will not let me edit
The table has no primary key, or the connection is Read-only. Add a primary key, or edit with an UPDATE in the
Query tab.
A query shows only 5000 rows
Results are capped at the first 5000 rows. Narrow the query, or export the table for everything.
My query history is gone
History is kept for the window’s life only. Use Save… for queries you want to keep.
Windows warns about the installer
The Windows installer is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may say Windows protected your PC. Choose More info → Run anyway. Code signing says why, and how you can help.
Something else
See Troubleshooting, then Help → Report a Bug…Report a bug in Settings → About — the report carries the version and system details for you.
Last updated 2026-11-03