Getting Started

Introduction & Architecture

Sovereign desktop database studio engineered for SQLite, Postgres, MySQL, DuckDB, and Redis with zero telemetry.

What is CATable?

CATable is a high-performance, sovereign desktop database studio built from the ground up for modern software engineers, data analysts, and site reliability teams. Unlike traditional heavyweight, web-wrapped database GUIs that demand gigabytes of RAM and harvest user telemetry, CATable provides an instantaneous native desktop experience with absolute data sovereignty.

Core Architectural Pillars:

  • Multi-Engine Native Connectivity: Unified interface supporting transactional SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite), analytical OLAP (DuckDB), and high-speed in-memory caches (Redis).
  • Zero Telemetry & Local-First: Connection credentials, queries, and dataset buffers remain strictly on your local machine. Nothing ever leaves your workstation without your explicit end-to-end encrypted approval.
  • Blast-Radius Protection: Automated pre-flight dry-run analysis and SQL transaction shields that prevent accidental unindexed UPDATE, DELETE, or destructive DROP statements from impacting production.
  • Zero-Knowledge Cloud Sync: Optional E2EE synchronization powered by Argon2id and SQLCipher, allowing seamless profile sync across developer workstations without exposing plain credentials.
  • Embedded AI DBA Copilot: Local and BYOK-driven intelligent query generation, schema-aware indexing suggestions, and natural language translation.

Supported Engines Summary

Engine Category Key Capabilities
PostgreSQL Relational / OLTP JSONB querying, custom schemas, foreign keys, EXPLAIN ANALYZE visualizer
MySQL / MariaDB Relational / OLTP Full transaction isolation levels, InnoDB status, user privilege management
SQLite Embedded Relational WAL mode inspection, VACUUM maintenance, multi-attached databases
DuckDB Columnar / OLAP Direct Parquet/CSV querying, vector execution, fast local analytical queries
Redis In-Memory Key-Value Key scanning with cursor pagination, TTL management, hash/list/set inspector