pgDEV

pgDEV is an IDE for PostgreSQL, built around productivity, simplicity, and a smooth developer experience.

It integrates with the AI coding harness of your choice, bringing AI-assisted development directly into your PostgreSQL workflow.

1. Start

You need Node.js 24+ and a PostgreSQL server (14 or newer).

Install/upgrade with:

npm i @pankleks/pgdev@latest -g

pgdev

pgdev serves the API + UI on http://localhost:3010/ and opens your browser. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Click Not connected to setup first connection.

2. Connections

Parameters or a postgres://… connection string, with optional SSL. Connections persist per browser (auto-connect on load) and support ?connect=N deep links. The dialog manages the saved set — reuse, forget, or disconnect:

The badge shows the live connection as user@host:port/database.

3. Object browser

Section headers carry object counts; expansion survives reload; the refresh button re-reads the schema from the server.

• Tables — Columns (name, type, nullability), Indexes, Constraints (PK / FK / unique / check), Triggers.
• Views — columns. Functions — parameters plus return type, overloads listed separately. Sequences — increment, start, type, ownership. Types — composite/enum detail rows.
• Prefix grouping for related objects (Settings → Group objects).
• Right-click: Collapse on parents, Edit… on editable tables (section 8). Double-click opens DDL (section 5); double-clicking the empty tab strip opens a fresh query tab.

4. Search

One box filters every section; matching is case-insensitive with per-section counters (Tables 2/4) and highlighted hits:

• Spaces are OR (employee labor), + is AND (employee+labor), "quotes" are exact.
• A leading/trailing word scopes the kind: table, view, function (func, fn), column (col), parameter (param), type, sequence (seq) — e.g. fn count, col id. Parameter names match (p_emp finds its function); argument types never do (integer matches nothing).
• While filtering, sections force-open and group collapse goes inert; no hits reports No objects match "…".

5. DDL tabs

Double-click generates a script built to re-apply verbatim — full CREATE TABLE with columns, constraints, indexes and ownership:

Tables, plain views, sequences and functions open editable; materialized views open read-only as a preview.

6. Execution model

F5 / Ctrl+Enter runs the selection if there is one, else the tab. Completions are schema-driven (user objects plus built-ins once typed, never pg_-internals), with hover docs and signature help.

• Multi-statement batches run with per-statement result sets; typed column headers, COPY/CSV export, N row(s) footer. Failures land in Messages, never as a grid.
• Double-click a cell to inspect its raw value (pretty-printed for JSON/JSONB, with a character count) — the dialog's COPY button is the copy path, and a successful copy closes it.
• Large results page through a server cursor instead of loading everything.
• Statement timeout (configurable, applies to new connections) plus explicit cancellation bound runaway queries.
• Manual transactions can span runs with transaction-id pinning — a conflicting tab gets a 409 rather than joining the wrong transaction. Statements requiring autocommit (VACUUM, …) bypass the transaction path.
• Run stays disabled while disconnected, while a query is in flight, or in the read-only AI log tab.

7. Row editor

Edit pencils appear only when the result carries the table's primary key (SELECT label FROM … has none). The dialog locks the key, offers per-type editors with NULL checkboxes where allowed, and keeps SAVE disabled until the first change:

Invalid input (e.g. malformed JSON) is rejected client-side; server rejections (e.g. numeric overflow) arrive in-dialog with the PostgreSQL message — either way the dialog stays open and nothing is lost. A successful save runs a parameterized UPDATE … RETURNING and patches the grid from the returned row.

8. Table editor

Right-click → Edit… covers ordinary and partitioned-parent tables only (partitions inherit shape; foreign tables speak a different DDL):

Rename, retype (length/precision/scale), nullability, defaults, add/drop columns, table/column comments. Generate DDL emits only the changed ALTER clauses in apply-safe order (drops → renames → alters → adds → comments) for review. No-ops, locked/PK columns and stale fingerprints (409) are refused with an explanation.

9. Helpers

• Ctrl+Shift+F formats the selection, or the whole tab when nothing is selected.
• The sliders action builds a PREPARE / EXECUTE template from $N parameters; optional values ride along as a JSON array (e.g. [1, "text", null]).
• Tab sessions (open tabs, pinned files) restore across reloads.

10. Settings and AI agent (MCP)

Settings are per-browser: editor font size, statement timeout for new connections, object grouping by name prefix, and the AI row/size caps. Reset to defaults restores everything.

MCP access

pgDEV exposes an MCP server.

Read tools: query, get_schema (optional schema/table filters; relation lists truncate past 200 entries), get_ddl (type/schema/name, plus oid/parent to pin overloads and constraints), get_active_result (the active tab's grids capped like query, plus the last 100 Messages lines — so the agent sees the outcome, including errors, of scripts you ran; no database access happens here). Editor tools: get_active_query, set_active_query (replace/append/insert), open_query_tab, list_tabs, activate_tab, close_tab.