narwhal

The agent-native database workbench for the terminal. A DBA toolkit, an MCP server, and a vim-mode SQL editor — in one static binary.

Install · Quick start · Why narwhal · Docs

narwhal is a terminal database client built around two things every other client misses:

1. DBA-grade tooling, not a toy REPL. Schema diff with dialect-aware DDL emit, append-only audit log, capability-gated plugin sandbox, streaming cancellable queries, ER diagrams, SSH tunnels, secret vault — the operational surface a real database day needs.
2. First-class agent integration. A built-in MCP server exposes your connections, schema, and query execution to Claude, Cursor, Zed, and any MCP-aware client. No proxy, no adapter — narwhal mcp and you're wired.

Six engines (Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, DuckDB, ClickHouse, SQL Server), three editor modes (vim / basic / emacs), one static binary.

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Nonanti/narwhal/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

Other channels — cargo install narwhaldb, Homebrew, AUR, Nix flake, prebuilt tarballs — are listed in docs/install.md.

narwhal                                    # launches the TUI

Inside:

1. :add — connection wizard, or :url postgres://user:pass@host/db
2. :open <name> — connect; the sidebar fills with schemas and tables
3. F6 — run the buffer; results stream into the lower pane
4. F1 — full keymap

Headless:

narwhal exec --conn prod 'SELECT count(*) FROM orders' --format json

narwhal embeds an MCP server over stdio. Run it once and your AI assistant can browse schema, sample data, and run queries against your saved connections — with the same read-only / per-connection guards the TUI uses.

narwhal mcp --read-only

Claude Desktop (~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "narwhal": {
      "command": "narwhal",
      "args": ["mcp", "--read-only"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor, Zed, Continue, Aider, and custom clients work the same way. Full setup: docs/mcp.md.

• Six engines, one TUI. Switch with :open, every driver speaks the same Connection trait — same streaming, same cancellation, same schema introspection.
• Three editor modes. vim (with motions, text objects, registers, marks, macros), basic (modeless), emacs — sharing one buffer.
• Full mouse. Click, drag-select, double / triple-click word and line, middle-click paste, right-click context menu.
• Schema tooling. ER diagrams in the terminal, :schema-diff between two connections with dialect-aware DDL emit (Postgres ↔ MySQL ↔ MSSQL ↔ generic).
• Plugins. Lua (trusted, fast) and WASM (sandboxed, capability-gated filesystem / network / clipboard) — the same surface used by the built-ins.
• Streaming, cancellable. Rows arrive incrementally; Ctrl-C cancels mid-run on every backend that supports it.
• Secrets. Vault, 1Password, OS keyring, ~/.pgpass — no plaintext-on-disk fallback.
• Audit log. Append-only JSONL with redaction rules, suitable as compliance evidence.
• Inline output. Charts, pivot tables, JSON viewer, row detail pane, exports to CSV / JSON / Markdown / Parquet.
• SSH tunnels. Single config block, no ~/.ssh/config plumbing required.

Issues and PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md. Commit messages follow Conventional Commits; the four CI checks (fmt, clippy -D warnings, doc -D warnings, test) must pass.

Dual-licensed under MIT and Apache 2.0, at your option.