Glance

A fast, terminal-native, LLM-first database companion written in Rust.

Chat with your Postgres database using natural language.

Status

🚧 v0.1 Development — Core features implemented, testing in progress.

Features

• Natural language queries — Ask questions, get SQL + results
• Auto-execute reads — SELECT queries run automatically
• Confirm writes — Mutations require explicit approval
• Schema-aware — LLM knows your tables and relationships
• Fast — Rust-native, instant startup, minimal footprint

Installation

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.75+ (install)
• PostgreSQL 12+
• OpenAI or Anthropic API key

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/SFerenczy/glance.git
cd glance
cargo build --release

The binary will be at target/release/glance.

Quick Start

1. Set your LLM API key

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# or
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

2. Connect to your database

# Using connection string
glance "postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb"

# Using arguments
glance --host localhost --database mydb --user postgres --password

3. Ask questions

> How many orders were placed this week?

Glance generates SQL, executes it safely, and displays results.

Usage Examples

> Show me all users who signed up this month
> What's the average order value by customer?
> /sql SELECT COUNT(*) FROM orders WHERE status = 'pending'
> /schema
> /help

Configuration

Create ~/.config/db-glance/config.toml:

[llm]
provider = "openai"
model = "gpt-5"

[connections.default]
host = "localhost"
port = 5432
database = "mydb"
user = "postgres"

Then just run glance with no arguments.

Documentation

User Documentation

• Usage Guide — Complete user guide with examples
• Testing Guide — Manual test cases and verification

Developer Documentation

• Development Guide — Setting up your dev environment
• Architecture — Technical design
• Tech Stack — Crate selections
• Implementation Plan — Development phases

Project Documentation

• Vision — Product vision and positioning
• Roadmap — Feature milestones
• v0.1 Specification — Detailed requirements

Headless Mode

Glance supports headless mode for AI-assisted testing and automation. Run without a terminal UI, execute scripted events, and capture output for verification.

Basic Usage

# Run with inline events
glance --headless --mock-db --events "type:hello,key:enter"

# Run with script file
glance --headless --mock-db --script tests/tui/fixtures/basic_flow.txt

# JSON output for programmatic analysis
glance --headless --mock-db --events "type:test" --output json

# Frame-by-frame debugging
glance --headless --mock-db --events "type:a,type:b" --output frames

Event DSL

Event	Example	Description
key:	key:enter, key:ctrl+c	Key press with optional modifiers
type:	type:hello world	Type text into input
wait:	wait:100ms, wait:2s	Wait for duration
resize:	resize:120x40	Resize terminal
assert:contains:	assert:contains:hello	Assert screen contains text
assert:state:	assert:state:focus=Input	Assert application state

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success (all assertions passed)
1	Test failure (assertions failed)
2	Error (invalid syntax, etc.)

See v0.2e Specification for complete documentation.

Development

# Start test database
just db

# Run all tests
just test

# Run with test database
just dev

# Format and lint
just check

See Development Guide for full setup instructions.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Enter	Submit input
Ctrl+C/Q	Exit
Ctrl+L	Clear chat
Tab	Switch panel focus
↑/↓	Scroll / navigate
Esc	Cancel / close modal

License

MIT