A lightweight, local-first PostgreSQL web client.
Single binary. Zero cloud. Zero JS frameworks. Your data stays on your machine.
Browse tables with inline editing, sorting, filtering, and column resizing
SQL editor with syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and multi-tab support
ER diagram with foreign key lines, zoom, and pan
Every PostgreSQL GUI is either bloated, expensive, or drags in a JVM. Lux compiles to a 3.4 MB binary that serves a full web UI from memory — no Electron, no Python, no npm. Build it once, copy it anywhere, run it.
Your data never leaves your machine. No cloud, no telemetry, no accounts,
no license checks. Lux binds to 127.0.0.1 and talks directly to your
PostgreSQL server.
./lux
# Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 and connect from the UI| Lux | pgAdmin | DBeaver | TablePlus | Beekeeper Studio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binary size | 3.4 MB | ~200 MB | ~115 MB | ~90 MB | ~160 MB |
| Price | Free (MIT) | Free | Free / $12/mo | $89 | Free / $7/mo |
| Runtime deps | libpq only | Python, JS | JVM | None | Electron |
| Startup | Instant | Seconds | Seconds | Fast | Seconds |
| Privacy | Fully local | Local | Telemetry | License check | Telemetry |
| ER diagrams | Built-in | Plugin | Built-in | No | Paid |
| Self-contained | Single binary | Multi-process | Multi-process | App bundle | App bundle |
- Table browser — pagination, sorting, inline cell editing, column resizing, multi-row select (Shift/Ctrl+Click), bulk operations
- SQL editor — syntax highlighting, autocomplete (tables, columns, keywords, functions), Ctrl+Enter execution, EXPLAIN ANALYZE, preview mode, multi-statement scripts, multiple tabs, formatting
- Schema tree — tables, views, columns with types, primary keys, foreign keys, enums, nullability
- ER diagram — canvas-based entity relationship view with FK lines, zoom, pan, hover highlight
- Change journal — every write is logged with one-click undo
- Row operations — insert form (respects defaults, NOT NULL, FKs), delete with confirmation, truncate table
- Bulk find & replace — across column values with preview
- Foreign key lookup — autocomplete dropdown when editing FK columns
- SQL safety — warns on UPDATE/DELETE without WHERE, preview wraps in BEGIN/ROLLBACK, read-only mode blocks all writes (whitelist-based)
- Export / import — CSV (RFC 4180) and JSON per table or SQL result, CSV import with header validation
- Command palette — Ctrl+K quick switcher for tables, columns, actions
- Connection manager — save, color-code, and switch between databases
- Dark + light theme — Tokyo Night color scheme, respects
prefers-color-scheme - Table creation — CREATE TABLE modal with column types, PK, NOT NULL
- Context menu — right-click cells for copy, edit, NULL, delete, filter, detail
- DDL viewer — view and copy CREATE TABLE statements
- Query history — browse past queries with timing and row counts
- Keyboard-driven — 17 shortcuts, arrow key navigation, Tab/Enter editing
- Accessible — ARIA landmarks, focus traps,
prefers-reduced-motion, WCAG AA contrast - Zero dependencies — no JS frameworks, no CSS libraries, no CDN, no npm
Nothing to install except Docker.
docker build -t lux .
docker run -p 8080:8080 luxScratch-based image (~7 MB), runs as nobody. Connect to your database from
the UI, or pass --pg to auto-connect:
docker run -p 8080:8080 lux --pg "postgresql://user:pass@host.docker.internal/mydb"Prerequisites: Zig 0.13+ and libpq.
| Platform | Install libpq |
|---|---|
| Debian/Ubuntu | sudo apt install libpq-dev |
| Fedora/RHEL | sudo dnf install libpq-devel |
| Arch | sudo pacman -S postgresql-libs |
| macOS (Homebrew) | brew install libpq |
| Windows | Install PostgreSQL (includes libpq) |
git clone https://github.com/berkemuftuoglu/lux.git
cd lux
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
./zig-out/bin/luxThe binary has no runtime dependencies beyond libpq — copy it anywhere and run it. Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 and enter your connection string in the UI.
./lux # start and connect from the UI
./lux --pg "postgresql://..." # auto-connect on startup
./lux -p 3000 # custom port (default: 8080)
./lux -b 0.0.0.0 # bind to all interfaces (default: 127.0.0.1)Any valid PostgreSQL connection string works — local, remote, or cloud (RDS, Supabase, Neon, etc.).
src/
├── main.zig CLI entry point, arg parsing
├── web.zig HTTP server, REST API, 329 tests
├── postgres.zig libpq connector, schema discovery
└── static/
├── index.html UI shell, modals, semantic HTML
├── app.js Client logic, all interactions
└── styles.css Dark + light themes, responsive
6 files, ~13K lines. Everything is embedded into the binary via @embedFile —
no external assets at runtime. The HTTP server is hand-written in Zig with zero
library dependencies.
- Binds to
127.0.0.1by default — no network exposure unless you use--bind - CSRF protection via Origin header checks
- Content-Security-Policy headers on all HTML responses
- SQL identifier escaping prevents injection
- Read-only mode uses a whitelist (not a blacklist)
- Saved connections stored with
0600permissions
See SECURITY.md for the full security policy.
Connection strings are never stored on disk unless you explicitly save them via the connection manager. Saved connections go to:
| Platform | Path |
|---|---|
| Linux | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lux/connections.json or ~/.config/lux/connections.json |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/lux/connections.json |
| Windows | %APPDATA%\lux\connections.json |
The change journal is in-memory — it resets when the server restarts. It's a safety net for the current session, not a persistent audit log.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and code style.
git clone https://github.com/berkemuftuoglu/lux.git
cd lux
zig build test
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe Both build gates must pass before any change is considered done.
MIT — see LICENSE.
