Live Automation CLI and MCP tools for connections, SSH tunnels, config and workspace management

[Maxime-JULLIEN]

Hi Tabularis team,

First of all, thanks for the great work on Tabularis. The project is very interesting because it combines a desktop SQL workspace, local-first configuration, SSH tunneling, plugins, AI features and a built-in MCP server.

I would like to suggest an idea around live automation and remote control.

Problem

Today, Tabularis stores a lot of useful workspace metadata locally:

• application preferences
• database connection profiles
• SSH tunnel profiles
• Kubernetes tunnel configuration
• AI provider configuration
• plugin configuration
• keyboard shortcuts
• themes
• saved queries metadata

Some of these are stored in JSON files, while secrets are correctly stored in the operating system keychain.

For advanced users, teams, scripts and AI-agent workflows, manually editing local files is not ideal.

Proposal

Introduce a live automation layer for Tabularis, exposed through both:

• an official CLI
• MCP tools
• an internal command API

The goal would not only be to edit configuration files, but to control and update the current Tabularis workspace safely while the application is running.

CLI examples

Application configuration

tabularis config get
tabularis config get editor.fontSize
tabularis config set theme dark
tabularis config set editor.fontSize 14
tabularis config validate
tabularis config reload

Database connections

tabularis connection list
tabularis connection get prod-postgres

tabularis connection create prod-postgres \
  --driver postgres \
  --host db.company.com \
  --port 5432 \
  --database app \
  --user app_user

SSH tunnel profiles

tabularis ssh list
tabularis ssh get bastion-prod

tabularis ssh create bastion-prod \
  --host bastion.company.com \
  --port 22 \
  --user deploy \
  --key-file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Kubernetes tunnels

tabularis kube list
tabularis kube create prod-cluster --context company-prod

AI providers

tabularis ai provider set openrouter
tabularis ai model set qwen3-coder

Plugins

tabularis plugin install clickhouse
tabularis plugin update --all

Workspace import/export

tabularis workspace export team-standard.json --redact-secrets
tabularis workspace import team-standard.json

Security and credentials

Tabularis already follows a strong security model where secrets are stored in the operating system keychain rather than in plain JSON files.

tabularis secret set connection/prod-postgres/db
tabularis secret set ssh/bastion-prod/password
tabularis secret set ai/openrouter

MCP integration

Possible MCP tools:

get_config
set_config
reload_config
validate_config
list_connections
create_connection
update_connection
delete_connection
test_connection
list_ssh_profiles
create_ssh_profile
install_plugin
export_workspace
import_workspace

Enterprise and team use cases

• provision a complete developer workspace
• onboard new developers faster
• standardize SSH tunnel configuration
• configure AI providers consistently
• install required plugins automatically
• let AI agents configure Tabularis safely through MCP

tabularis workspace apply company-standard.json

Design considerations

• schema validation before applying changes
• atomic writes to avoid corrupting JSON files
• rollback on invalid changes
• live reload when possible
• no secret exposure in logs or exports
• support for dry-run mode
• audit log for MCP or CLI-initiated changes

Why this fits Tabularis

This seems aligned with Tabularis' direction:

• developer-first SQL workspace
• local-first configuration
• secure keychain-based credential management
• SSH and Kubernetes tunneling
• plugin-based extensibility
• AI and MCP integration
• roadmap interest around remote control

Thanks for considering the idea.

[debba]

Hi @Maxime-JULLIEN ,
Thanks for you feedbacks,and totally share the idea,

I had already started defining a CLI module, but unfortunately time has been against me and I haven't had the chance to finish it yet.
Your suggestions fit perfectly with what I had in mind in fact, they expand on it and add a lot of value.

Would you be interested in contributing to the implementation of this part?
You're also welcome to join us on Discord if you'd like: https://discord.com/invite/K2hmhfHRSt