Notebooks, dashboards, schema design, and AI — inside VS Code, never beside it.
Formerly PgStudio.
Docs · MCP docs · Themes preview · Issues · [email protected]
nexql=# SELECT mission FROM org; mission -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Give developers a complete Postgres workflow without ever leaving the editor — fast to reach for, safe against production, and honest about what a query will do before it runs. (1 row)
nexql=# SELECT id, objective, why FROM objectives ORDER BY id; id | objective | why ----+----------------------+------------------------------------------------------------ 1 | Editor-native | Context switching to a separate GUI costs more than the | | query itself. The database belongs in the same window. 2 | Safe by default | Prod is one dropdown away from dev. Tag it, gate it, warn | | before the statement, not after the incident. 3 | AI with real context | Schema-aware assistance beats generic SQL autocomplete. | | The model should see your tables, not guess them. 4 | Open core | The client is MIT and stays MIT. Premium is additive, | | never a paywall across what already worked. (4 rows)
nexql=# \d principles| Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Vibrancy in the dark | Near-black and warm-paper foundations with high-contrast syntax. Low eye strain without going gray and lifeless. |
| Fluid integration | SQL, data, and application code share one editor and one visual system — no seams between the tools. |
| Energy and flow | A cool → warm gradient mirrors scan rhythm: structure first, data last. Color guides the eye without shouting. |
| Developer-first precision | Built for real coding nuance — keywords, types, results, errors. Every hue and every affordance earns its place. |
| Destructive is explicit | Read-only modes, auto-LIMIT, risk scoring, commit confirmation. Nothing irreversible happens by accident. |
| Quiet by default | Chrome stays calm; signal stays loud. One reserved accent for "something is wrong." |
nexql=# \dt List of relations Name | Type | Access | License ---------------+-----------+---------+----------- core | extension | public | MIT vsc-themes | themes | public | MIT website | website | public | — .github | meta | public | Apache-2.0 mcp | server | public | GPL-3.0-only pro | addon | private | proprietary backend | api | private | proprietary (7 rows)
| Repo | What it is |
|---|---|
| core | The VS Code extension — explorer, SQL notebooks, dashboard, table designer, safety layer. MIT. Install ↗ |
| vsc-themes | 39 scenario-anchored color themes — dark, light, OLED, Postgres homage, Sentinel prod/staging/dev. MIT. Install ↗ · Preview ↗ |
| website | The public site and docs behind nexql.astrx.dev. |
| .github | This profile and org-wide health files. |
| mcp | Standalone Postgres MCP server (Rust) — schema-aware, read-only by default, installable in Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Zed, and other MCP clients. GPL-3.0-only from v0.2.0 (v0.1.6 and earlier were Apache-2.0). Docs ↗ |
pro private |
Premium add-on — AI chat, in-process MCP server, Plan Studio, backup/restore, schema designer. Builds only against a core checkout. |
backend private |
License, payment, and cloud-sync API. |
flowchart LR
subgraph editor["VS Code / Open VSX"]
core["core<br/><i>MIT extension</i>"]
themes["vsc-themes<br/><i>39 themes</i>"]
end
pro["pro<br/><i>private add-on</i>"]
mcp["mcp<br/><i>public · GPL-3.0-only</i>"]
backend["backend<br/><i>license · payment · sync</i>"]
site["website<br/><i>nexql.astrx.dev</i>"]
pg[("PostgreSQL<br/>Neon · Supabase · Timescale · Yugabyte")]
agents["MCP clients<br/><i>Copilot · Cursor · Claude</i>"]
core -->|"direct connection"| pg
pro -.->|"bundled at build as @nexql/pro"| core
core -->|"spawns bundled binary (stdio)"| mcp
mcp -->|"read-only tools"| agents
core -->|"license check"| backend
site -->|"checkout"| backend
themes -.->|"shared design language"| core
Core ships standalone and stays fully usable on its own. Pro is compiled in only for premium
builds — the free VSIX is CI-verified to contain no premium code. mcp is a separate, independently
licensed repo (GPL-3.0-only) — core invokes its binary as a subprocess, keeping the programs separate.
⚡ SQL notebooks · 📊 live dashboard · 🌳 database explorer · 🏗️ visual table designer · 🛡️ query safety analyzer · 🤖 schema-aware AI · 🔌 MCP server
Query & notebooks
- Interactive SQL notebooks with per-cell connections and AI assistance
- Notebook manager with searchable picker and metadata context
- Saved queries — tag-based organization, connection restore, edit & reuse
- EXPLAIN CodeLens — one-click plan analysis inline
- Advanced result grid — column stats, transpose view, filtering, sliding-window streaming for large
SELECTs, configurablebyteadisplay, in-grid editing with explicit commit confirmation - Historical query performance tracking with degradation alerts
Explore & design
- Tree explorer for tables, views, functions, types, and foreign data wrappers
- Visual table designer — create and edit tables through a full GUI
- Index & constraint manager
- Definition viewer with toggleable SQL preview, copy/edit workflows, routine scaffolding
- Object operations — CRUD, scripts,
VACUUM/ANALYZE/REINDEX, plus triggers, sequences, domains, rules, partitions, publications, event triggers, tablespaces, aggregates - Table intelligence — profile, size, activity monitor, index usage, bloat detection
- Schema intelligence — schema search, index advisor, migration generator
Safety
- Environment tagging — 🔴 PROD · 🟡 STAGING · 🟢 DEV, with status-bar risk indicators
- Read-only mode enforcement per connection
- Query safety analyzer with risk scoring before execution
- Auto-LIMIT on
SELECT(configurable, default 1000 rows) - Credentials stored in VS Code SecretStorage — never in plaintext settings
AI & MCP
- Zero-config NexQL Free AI (Smart / Engineer / Architect tiers), plus GitHub Models, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and VS Code LM
- Generate, optimize, explain, and analyze with guided follow-ups
- Drag tables, columns, functions, notebooks, or saved queries into the assistant as
@mentions - Vision AI — paste or upload images to vision-capable providers
- SQL Assistant in editor tabs, multiple assistant tabs at once
- MCP server — expose your database as read-only tools to Copilot, Cursor, Claude Desktop, and other MCP agents
Data movement
- Export results to CSV, JSON, or Excel
- Smart Paste — context-aware clipboard actions for SQL, CSV, and JSON
- Foreign data wrappers — manage foreign servers, user mappings, and foreign tables
- Works with PostgreSQL and Postgres-compatible engines: Neon, Supabase, TimescaleDB, YugabyteDB
nexql=# \i install.sql ext install ric-v.postgres-explorer -- the extension ext install ric-v.nexql-themes -- the themes
Or open the Extensions panel and search NexQL. Then run NexQL: Add Connection and point it at
a database — the explorer, notebooks, and dashboard are available immediately.
Documentation · MCP docs · Theme gallery · Report an issue · [email protected]
core and vsc-themes are MIT. mcp is GPL-3.0-only. pro and backend are proprietary.
Maintained by Richie Varghese.
Built for people who want power, elegance, and speed — all inside the editor.
nexql=# \q