plainDB

Connect to PostgreSQL

Applies to plainDB 2.1.10 on macOS and Windows.

Add a connection, choose PostgreSQL, and fill in the fields below. If you already have a connection string, paste it first: postgresql:// URLs and host=… dbname=… strings both fill the form.

Fields

Name
What the sidebar shows. Two connections may share a name; hovering shows the full details, so use folders and environments to keep them apart.
Folder
An optional group in the sidebar.
Environment
Local, Development, Integration, Staging or Production. Sets the colour that follows the connection through tabs and the status bar.
Host, Port
The server. Port defaults to 5432.
Database, User, Password
The database to open and the role to open it as. The password goes to the Keychain on macOS and to Windows' per-user protected storage on Windows.
SSL mode
disable never encrypts. prefer encrypts when the server offers it. require refuses an unencrypted connection. verify-full also checks the server's certificate against the root certificate you choose.
SSL root cert
The CA file for verify-full. Optional otherwise.
Read-only connection
When on, writes are refused for this connection. Recommended for anything called production.

Through an SSH tunnel

  1. Turn on the tunnel

    Switch on Connect through an SSH tunnel and enter the SSH host, its port (22 by default) and the SSH user.

  2. Choose how to authenticate

    Pick a private key file, with a passphrase if it has one, or a password. On macOS, keys already loaded in your ssh-agent are used when the agent is available.

  3. Point the database fields at the far side

    Host and port in the database section are resolved from the SSH host, so a database that listens on localhost:5432 on the server is entered exactly that way.

  4. Trust the host key once

    The first connection shows the SSH host key. Accept it and it is remembered.

If it does not connect

What you seeLikely causeWhat to do
Connection refused or a timeoutWrong host or port, a firewall, or a server that only listens locally.Check listen_addresses and the port on the server, or use an SSH tunnel.
Password authentication failedWrong password, or a role that is not allowed from your address in pg_hba.conf.Check the role and the server's authentication rules.
The server does not support SSLThe selected endpoint does not offer the TLS required by your connection settings.Confirm the endpoint and enable SSL on the server before sending credentials over an untrusted network.
Certificate verify failedThe certificate chain, hostname or validity period cannot be verified.Check the exact hostname, current CA file and certificate dates. Read the SSL mode guide.

For a Supabase project, use the Supabase guide instead: its hosts depend on the connection mode, and the app has a preset for them.