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Getting started

tablewalk is one command that serves a database browser on your own machine.

Terminal window
npx tablewalk ./data/app.db

It needs Node.js 24.22.1 or newer, and there is no build step. The server prints the address it listens on, http://localhost:4111 by default, bound to 127.0.0.1 so nothing beyond your machine can reach it.

You type What it opens
npx tablewalk Nothing yet: the page asks for a connection
npx tablewalk --demo A throwaway sample database in your temp directory, opened in a browser
npx tablewalk ./app.db A SQLite file (.db, .sqlite, .sqlite3, or sqlite:<path>)
npx tablewalk postgres://user@host:5432/db A PostgreSQL database (postgresql:// works too)
npx tablewalk --db "$DATABASE_URL" The same, as a flag; DATABASE_URL alone works when no config names connections
npx tablewalk --config team.json Every connection a config file lists

SQLite and PostgreSQL are the two databases tablewalk reads. MySQL and MariaDB are refused with a message that says so.

Add --open to have it open your browser, and --port <n> to listen somewhere other than 4111.

Run npx tablewalk alone and the page offers the sample database or a form to connect one. A connection added here is read-only. Only a config file can make one writable.

The welcome page: “Follow the data”, with buttons to open the sample database or connect one

Once a database is open, the home page reads the schema for you: the tables it centers on, the ones that record events, the longest chain of references, and a table to start at. Under that is a diagram of every table and foreign key. The sidebar lists every table with its row count, and the query bar at the top takes a question in one line.

The home page of the sample database: what the schema centers on, the sidebar of tables, and the query bar

From here:

  • Click a table to see its rows, then a row to see the record and everything related to it.
  • Press ⌘K to jump to any table, page or recent query.
  • Press ? for the query language, with examples that run against your own tables.
  • Choose Take the tour in the ··· menu for a short walk through the screen.
  • Browsing: tables, records, and walking between them.
  • Query language: filters, paths through foreign keys, counts and dates.
  • MCP: the same database for a coding agent.