Prisme

Prisme is a multi-database web client shaped like a SQL notebook: several sources, one view. It runs on your computer as a single executable and opens in your browser.

Prisme is at the start of its first version (v1). Today it queries MySQL and MariaDB, in read-only mode. PostgreSQL, SQLite, DuckDB and translation between SQL dialects come next.

The interface is currently in French. This guide quotes its labels as they appear on screen, with a translation, for example Exécuter (Run).

Quick start

1. Download the executable for your system from the latest release: Windows (.exe), Linux, or macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel). Nothing else to install.
2. Run it from a terminal. On Linux and macOS, first make it executable (see Installation).
3. Answer the two setup questions: listening port and your email address. Press Enter to keep the defaults (8484, me@local).
4. Open http://127.0.0.1:8484 in your browser.
5. Add a connection: in the left panel, open the ⋮ menu of Sources de données (Data sources), choose Ajouter une connexion (Add a connection), fill in host, port, user and password, click Tester (Test), then save.
6. Query: double-click the new source, type a query in the editor, press Ctrl+Enter.

Installation

Each release provides three files:

System	File
Windows (x86_64)	prisme-vX.Y.Z-windows-x86_64.exe
Linux (x86_64)	prisme-vX.Y.Z-linux-x86_64
macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel)	prisme-vX.Y.Z-macos-universal

The executable contains the whole application, interface included: no runtime, database or service to install.

The executables are not signed yet, so the system warns on first launch:

• Windows: SmartScreen shows a warning. Click More info, then Run anyway.

• Linux: make the file executable: chmod +x prisme-vX.Y.Z-linux-x86_64.

• macOS: make the file executable and lift the download quarantine, once:

  chmod +x prisme-vX.Y.Z-macos-universal
  xattr -d com.apple.quarantine prisme-vX.Y.Z-macos-universal
  ./prisme-vX.Y.Z-macos-universal
  

Starting Prisme

First launch

On first launch, Prisme asks two questions in the terminal:

Prisme setup. Press Enter to keep the value in brackets.
Listening port [8484]:
Email address [me@local]:

• Listening port: from 1 to 65535. A port already in use is rejected and asked again. Prisme only listens on 127.0.0.1, so no other computer can reach it.
• Email address: identifies you in Prisme. A malformed address is asked again.

The answers are saved, and later launches start without asking. To change them, run prisme --setup. Without an interactive terminal (script, service), the defaults apply.

Command-line options

prisme --help lists them.

Option	Use
--listen <address>	Listening address for this launch only, for example 127.0.0.1:9000. It must be local.
--data-dir <folder>	Data folder (see Your data).
--user-email <email>	User for this launch only, created if needed.
--setup	Asks the first-launch questions again and saves the answers.
-v, --version	Prints the version. Prisme also writes it on the first line of its log at each launch.

Options given on the command line replace the saved settings for that launch, without changing them.

Using Prisme

The screen has these areas:

• Top bar: the name and version of Prisme, the synchronisation state, the theme and the Options menu (see Top bar).
• Left panel: the object explorer, with your connections and their databases.
• Editor tabs: several SQL editors, each one on its own connection.
• SQL cell and results: the editor, its buttons, and one result tab per query.
• Data explorer, on the right when it is open: the JSON or XML values selected in the grid (see Result grid).

The version of Prisme shows under its name, at the top left.

Connections

Connections are managed from the explorer:

• Add: ⋮ menu of Sources de données (Data sources) → Ajouter une connexion (Add a connection). Tester (Test) tries the settings before saving.
• Edit, refresh, test, delete: ⋮ menu of each source. A blank password when editing keeps the current one. Deleting asks for confirmation.
• Session settings: the À la connexion (On connect) field runs queries each time a connection opens, separated by ;, for example SET NAMES utf8mb4; SET SESSION sql_mode = .... Only session settings are allowed.
• System databases (information_schema, mysql, performance_schema, sys) can be hidden per source.

Passwords are encrypted on disk and never sent back to the browser.

Object explorer

The tree shows, for each source:

• its databases, then their tables, views, procedures, functions and events (Événements folder; a disabled event is marked désactivé);
• for each table, its columns, indexes, foreign keys and triggers.

How it behaves:

• A click on a row opens or closes it.
• A double-click on a source makes it the connection of the active editor; on a database, makes it the current database (like USE); on a table or view, shows its content: its SELECT goes after the last query of the editor, without overwriting anything, and runs.
• The catalog loads progressively, and the selected connection opens by itself. Tout rafraîchir (Refresh all) in the root menu reloads the catalogs already read.
• The current database is in bold.
• While the tree scrolls, the source, the database and the table of the rows on screen stay pinned at the top; they open, close and act like the rows of the tree.

Columns show, on three aligned columns: a symbol, the name, then the type, nullability and AUTO_INCREMENT.

• A key marks the primary key, a hash marks foreign keys.
• Indexed columns are in bold. Indexes show PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE.
• Long labels are shortened (…); hover to read them in full.

Drag the right edge of the panel to resize it; double-click the edge to restore its default width.

Editors

The tab bar above the SQL cell holds several editors:

• + opens an editor on the connection of the active one.
• Double-click a tab to rename it. Drag it to move it.
• The cross (or a middle click) closes it. A closed editor can be reopened for 24 hours from the Rouvrir (Reopen) button, the clock icon.

Each editor has its own connection, its own session (and therefore its own transactions) and its own results. Everything is saved as you type: texts, editors, result tabs and rows. A page reload or a browser restart brings everything back.

Running queries

Action	Key	Button
Run the query under the cursor	Ctrl+Enter	Exécuter (Run)
Run every query of the editor, in parallel	Ctrl+Shift+Enter	Tout exécuter (Run all)
Run the queries touched by the selected text, in parallel	Ctrl+Shift+Enter, with text selected	Tout exécuter, with text selected
Stop every running query		Stopper (Stop)

• When the editor holds several queries, the one Ctrl+Enter would run is highlighted.
• Syntax errors are underlined in red as you type, with the message on hover.
• Row limit: when a query has no LIMIT, Prisme shows at most 1,000 rows (adjustable up to 50,000 with the list next to the buttons) and reports a truncated result. A query that has its own LIMIT runs as written.
• Read-only: only reads are allowed for now (SELECT, SHOW, DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN, USE). Writes are refused. On top of that, the Sessions en lecture seule (Read-only sessions) setting, on by default, makes the database itself refuse the writes (see Top bar).

Writing SQL

• Completion (Ctrl+Space, or while typing): databases, tables, views, functions and procedures of the current database, and columns after table. or alias.. Only names are suggested, never keywords.
• Tab moves to the next tab stop (every 4 spaces), or indents the selected lines. Shift+Tab unindents them.
• Enter starts a new line at the indentation of the current line.
• When the cursor leaves a line, the spaces at its end are removed, except inside a string or a quoted identifier that goes on to the next line.
• Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down scroll the editor by one line, without moving the cursor.
• To leave the editor with the keyboard: Esc then Tab, or Ctrl+M (Tab then moves the focus again).
• Enjoliver (Beautify) rewrites the query in a consistent style: keywords and function names in capitals, table and column names as written in the catalog, AS before aliases, one clause per line, spaces around operators. Stored procedures and DELIMITER blocks are supported. Ctrl+Z undoes it. The button is active once the connection's catalog is loaded.

Drag the bar under the editor to share the height between editor and results; double-click it to restore the default.

Result tabs

Each query gets its own tab:

• A dot shows its progress: grey while waiting its turn, blue and pulsing while running and receiving rows, green when done, red on failure.
• A progress bar on its bottom edge fills while rows arrive.
• Double-click the label to rename the tab. The pin keeps the tab when queries are run again. The cross (or a middle click) closes it and stops its query. Drag a tab to move it.
• The bar under the grid shows the number of rows, the execution time, the transfer time, the data received and the throughput.

Result grid

Action	How
Sort	⇅ button of a column header: ascending, descending, none
Filter	Filter button, left of the bar under the grid, on all columns or on one
Move a column	Drag its name
Resize a column	Drag the right edge of its header; double-click the edge to fit the longest value
Select	Click a cell, a row number or a column name; drag for a range; click the top-left corner for everything
Extend / add to the selection	Shift+click / Ctrl+click
Select all / clear	Ctrl+A / Esc
Copy	Ctrl+C
Explore JSON or XML values	Data explorer button, right of the bar under the grid

• Copy is a raw copy: values as they are, separated by tabs, with column names on the first line, ready to paste into a spreadsheet. NULL is copied as an empty cell. Control characters are written literally (\t, \n, \r, \0, \b, \f…, or \xHH), so each value stays in one cell.
• Display: the header shows each column's type (hover for the full name). Numbers and dates are right-aligned, CHAR columns use a monospaced font, web addresses are clickable, NULL is shown in small grey capitals.
• Data explorer: a panel on the right of the screen shows the values selected in a column of type JSON, or in a text column that holds JSON or XML: a cell, the whole column, or ranges of it. The values are indented with 4 spaces and highlighted; numbers and texts stay exactly as stored. Several values are gathered into one document: a […] array for JSON (NULL becomes null), a <data>…</data> element for XML (NULL is left out, <?xml?> declarations are removed). Each level folds with the arrows in the margin; the buttons fold or unfold everything, or every node at the depth of the cursor. The copy button, or Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C, copies valid JSON or XML, folded parts included. The panel follows the selection, and the grid of the active editor; drag its left edge to resize it (double-click to reset), the width is remembered.

Top bar

• Synchronisation: Prisme saves every change as you go. Synchronisé (Synced) means everything is saved, Synchronisation… (Syncing…) that a save is running, Échec de la synchronisation (Sync failed) that the last one was refused.
• Theme: the Système / Clair / Sombre (System / Light / Dark) list sets the theme of the whole interface. Système follows your computer's setting.
• Options menu (gear icon):
  • Paramètres (Settings): the default row limit, and the language of the interface (French only for now);
  • Profil (Profile): your last and first names, your email address (read-only), and Sessions en lecture seule (Read-only sessions), on by default: each query session asks the database to refuse its writes, on top of Prisme's own check.

Your data

Prisme keeps its data in a folder of your user account:

System	Default folder
Windows	%APPDATA%\Prisme
Linux	~/.local/share/Prisme

It holds two files that go together:

• prisme.db: the internal database (settings, connections, editors, results).

• prisme.key: the master key, created on first launch. It encrypts the passwords of your connections.

• Back up both files. Without the key, saved passwords cannot be read and must be typed again; everything else is kept.

• Protect the folder: whoever has both files can read the saved passwords. By default, only your user account can read it.

• Never edit prisme.key: Prisme refuses to start with an invalid key, and never overwrites it.

Developers

Building from source, tests, internal API, continuous integration and releases: see docs/DEVELOPER.md.

License

MIT, see LICENSE.