Burrow DB Client (VS Code)

A 100% free database connection manager for VS Code.

Add MySQL/MariaDB connections, browse every schema and table in a connection, and run SQL with the results in a dedicated panel — all inside the editor. No artificial connection limits and no paid tier.

Why

Existing extensions either force a single database per connection (so a multi-schema server needs one connection per schema) or cap the number of free connections. A connection is a row in your own editor storage and a socket to your own server — there is nothing to meter. This extension treats a connection as the whole server, the way a PHPStorm/DBeaver data source does.

Features

• Connection manager panel. A connection list plus an add/edit form with a Test Connection button. Credentials are stored in the OS keychain via VS Code SecretStorage — never in settings.json.
• Whole-server browsing. Leave the default schema blank and one connection lists every schema → table → column. Cross-schema JOINs work.
• Monaco SQL editor + results panel. The syntax-highlighted SQL editor opens in the editor area (one per connection); run with Ctrl/Cmd+Enter. Results render in a SQL Results tab in the bottom panel, next to Terminal / Ports — the last query wins the shared panel. The grid is sortable and resizable, and results export to CSV / JSON (preview, copy, or save).
• Run a selection or a batch. Ctrl/Cmd+Enter runs the selected text if there is a selection, otherwise the whole editor. Multiple ;-separated statements run sequentially and stop on the first error (reporting which statement failed); a batch shows an execution summary rather than a grid, so it's ideal for DDL/DML scripts.
• Table preview. Click a table in the tree to preview its rows.
• SSH tunnelling. Connect through a bastion / jump host: toggle Connect through an SSH tunnel and supply the SSH host/user + a private-key file (path) and optional passphrase. The MySQL host/port are then interpreted as seen from the SSH host. The key stays on disk (only its path is stored); the passphrase goes in SecretStorage.
• SSL / TLS. Choose a TLS mode per connection: Require (encrypt without verifying the certificate — matches the automatic TLS other clients use, and is the fix for servers like Amazon RDS that mandate secure transport) or Verify CA (verify against a CA bundle referenced by path).

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90.0 or newer.
• A reachable MySQL or MariaDB server (directly, or via an SSH host).

Usage

1. Open the Burrow DB Client view in the Activity Bar.
2. Click ＋ (Add Connection) or the gear (Manage Connections) to open the manager panel. Fill in host, port, user, and password; leave Default schema blank to browse the whole server. Click Test Connection to verify, then Save.
   • To connect through a jump host, enable Connect through an SSH tunnel and provide the SSH host/user, private-key path, and passphrase (if any).
3. Expand the connection in the tree to browse schemas → tables → columns, or click a table to preview its rows.
4. Use Open SQL Console on a connection (or a schema) to open the editor, write SQL, and run it with Ctrl/Cmd+Enter. If you select text, only the selection runs; several ;-separated statements run as a batch (stopping on the first error). Results appear in the SQL Results panel. You can also run the active .sql file / selection via the Run Active SQL File / Selection command.

Commands

Command	Description
Burrow DB Client: Add Connection	Open the manager to create a new connection.
Burrow DB Client: Manage Connections	Open the connection manager panel.
Burrow DB Client: Edit Connection	Edit the selected connection.
Burrow DB Client: Delete Connection	Delete the selected connection.
Burrow DB Client: Refresh	Reload the connection tree.
Burrow DB Client: Open SQL Console	Open a SQL editor bound to a connection (or schema).
Burrow DB Client: Run Active SQL File / Selection	Run the active .sql editor (or selection) against a connection.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
burrowDbClient.queryRowLimit	500	LIMIT applied when previewing a table from the tree (0 disables).
burrowDbClient.connectTimeout	10000	Connection / SSH handshake timeout in ms.

Security model

All database and SSH access runs on the extension host (Node), using mysql2 and ssh2. The webviews (SQL editor and results grid) are sandboxed: they render UI and send "run this SQL" messages, but never see credentials or a live connection — only serialisable result rows. Connection passwords and SSH key passphrases live in SecretStorage; SSH private keys are referenced by path and never copied into extension storage.

Feedback & contributing

Burrow DB Client is free and actively developed, and your feedback genuinely shapes it — especially in these early releases. If something is broken, confusing, or missing, please say so:

• 🐛 Report a bug or 💡 request a feature on the issue tracker. A good bug report includes: what you did, what you expected, what happened, your VS Code version, and the MySQL/MariaDB server version (and whether you were connecting over SSH).
• ⭐ Rate & review on the Marketplace if it's useful to you — it helps other developers find it.
• 🔧 Pull requests welcome. The repo is on GitHub; open an issue first for anything substantial so we can agree the approach.

Please don't include real credentials, connection strings, or private keys in an issue — redact hosts and secrets before pasting logs or screenshots.

Roadmap

Planned: query history, row editing, and ER diagrams.

License

MIT