NexQLv2.4.0
v2.4.0 · NexQL Bot and smarter MCP setup

Postgres never leaves your editor.

Explorer, SQL notebooks, a live dashboard and an AI assistant that reads your schema, in the VS Code window you already have open. No second app, no second window.

Install from MarketplaceOpen the playground
# VS Code: Ctrl+P, then paste
ext install ric-v.postgres-explorer
Stop 01 of 05 · Connect
Stop 01Connect1 min

Know which database you’re on.

Add a connection in the sidebar, give it a name and an environment, and go. The status bar always shows where you are.

  • Label each connection DEV, STAGE or PROD
  • SSH tunnels and SSL, set per connection
  • Works with Neon, Supabase, AWS RDS and other managed Postgres
  • Passwords stay in VS Code secret storage

New connection

Hostdb.example.com
Port5432
Usernameapp_user
Password••••••••
Environment
SSH tunnelSSLRead-only
Stop 02Explore1 min

Browse the schema, query in notebooks.

A tree explorer for the catalog, and native .pgsql notebooks for the queries. Each cell keeps its own results.

  • Transactions that persist across cells, and CodeLens actions on every query
  • Sliding-window streaming for huge SELECTs
  • Column stats, transpose, filters and in-grid edits
  • Export CSV, JSON or Excel from the original SQL
The NexQL explorer tree beside a .pgsql notebook in VS Code, running ANALYZE on a table and showing the guidance cell.
Tree explorer and notebook, side by side.
Stop 03Ask2 min

Ask in English, get SQL you can read.

NexQL Bot reads your live catalog before it writes anything, and shows which objects it looked at. The SQL lands in a notebook cell. Nothing runs until you press play.

  • Free tier with no key and no account
  • Drag tables, columns and notebooks in as @mentions
  • Explain and fix a failing query from its error cell

Pick a question

SQL Assistantnexql-free · smart

Cell 1 · pgsqlwriting…
Safe by default. Generated SQL lands in a notebook cell. Auto-LIMIT caps runaway SELECTs, and writes against a prod-tagged connection need explicit confirmation.
Bring your own model, or don’t
NexQL Free AI is the default: no key, no account. Or add your own. Each key is kept in OS-encrypted storage.
  • NexQL Free AI
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Gemini
  • GitHub Models
  • VS Code LM
  • Ollama
  • LM Studio
  • Custom endpoint
Good first questions
  • top customers by revenue this quarter
  • which indexes are we paying for and not using?
  • why did checkout get slow after the last deploy?
  • what is blocking my migration right now?
  • explain this error and fix the query
Stop 04Watch1 min
See what the database is doing.
A live dashboard inside VS Code. Activity, locks, WAL and checkpointer stats, bloat, autovacuum progress and unused indexes, refreshed in place.
  • Cancel or kill blocking queries inline
  • Unused indexes ranked by severity
  • Degradation alerts against a tracked baseline
  • Ask AI about any metric without leaving the panel
The NexQL live dashboard in VS Code: activity charts, idle-in-transaction sessions and a session list with Explain, Cancel and Kill buttons.
Activity tab: sessions with Explain, Cancel and Kill.
Stop 05Guard1 min
Production writes get a second look.
Tag a connection prod and NexQL tints the editor, badges the status bar and scores every statement before it runs.
The editor knows it’s prod
Tag a connection prod, staging or dev. NexQL tints the chrome and badges the status bar, so you can’t mistake one for another.
status bar: ● PRODUCTION
Every statement is scored
DELETE without WHERE, TRUNCATE and DROP open a scored dialog with Execute, Transaction or Cancel. On prod connections the score is multiplied.
DELETE without WHERE → high risk
Prod writes ask first
A write against a prod connection needs an explicit confirmation. Nothing from the assistant runs on its own either.
Confirm: UPDATE on PROD?
Read-only when you say so
Turn on read-only for a connection and writes are blocked. SELECTs still get an automatic LIMIT, configurable per workspace.
auto-LIMIT 1000
You’ve arrived.
That’s a day with NexQL. Want to click around first?
Open the playgroundSee all features →
PlaygroundNo install
Try the workspace before you install it.
This is the NexQL workbench running on sample data: the explorer, a notebook, the SQL assistant and the status bar. It never connects to a real database. Pick any of the 39 editor themes from the bar above the window.
Prefer your own palette? Browse all 39 themes ↗
MCP server
Hand your database to any agent, read-only.
NexQL bundles the nexql-mcp server and registers it in VS Code over stdio. There are no URLs, ports or tokens to paste: your connections just show up.
  • GitHub Copilot
  • Cursor
  • Claude Desktop
  • Codex
  • Antigravity
  • Any MCP client
Full tour and every toolTool reference
55 tools · stdio · changes off by default
  • Reads the schema before it writes SQL
    Agents search a live, indexed copy of your catalog and follow foreign keys, so they stop guessing table names.
    orientsearch_schemadescribe_objectget_join_path
  • Read-only by default
    Every query runs in a read-only transaction. Statements that change data are refused unless you switch changes on.
    run_selectexplain_queryexport_query
  • Finds what is slowing the database
    Blocking locks, the slowest statements, unused indexes and a one-call health check, without opening a dashboard.
    find_blocking_locksslow_queriessuggest_indexesdb_health_check
  • Reviews a change before it runs
    Diff two schemas, draft the migration, and check the DDL for dangerous locks. Nothing is applied by the review.
    schema_diffgenerate_migrationcheck_ddl_safety
If it speaks the Postgres wire protocol, it works.
Tested against PostgreSQL 12–17 every release, with version-gated fallbacks for managed platforms.
Compare
You already have the window open.
How NexQL in VS Code stacks up against the desktop clients you may be using today.
NexQL compared with pgAdmin, DBeaver and TablePlus
CapabilityNexQLpgAdminDBeaverTablePlus
Lives in VS CodeNativeNoNoNo
SQL notebooksInteractive .pgsqlNoNoNo
AI assistantBuilt in, schema-groundedNoNoNo
MCP server for agentsBundled binaryNoNoNo
Real-time dashboardYesYesLimitedLimited
In-grid editingYes, explicit commitYesYesYes
Export formatsCSV, JSON, ExcelCSV, JSONCSV, JSON, ExcelCSV, JSON, SQL
Foreign data wrappersFull managementYesLimitedNo
LicenseMIT corePostgreSQLApache 2.0Proprietary
Pricing
Free is genuinely free.
Import, backup, indexing, notebooks and the AI assistant are unlimited on every tier. Subscriptions fund the work and lift the AI token ceiling.
Free
$0 forever
Everything you need to run a database from your editor.
Install from Marketplace
  • Explorer, notebooks, saved queries, history
  • Unlimited AI assistant and agentic mode
  • Import, backup/restore, database indexing
  • Smart AI tier, about 600K tokens/month
  • MCP server and live dashboard
Sponsor
$2/month
For the developer who lives in NexQL and wants the sharper model.
  • Everything in Free
  • Engineer model, about 3M tokens/month
  • Unlimited saved queries and notebooks
  • Unlimited Schema Diff, ERD and Plan Studio
  • Directly funds weekly releases
Singularity
$9/month
One flat licence covering a team of up to five developers.
  • Everything in Sponsor
  • Architect model, about 10M tokens/month
  • Up to 5 developers on one subscription
  • Cloud sync, workspace sharing, invites
  • Device-limit management
Paid checkout is temporarily unavailable. Free is not affected.
After checkout you get a license key. Click Activate in VS Code, or run NexQL: Activate License from the command palette. Already subscribed?Manage or cancel your subscription.
By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Service andPrivacy Policy.
Open core
MIT, and shipping weekly.
The core builds a fully working free extension that anyone may fork, rebrand and publish. Stable releases ship from version tags. A nightly pre-release publishes on every merge to main.
Read the sourceAlso on Open VSX
Latest releasesFull changelog
  1. v2.5.0nightly
    Nightly channel for v2.4.0
    Pre-release build carrying the v2.4.0 feature set — NexQL Bot rebrand, MCP install/update UX, agentic step limits, and notebook context fixes.
  2. v2.4.0stable
    NexQL Bot and smarter MCP setup
    SQL Assistant is now NexQL Bot. MCP gets one-click install, update checks, and tool profiles in Preferences. Agentic step limits, scratch-notebook fixes, and packaged-build dependency corrections round out the release.
  3. v2.2.3stable
    MCP server moves to stdio
    VS Code now spawns the bundled nexql-mcp binary directly. Ephemeral profiles emit TLS settings for Neon, Supabase and RDS; SSH-tunnelled connections are named rather than failing opaquely.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Do I need an API key to use the AI features?
No. NexQL Free AI autoloads as the default provider — no key, no account, no configuration. If you would rather use your own, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, GitHub Models, VS Code LM, Ollama, LM Studio and custom endpoints are all supported, each with its key stored separately in the OS keychain.
Will it ever run a query without asking me?
No. The execution model is notebook-first: the assistant writes SQL into a cell and stops. You review it and press run. Risky statements against a Production-tagged connection require an extra confirmation on top of that.
Is it actually open source?
The core is MIT and builds a fully working free extension you may fork, rebrand and publish under your own ID. The Marketplace build adds proprietary premium features on top of that core.
Does it work with Neon and Supabase?
Yes — anything speaking the PostgreSQL wire protocol. Use the direct (non-pooler) endpoint on Neon, and direct or the session pooler on port 5432 for Supabase; transaction-mode poolers break cross-cell transactions, LISTEN/NOTIFY and temp tables.
How are my credentials stored?
Through VS Code SecretStorage, which is encrypted by the OS keychain — Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, libsecret on Linux. Nothing is written in plain text, and .pgpass files are supported.
What does telemetry collect?
No SQL text, schema or object names, hostnames, database names, usernames or credentials. Payloads are allowlisted and bucketed, VS Code global telemetry is a hard gate, and the mode can be set to off.
Your database is one keystroke away.
Install, add a connection, open a notebook. That is the whole setup.
Install from Marketplace
# VS Code: Ctrl+P, then paste
ext install ric-v.postgres-explorer
Also on Open VSX. Pair it withNexQL themes.