PgDesigner

Visual PostgreSQL schema designer with git-friendly .pgd XML format, diff/ALTER engine, and 66 lint rules. Ships as a single binary — no cloud, no account, no telemetry.

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Why PgDesigner

Most schema design tools are either database-agnostic (losing PG-specific features) or store schemas in binary formats that break git workflows. PgDesigner is built exclusively for PostgreSQL and solves both problems:

• PG-specialized — full PostgreSQL 18 DDL: partitions, RLS, domains, triggers, GIN/GiST indexes, identity columns
• Git-friendly format — .pgd XML that diffs cleanly in pull requests, no binary blobs
• Diff/ALTER engine — compare two schema versions, generate migration SQL with hazard detection
• 66 lint rules — naming conventions, missing indexes, FK integrity, type checks — with autofix
• No cloud, no account — runs locally, your schemas stay on your machine

Features

Feature	Description
ERD Canvas	Interactive schema diagram for 120+ tables, auto-layout, dark/light theme
Table Editor	Columns, constraints, indexes, FK with inline editing
DDL Generation	Complete CREATE/ALTER SQL from schema model
Diff Engine	Semantic ALTER between two schemas with hazard warnings
Lint & Autofix	66 rules: naming, types, FK, indexes, constraints
Sample Data	Generate realistic INSERT statements from schema
Import	pgModeler (.pdd), DbSchema (.dbs), Toad (.dm2), plain SQL, live PostgreSQL
Reverse Engineering	Import from live PostgreSQL via pg_catalog
CLI	generate, lint, diff, convert, merge for CI/CD pipelines

Install

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew tap vmkteam/tap
brew install pgdesigner

Docker

docker run --rm -p 9990:9990 -v "$PWD":/data ghcr.io/vmkteam/pgdesigner /data/schema.pgd

Download

Pre-built binaries for macOS (arm64, amd64), Linux, and Windows are available on the Releases page.

Quick Start

# Open schema in browser
pgdesigner schema.pgd

# Reverse-engineer from PostgreSQL
pgdesigner "postgres://user@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=disable"

# Generate DDL
pgdesigner generate schema.pgd > schema.sql

# Lint
pgdesigner lint schema.pgd

# Diff two schemas
pgdesigner diff old.pgd new.pgd

# Convert from other formats
pgdesigner convert schema.pdd -o schema.pgd

Demo

Try PgDesigner without installing — demo.pgdesigner.io runs a read-only instance with the Chinook sample database.

PGD Format

Git-friendly XML for PostgreSQL schemas. Covers tables, columns, indexes, FK, constraints, views, functions, triggers, sequences, enums, domains, composites, ranges, partitions, policies, roles, grants, comments, and diagram layouts.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<pgd version="1" pg-version="18" default-schema="public">
  <schema name="public">
    <table name="users">
      <column name="id" type="bigint" nullable="false">
        <identity generated="always"></identity>
      </column>
      <column name="email" type="varchar" length="255" nullable="false"></column>
      <pk name="pk_users">
        <column name="id"></column>
      </pk>
    </table>
  </schema>
</pgd>

Full spec: docs/pgd-format/spec.md | Coverage matrix: docs/pgd-spec-coverage.md

Architecture

• Backend: Go — zenrpc JSON-RPC over HTTP
• Frontend: Vue 3.5 + Reka UI + Tailwind CSS + Vue Flow
• Format: .pgd XML — git-friendly, no binary blobs
• No CGO — SQL parsing via WebAssembly (wasilibs/go-pgquery)

Development

make dev-backend     # Go server on :9990
make dev-frontend    # Vite on :5173
make test            # all tests
make build-full      # pnpm build + go build
make generate        # zenrpc codegen
make ts-client       # rpcgen -> TypeScript client

Test Databases

Round-trip tested on 6 databases (SQL -> PGD -> DDL -> PostgreSQL -> pg_dump -> PGD -> diff = zero):

Database	Tables	FK	Source
Chinook	11	11	lerocha/chinook-database
Northwind	14	13	pthom/northwind_psql
Pagila	15	18	devrimgunduz/pagila
Airlines	8	8	Postgres Pro Demo
AdventureWorks	68	89	lorint/AdventureWorks-for-Postgres
Synthetic	8	9	Custom (domains, GIN/GiST, triggers, RLS)

License

PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 — free for non-commercial use.

For commercial use, see pricing or LICENSE-COMMERCIAL.md.