Pharos
Table of contents
Overview
Pharos is a native macOS PostgreSQL client built with Swift and Rust. It provides a fast, focused environment for exploring databases, writing SQL, and analyzing query results — all within a native AppKit interface that feels at home on macOS.
Features
Connect and Explore
- Getting Started — Install Pharos and run your first query
- Connections — Manage PostgreSQL connections with SSL support and per-tab connection switching
- Schema Browser — Navigate schemas, tables, views, partitions, and columns with type icons and row counts
Write SQL
- Query Editor — Each tab a stack of query cards, one statement per card, with versions, syntax highlighting, auto-completion, code folding, and SQL file support
- Query Variables — Parameterize queries with `` and typed values
- Query Execution — Run one card or all of them, on one database connection per tab, so
SET, temporary tables and transactions carry from card to card
Analyze Results
- Results Grid — Each card’s results, with type-aware sorting, cell selection, and find
- Column Filters — Excel-style value pickers with counts, plus operator-based filters
- Charts — Visualize results as bar, line, area, pie, scatter, gantt, or heatmap charts, with server-side aggregation and drill-down
- Inspector — Row detail and instant aggregate statistics for any selection
- Data Export — Copy and export in TSV, CSV, JSON, Markdown, SQL, and Excel formats
Organize Your Work
- Saved Sessions — Save a whole tab with its query results, in folders, and open it again with its rows or as a template
- History & Workspaces — Every session recorded as a restorable workspace with cached results
- Table Operations — View DDL, clone tables, import CSV, and export table contents
- Settings — Appearance, editor, and query behavior preferences
- Keyboard Shortcuts — Complete shortcut reference
Pharos reopens the editor tabs you had open when you last quit, so a session picks up where it left off, and the window enters full screen from View > Enter Full Screen.
Architecture
Pharos combines a Swift frontend with a Rust core library. The interface is built entirely with AppKit (plus Swift Charts for visualization), providing native macOS controls, sheets, and system appearance support. The Rust core (pharos-core) handles PostgreSQL connections, query execution, and data processing via a C FFI bridge. Connection passwords live in the macOS Keychain; everything else is stored locally in SQLite.
System Requirements
- macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later
- A PostgreSQL server to connect to (local or remote)