---
title: "A Native CockroachDB Client for Mac, With Local Clusters"
description: "Browse, edit and query CockroachDB in a native Mac app, run it on your Mac, back it up with its own BACKUP, and let your coding agent in without a free hand on production."
canonical_url: "https://tablestudio.sh/databases/cockroachdb"
---

> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://tablestudio.sh/llms.txt)

TableStudio is a native Mac client for CockroachDB. It connects over CockroachDB's PostgreSQL-compatible protocol, but treats CockroachDB as its own engine, from column types to backups. It runs CockroachDB on your Mac, and lets coding agents like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor work on your clusters under rules TableStudio enforces itself.

<lead-feature icon="i-ph-hard-drives" title="Run CockroachDB on your Mac">

Develop against the same engine you run in production, not Postgres standing in for it. TableStudio creates, starts and stops local CockroachDB servers on the `cockroach` binary, right next to your Postgres and MySQL ones.

Need a copy of a cluster to try something risky? A **sandbox** puts a throwaway copy on your Mac, with its real rows or none. Backups and restore points use CockroachDB's own `BACKUP` and `RESTORE`, since `pg_dump` doesn't work against it.

</lead-feature>

<feature-cards description="Postgres-compatible where it is, CockroachDB where it isn't." title="What TableStudio does for CockroachDB">
<feature-card icon="i-ph-shield-check" title="Agents across your clusters">

- Agent reads run in a read-only transaction with a 30-second limit.
- A write can be rehearsed against the cluster's real rows and rolled back.
- Changes to a production cluster are staged as a migration for you to approve.
- Rows are saved before an agent changes them; the plugin stops `psql` and migration tools writing to production.
- Tagging a production cluster as development is a request only your Touch ID can grant.

</feature-card>

<feature-card icon="i-ph-plugs-connected" title="Connect">

- CockroachDB Cloud and self-hosted clusters, directly or over an SSH tunnel.
- Paste the connection string from the cluster's Connect dialog into Host.
- Open the cluster in `psql` in Terminal, or copy the command line without the password.

</feature-card>

<feature-card icon="i-ph-tree-structure" title="Schema">

- A column editor in CockroachDB's own spelling: `INT8`, `STRING`, `BYTES`, `TIMESTAMPTZ`, `JSONB`, `INET`, `GEOGRAPHY`.
- Schemas, roles, enums, sequences, materialized views, functions and procedures.
- Row-level security on 25.2 and later, triggers on 24.3 and later.
- Schema checks, ER diagrams, and schema compare with the migration script.

</feature-card>

<feature-card icon="i-ph-table" title="Data">

- Enum dropdowns, foreign-key previews on hover, and edits applied in one transaction.
- CSV and TSV in; CSV, TSV, JSON, SQL, Markdown and Excel out.
- Fake rows that follow your foreign keys.

</feature-card>

<feature-card icon="i-ph-clock-counter-clockwise" title="Backups the CockroachDB way">

- `BACKUP` and `RESTORE` for backups and restore points.
- Move a database to another cluster or another engine, with a pre-flight report.
- Sync rows between clusters, copying only what changed.

</feature-card>

<feature-card icon="i-ph-code" title="SQL">

- Completion for CockroachDB's schemas, tables and columns as you type.
- AI that writes CockroachDB-compatible SQL and fixes failing queries.
- Query Insights over the statements run from TableStudio, by you or your agents.

</feature-card>
</feature-cards>

## What's Postgres-only

CockroachDB has no extensions, so the Postgres features built on them aren't offered: the index advisor, hidden indexes and the `pg_stat` dashboard packs, whose numbers CockroachDB answers with zeros. The visual query plan isn't available for CockroachDB yet either. TableStudio leaves them out rather than show you something misleading.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](https://tablestudio.sh/sitemap.md) for all pages.