ChartDB is an open-source database diagrams editor that can be self-hosted or used in the Cloud, for free.

At IProgrammer we're very fond of utilities that make the developer's life just that little bit easier, especially on the database front. In the past we had covered a few such cool tools like Prisma Markdown which can automatically generate ERDs, ERDLab, an intuitive SQL Visualization tool which helps in capturing your database design thoughts and Azimutt, a database schema explorer with many great features.

Well here's another one, ChartDB which sports the following main features :

• Instant Schema Import - Run a single query to instantly retrieve your database schema as JSON. This makes it incredibly fast to visualize your database schema, whether for documentation, team discussions, or simply understanding your data better.
• AI-Powered Export for Easy Migration - AI-driven export feature allows you to generate the DDL script in the dialect of your choice. Whether you’re migrating from MySQL to PostgreSQL or from SQLite to MariaDB, ChartDB simplifies the process by providing the necessary scripts tailored to your target database.
• Interactive Editing - Finetune your database schema using the intuitive editor. Easily make adjustments or annotations to better visualize complex structures.
• Advanced Query Editor- Seamless editing with features like undo, redo, create, manage tables & relationships. Ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow for all your data tasks.

As an extra bonus, you can also share your database with others and there's also a repository of ready made real world templates:

• Employees
  A schema for database of employees, departments, and salaries.
• Airbnb
  Short-term Vacation Rentals: Example database schema diagram for Airbnb
• Twitter Database
  Example database schema diagram for twitter

which you can clone to modify and use.

As mentioned, ChartDB comes in two flavors, self-hosted or Cloud based. To host it yourself you can build it from source by cloning the Github repo or grab the docker image for easiness.
The cloud version can be found on ChartDB.io and in particular app.chartdb.io.

Amongst the aforementioned features, there's one that stands out - the Import your database schema with a single query as they say. What that means is that upon clicking Import and choosing a dbms say Postgres, a single query is revealed that can reverse engineer the whole schema of the database.

You then copy and paste the query locally in your database's client to get the exports which you can then use to import the schema to the editor. The query is too long to relay here, so just a few lines are being displayed but it is mind-blowing :

If you're worried about your data being uploaded to a remote server, fear not since the editor is made as a local first application, thus no data leaves your browser. As for the AI capabilities you need to set up your OpenAI API key.

All in all, ChartDB has great functionality and produces good looking diagrams. Make sure to add it to your arsenal.

More Information

ChartDB

ChartDB Github

Related Articles

Effortless ERD Design With Prisma Markdown

Entity Relationship Diagraming with ERDLab

Real World Schema Exploring With Azimutt

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