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Show HN: DataRamen, a Fast SQL Explorer with Automatic Joins and Data Navigation (dataramen.xyz)

48 points by oleksandr_dem ↗ HN
I built DataRamen, a local-first SQL explorer that helps you get the data you need fast, without writing repetitive queries every time.

You run it locally from the CLI (no cloud version yet), connect your databases, and you're ready to go. The goal is to let you explore and query data like you would in a spreadsheet: intuitive, fast, and without friction.

Key features:

- Automatic joins & related data navigation: Right-click any row to instantly see related records in other tables (based on foreign keys or references).

- Keyboard-driven UI: Hit N to jump to a table, F to filter, and so on, it’s optimized for speed so you can go from question to insight in seconds (this point is still in progress, I find it confortable, but the goal is to make it even better).

- Named tabs with saved queries: Keep multiple tabs open with different queries, useful for comparing or cross-checking data. Tabs are saved, so you can get back to your queries at any time.

- Instant edit & insert: One click to edit or add rows, no need to write full queries.

- Multi-DB support: Connect several databases and search across all of them.

- Search across all columns: Find what you need even if you don't know the exact column.

If you've ever felt slowed down by writing the same SQL over and over just to explore your data, this might save you a ton of time. I’d love feedback or suggestions, especially from folks who wrangle data often.

Find more information on https://dataramen.xyz

PS. don't be harsh on the logo, I did my best :)

14 comments

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mousetree
Screenshots on the website would be very helpful. This sounds interesting, but would like to see what the actual UI is before setting anything up. It would also be good to link to the Github repo for the CLI part - I'm skeptical of giving an unknown tool access to my database without understanding what it's actually doing.
brap
>GUI

Not a single screenshot on the page

koolba
Where's the code? The NPM page says it is MIT licensed but I do not see any links to a source repo.

I think most people would be wary of running random npm modules to which they will be giving database credentials and passing through their actual data.

gavinray
I'd like to know what it looks like before investing my time in using a GUI tool.

Neat idea on paper though!

kigiri
You can find screenshots here: https://dev.to/9zemian5/tired-of-writing-sql-just-to-explore... (might be outdated, didn't test the tool)

On my part, I would like to see sqlite support and screenshots on the mainpage, also not a big fan of running an unknown command on my data.

Since you run locally, any value of having the frontend loaded from a website instead of just opening it in localhost ?

cuuupid
Sounds very nice but doesn't seem to support Node v22 :/

``` Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module /Users/cupid/.bun/install/global/node_modules/yargs/index.mjs not supported. ```

Is there a GitHub or similar where issues can be reported?

akoculu
nice work + cool name, congrats!
747-8F
Saving this; may prove its utility in enterprise BU analysis.
googoloid
So this uses the local cli tool to allow your hosted code to connect to the db? Sounds a bit sketchy to me
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
oleksandr_dem
Hi guys, thanks for all the feedback.

After reading all the comments, I can see there are two big issues here:

- The code is not open-sourced, and some people don't trust running it locally

- The landing page does not clearly show/explain what DataRamen is and how it works

I should've seen it coming. I will take the following actions to tackle these problems:

1) Open-source the CLI code. There are no super sophisticated algorithms behind it, so no need to keep it private.

2) Improve the landing page with screens and videos to showcase its features.

In addition to this, I will keep working on new features. I saw multiple comments mentioning SQLite support. Since it is possible to run SQLite directly in the browser, I might as well use it as a live demo where you can try the tool with a dummy DB without installing it locally (can't promise it, I have to see the feasibility of this project).