Connection basics
How Dora connects to a database — connection strings, automatic engine and SSL detection, account integrations, and SSH tunnels.
Connection basics
Dora connects to any PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, CockroachDB, SQLite, DuckDB, or libSQL database. Almost every hosted provider gives you a standard connection string, and Dora handles the rest.
Paste a connection string
Open the connection dialog (Mod+Shift+N), toggle Use connection string, and
paste a URL. Dora reads the scheme and host to figure out the rest:
| Scheme | Engine |
|---|---|
postgresql:// / postgres:// | PostgreSQL (or CockroachDB / Yugabyte by host) |
mysql:// | MySQL or MariaDB |
libsql:// | libSQL (Turso) |
sqlite:// | SQLite |
duckdb:// | DuckDB |
Automatic engine and SSL detection
Dora recognizes the major managed hosts by their hostname and applies the right settings for you:
- Engine — for example a
*.planetscale.comhost is treated as MySQL, while*.cockroachlabs.cloudis treated as CockroachDB. - SSL — managed providers that require TLS (Supabase, Neon, Vercel Postgres,
Render, PlanetScale, and others) have SSL enabled automatically. An explicit
?sslmode=...or?ssl=...in your URL always wins. - Port hints — for hosts that serve more than one engine, the port helps:
26257→ CockroachDB,3306→ MySQL,5432→ PostgreSQL.
If you mistype a scheme (postgrss://), Dora suggests the closest valid one
instead of failing silently.
Connect from a provider account
For some providers you can skip copying strings entirely. Dora has account integrations for Supabase, Neon, Vercel, PlanetScale, Xata, Cloudflare D1, and Turso: sign in once, and Dora lists your projects/databases and builds the connection for you. Look for the Connect with… option in the connection dialog. The provider-specific pages note where this is available.
SSH tunnels
To reach a Postgres or MySQL database on a private network, enable SSH tunnel in the connection dialog and provide:
- SSH host, port (default
22), and username, - an authentication method — private key file or password (Dora also falls back to your SSH agent if neither is given).
Dora opens the tunnel before connecting and tears it down on disconnect. Your database host and port stay as they are on the private network — Dora forwards them locally for you.
Pooled vs direct connections
Several Postgres hosts (Supabase, Neon, and others) offer a connection pooler on a different port or hostname. Poolers are great for short-lived queries; use a direct connection if you need features the pooler does not support (such as some session-level settings). Each provider page calls out which string to use.