Getting started

Installing AddisDB

Updated 2026-07-03 · 2 min read

Download the right build for macOS, Windows or Linux, get past the first-launch prompt, and connect your first database.

AddisDB is a native desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. Pick your platform from the download buttons on the home page — the page highlights the build for the system you are on.

macOS

  1. Download the .dmg that matches your chip — Apple Silicon (M1–M4) or Intel.
  2. Open the .dmg and drag AddisDB into Applications, then launch it from Applications.
  3. macOS builds are not yet signed, so the first launch is blocked. Right-click AddisDB in Applications and choose Open, then confirm — or open System Settings → Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway. You only do this once.

Windows

  1. Download the x64 installer (.exe) and run it.
  2. If Windows SmartScreen shows a “Windows protected your PC” prompt, click “More info” → “Run anyway” — early builds may not yet be recognized by SmartScreen.
  3. Follow the installer; AddisDB launches from the Start menu when it finishes.

Linux

  1. AppImage: download the .AppImage, mark it executable (chmod +x AddisDB_*.AppImage) and run it. This build updates itself in place.
  2. Debian / Ubuntu: install the .deb with `sudo apt install ./AddisDB_*.deb`.
  3. Fedora / RHEL: install the .rpm with `sudo dnf install ./AddisDB-*.rpm`.

Staying up to date

AddisDB updates itself: on launch it checks for a newer release and installs it for you — on macOS, Windows, and the Linux AppImage build. If you installed the Linux .deb or .rpm instead, update through your package manager (or re-download) since those are managed by the system.

Connecting your first database

Click New Connection, choose your engine, and paste a connection string or fill in host / port / database. AddisDB stores the connection in a local config file and keeps the password in your OS’s secure credential store (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or the Linux Secret Service) — never in plain text.

The editor extension and the command line

The desktop app is not the only way to reach AddisDB. There is a VS Code extension on the Marketplace, and an ‘addisdb’ command line that gives you the same databases in a terminal — useful over SSH, and scriptable from CI. Install the app first either way: both of them read the connections it saves, so they have nothing to open until one exists.

  • AddisDB for VS Code — browse and query from the editor. See “AddisDB for VS Code”.
  • The addisdb command line — a full terminal UI, plus subcommands a script can call. See “The addisdb command line”.