Show HN: Duck-UI – Browser-Based SQL IDE for DuckDB
20 comments
·October 19, 2025CSDude
There is an embedded one in DuckDB for a while now and it's great. I get the apeal of yours but this one is much easier to use for same cases:
mrs6969
This is not a self hosted one though. You can not use default ui offline, you can not guarantee data safety
mritchie712
Really excited about the future of DuckDB:
1. DuckLake is the best datalake spec and their team is improving on the extension rapidly.
2. With DuckDB WASM, you can make apps that would normally have 2 to 3 second latency for network calls work in < 200ms.
We use it as our built-in datalake at Definite and couldn't be happier with it.
jsight
Agreed. I just wish that the vector support were fully supported. It has been experimental for a long time.
curiousgal
I am curious is anyone using DuckDB in prod?
mritchie712
Yes, we run DuckDB + DuckLake in prod for https://www.definite.app/
mgaunard
of course, why wouldn't you?
I was using it even before it hit 1.0
alex_hirner
I'd love to make it work with flightsql or HTTP endpoints returning arrow IPC [0]! Did you consider using perspective for last-mile charting [1]? Building your own seems like a huge chunk of work. Well done!
[0] https://duckdb.org/docs/stable/clients/wasm/data_ingestion#a... [1] https://github.com/finos/perspective
joshmn
This is cool, thanks. I use the embedded UI but I’m going to play around with yours too.
DuckDB is the single-most impressive piece of software I’ve used in my career. I’m mangling terabytes of parquets daily and it just handles them effortlessly; the bindings also also well-written.
caioricciuti
TRUE! It's amazing and I have in other project too! The idea of of this app 100% in browser came from handling lots of CSV's from different people in my former company... Just to load in excel it took forever, then I came up with this, it made my life much easier, hope it makes yours too!
mosselman
What is a duckdb server? I was under the impression there is no server in duckdb, just the client.
caioricciuti
In theory there's none... DuckDB is like Sqlite, it's a file, but in this case it's 100% wasm so theres zero interaction with any "server", it's all on Browser. One example of DuckDB in server is mother duck... It makes .duckdb files "available" on the cloud.
spooky_deep
When DuckDB queries across multiple sources (say, Postgres and a CSV) does it first load all data into DuckDB or is it smart enough to only pull minimal data needed for the query on the fly?
dav43
possible, seems this is done in other modes.
quote - google ai mode:
"DuckDB offers robust capabilities for querying data stored partially on S3, particularly when dealing with Parquet files. This is achieved through several optimization techniques:
Predicate Pushdown: When you apply a WHERE clause to filter data, DuckDB can "push down" this filter directly into the Parquet file scan. If the Parquet file contains zonemaps (metadata about value ranges within columns), DuckDB can use this information to skip reading entire sections of the file that do not contain relevant data, significantly reducing the amount of data transferred from S3.
Projection Pushdown: When you select only specific columns in your SELECT statement, DuckDB automatically reads only those required columns from the Parquet file. This means you avoid downloading and processing unnecessary data, leading to faster queries and reduced S3 transfer costs.
HTTP Range Reads: DuckDB leverages HTTP range headers when interacting with S3 (or other object storage supporting range reads). This allows it to fetch only the necessary parts of the Parquet file, such as metadata or specific column chunks, rather than downloading the entire file."
lolive
« How does it handle [multi-source] joins ? » is the obvious next question.
chrisweekly
I haven't had a chance to play w this yet, but thank you for building and sharing this -- great writeup, sounds v useful and compelling!
gamerrk
The autocomplete is really good, UI is snappy as well. Well done!
caioricciuti
Thanksss, happy you liked, thanks for trying it out!
mgaunard
doesn't work well on phones, run query button is not visible.
caioricciuti
Thank you for the feedback, adding to the roadmap right now!
I built Duck-UI, a web-based SQL editor that runs DuckDB entirely in your browser via WebAssembly. No backend required.
The Problem: Every time I needed to query csv, parquet, or even to play with SQL, I had to either: (a) spin up a Jupyter notebook (b) use the CLI (c) upload to a hosted service.
Friction at every step (TOO MUCH to load a csv or even to test some sql (study)...
The Solution: DuckDB's WASM runtime lets us run SQL analysis client-side. Load CSV/JSON/Parquet files from disk or URL, write SQL, get results instantly. Data stays on your machine. What It Does:
SQL editor with autocomplete & syntax highlighting Import CSV, JSON, Parquet, Arrow (local or remote URLs) Query history, keyboard shortcuts, theme toggle Persistent storage via OPFS (data survives browser refresh) Optional: Connect to external DuckDB servers One-liner Docker deployment or Node 20+ dev server
Technical Details:
DuckDB compiled to WASM; query execution in-browser OPFS-backed persistence Apache 2.0 licensed Runs on Chrome 88+, Firefox 79+, Safari 14+
Use Cases:
Learning SQL without setting up databases Ad-hoc data exploration (CSV → SQL in seconds) Quick prototyping before shipping to production Privacy-conscious workflows (no data leaves your browser)
GitHub: https://github.com/ibero-data/duck-ui Live Demo: https://demo.duckui.com Quick Start: docker run -p 5522:5522 ghcr.io/ibero-data/duck-ui:latest
Would love feedback on: (1) Use cases I'm missing (2) Performance bottlenecks you hit (3) Features that would make this your default SQL scratchpad.