Schema Explorer
The Schema Explorer gives you read-only access to your database structure directly from the terminal. No need to switch to pgAdmin, MySQL Workbench, or Azure Data Studio. Browse tables, views, indexes, foreign keys, functions, procedures, and types without leaving your workflow.
What It Shows
The explorer queries your database's system catalogs to reveal its structure:
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Tables | Columns, data types, row estimates, indexes, foreign keys |
| Views | Columns, definition SQL, whether it is updatable |
| Indexes | Table, columns, unique/primary status |
| Foreign Keys | Source and target tables, column mappings, cascade rules |
| Functions | Parameters, return type, definition |
| Procedures | Parameters, definition |
| Types | Enum values, composite attributes, domain base types |
Accessing the Explorer
Terminal UI
From the home screen, press d to enter the Database menu, then e to explore:
Home → [d] Database → [e] ExploreOr navigate directly through the menu:
┌─ Database ──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ [e] explore Browse tables, views, indexes │
│ [t] terminal Interactive SQL REPL │
│ [w] truncate Wipe all data (keep schema) │
│ [x] teardown Drop all objects │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Headless Mode
For scripts and CI/CD pipelines, use headless mode with the -H flag:
noorm -H db explore # Overview
noorm -H db explore tables # List tables
noorm -H db explore tables detail users # Table detail
noorm -H --json db explore > schema.json # JSON outputOverview Screen
The overview shows counts of all database objects at a glance:
┌─ DB Explore ────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Config: dev (postgres) │
│ Database: myapp_development │
│ Total Objects: 47 │
│ │
│ [1] Tables 12 │
│ [2] Views 3 │
│ [3] Procedures 0 │
│ [4] Functions 5 │
│ [5] Types 2 │
│ [6] Indexes 18 │
│ [7] Foreign Keys 7 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[1-7] Navigate [Esc] BackPress the number key or hotkey to drill into any category. Categories with zero items appear dimmed and cannot be selected.
| Key | Hotkey | Category |
|---|---|---|
1 | t | Tables |
2 | v | Views |
3 | p | Procedures |
4 | f | Functions |
5 | y | Types |
6 | i | Indexes |
7 | k | Foreign Keys |
Browsing Tables
Press 1 or t from the overview to see all tables:
┌─ Tables (12) ───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ / Filter tables... │
│ │
│ 1. > public.users 8 columns, ~1.5K rows │
│ 2. public.posts 5 columns, ~42K rows │
│ 3. public.comments 4 columns, ~128K rows │
│ 4. public.notifications 6 columns, ~8.9K rows │
│ 5. public.sessions 3 columns, ~2.1K rows │
│ │
│ ... 7 more │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Enter] View detail [Esc] BackThe list is searchable. Press / to focus the filter field and type to narrow results. Press 1-9 for quick selection.
Table Detail
Select a table to see its full schema:
┌─ Table ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ public.users ~1,500 rows │
│ │
│ Columns (8) │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ * id uuid NOT NULL │
│ email varchar(255) NOT NULL │
│ name varchar(100) NULL │
│ password_hash text NOT NULL │
│ role user_role NOT NULL DEFAULT 'user' │
│ active boolean NOT NULL DEFAULT true │
│ created_at timestamptz NOT NULL DEFAULT now() │
│ updated_at timestamptz NULL │
│ │
│ Indexes (2) │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ * users_pkey (id) │
│ users_email_idx (email) UNIQUE │
│ │
│ Foreign Keys (0) │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackThe * marker indicates primary key columns and primary key indexes.
Browsing Views
Press 2 or v from the overview:
┌─ Views (3) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ 1. > public.active_users 4 columns, READ-ONLY │
│ 2. public.post_stats 6 columns, READ-ONLY │
│ 3. public.user_activity 8 columns, UPDATABLE │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Enter] View detail [Esc] BackView Detail
┌─ View ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ public.active_users READ-ONLY │
│ │
│ Columns (4) │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ id uuid NOT NULL │
│ email varchar(255) NOT NULL │
│ name varchar(100) NULL │
│ created_at timestamptz NOT NULL │
│ │
│ Definition │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ SELECT id, email, name, created_at │
│ FROM users │
│ WHERE active = true │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackBrowsing Indexes and Foreign Keys
Indexes and foreign keys are list-only categories. They show all the information inline without a separate detail screen.
Indexes
┌─ Indexes (18) ──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ 1. users_pkey on users, PRIMARY │
│ 2. users_email_idx on users, UNIQUE │
│ 3. posts_pkey on posts, PRIMARY │
│ 4. posts_user_id_idx on posts │
│ 5. posts_created_at_idx on posts │
│ 6. comments_pkey on comments, PRIMARY │
│ │
│ ... 12 more │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackForeign Keys
┌─ Foreign Keys (7) ──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ 1. posts_user_id_fkey │
│ posts(user_id) → users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE │
│ │
│ 2. comments_post_id_fkey │
│ comments(post_id) → posts(id) ON DELETE CASCADE │
│ │
│ 3. comments_user_id_fkey │
│ comments(user_id) → users(id) ON DELETE SET NULL │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackBrowsing Functions and Procedures
Functions and procedures show parameters, return types, and definitions.
Functions
┌─ Functions (5) ─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ 1. > public.calculate_total 2 params → numeric │
│ 2. public.get_user_posts 1 param → SETOF posts │
│ 3. public.update_timestamp 0 params → trigger │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Enter] View detail [Esc] BackFunction Detail
┌─ Function ──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ public.calculate_total → numeric │
│ │
│ Parameters (2) │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ price numeric IN │
│ quantity integer IN │
│ │
│ Definition │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ BEGIN │
│ RETURN price * quantity; │
│ END; │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackProcedures
Procedures work the same way as functions, but without a return type.
Browsing Types
Custom types are available in PostgreSQL and MSSQL. The explorer shows enum values, composite type attributes, and domain/alias base types.
┌─ Types (2) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ 1. > public.user_role ENUM, 3 values │
│ 2. public.address COMPOSITE, 5 attributes │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Enter] View detail [Esc] BackEnum Type Detail
┌─ Type ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ public.user_role ENUM │
│ │
│ Values (3) │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ user │
│ moderator │
│ admin │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackComposite Type Detail
┌─ Type ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ public.address COMPOSITE │
│ │
│ Attributes (5) │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ street varchar(200) NOT NULL │
│ city varchar(100) NOT NULL │
│ state varchar(50) NULL │
│ postal_code varchar(20) NOT NULL │
│ country varchar(100) NOT NULL │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Esc] BackHeadless JSON Output
Use --json flag for machine-readable output.
Overview
noorm -H --json db explore{
"tables": 12,
"views": 3,
"procedures": 0,
"functions": 5,
"types": 2,
"indexes": 18,
"foreignKeys": 7
}Table List
noorm -H --json db explore tables[
{ "name": "users", "schema": "public", "columnCount": 8, "rowCountEstimate": 1500 },
{ "name": "posts", "schema": "public", "columnCount": 5, "rowCountEstimate": 42000 },
{ "name": "comments", "schema": "public", "columnCount": 4, "rowCountEstimate": 128000 }
]Table Detail
noorm -H --json db explore tables detail users{
"name": "users",
"schema": "public",
"columns": [
{ "name": "id", "dataType": "uuid", "isNullable": false, "isPrimaryKey": true, "ordinalPosition": 1 },
{ "name": "email", "dataType": "varchar(255)", "isNullable": false, "isPrimaryKey": false, "ordinalPosition": 2 },
{ "name": "name", "dataType": "varchar(100)", "isNullable": true, "isPrimaryKey": false, "ordinalPosition": 3 },
{ "name": "created_at", "dataType": "timestamptz", "isNullable": false, "defaultValue": "now()", "isPrimaryKey": false, "ordinalPosition": 7 }
],
"indexes": [
{ "name": "users_pkey", "columns": ["id"], "isUnique": true, "isPrimary": true },
{ "name": "users_email_idx", "columns": ["email"], "isUnique": true, "isPrimary": false }
],
"foreignKeys": [],
"rowCountEstimate": 1500
}View Detail
noorm -H --json db explore views detail active_users{
"name": "active_users",
"schema": "public",
"columns": [
{ "name": "id", "dataType": "uuid", "isNullable": false, "isPrimaryKey": false, "ordinalPosition": 1 },
{ "name": "email", "dataType": "varchar(255)", "isNullable": false, "isPrimaryKey": false, "ordinalPosition": 2 }
],
"definition": "SELECT id, email FROM users WHERE active = true",
"isUpdatable": false
}Function Detail
noorm -H --json db explore functions detail calculate_total{
"name": "calculate_total",
"schema": "public",
"parameters": [
{ "name": "price", "dataType": "numeric", "mode": "IN", "ordinalPosition": 1 },
{ "name": "quantity", "dataType": "integer", "mode": "IN", "ordinalPosition": 2 }
],
"returnType": "numeric",
"definition": "BEGIN RETURN price * quantity; END;"
}Dialect Support
The explorer works across all supported databases with appropriate translations:
| Category | PostgreSQL | MySQL | MSSQL | SQLite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tables | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Views | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Indexes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Foreign Keys | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Functions | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Procedures | Yes | Yes | Yes | -- |
| Types | Yes | -- | Yes | -- |
SQLite does not support stored procedures, functions, or user-defined types. MySQL does not support user-defined types. These categories return empty results for unsupported dialects.
Type support by dialect:
- PostgreSQL - Enums, composite types, domains
- MSSQL - Alias types (e.g.,
CREATE TYPE EmailAddress FROM VARCHAR(255)), table types
Common Use Cases
Verify builds. After running schema builds, use explore to confirm tables, views, and functions were created correctly.
Check constraints. Browse foreign keys to verify referential integrity is set up as expected before deploying.
Inspect indexes. Review index coverage before and after adding new queries to ensure performance.
Compare environments. Run overview on dev vs prod to spot schema drift quickly. Use different configs with the -c flag.
Debug changes. When changes fail, explore the current schema state to understand what exists.
What's Next?
- SQL Terminal - Run queries against your database
- Teardown - Reset database objects
- Configs - Connect to different databases