DuckDB and MotherDuck

DuckDB files

On desktop, drop the file onto Tamery, or choose DuckDB under Engine and pick the file with the folder button.

Pasting a path works too, as long as the file ends in .duckdb or .ddb. For any other name, paste duckdb /path/to/file or a URL:

duckdb:///Users/me/analytics.duckdb

The file must already exist. A ~/ path points to the home folder of whichever computer opens it. Syncing the connection does not copy the file.

Tamery opens the file only while it runs a query. Another program that has the file open for writing, like the duckdb CLI, keeps Tamery out until it closes the file, and the other way around.

In a query you can read files and URLs straight away, like SELECT * FROM read_csv('~/Downloads/orders.csv'). Read-only queries an agent runs through MCP can't: they see only the database file itself.

In the web app, run tamery bridge on the computer that holds the file. The bridge downloads DuckDB the first time it opens a DuckDB file, 20 to 30 MB, and keeps it for later. Through the bridge, queries see only the file itself, so read_csv and other files on that computer stay out of reach.

MotherDuck

Choose MotherDuck and paste your access token. Create one in MotherDuck under Settings → Access Tokens. Leave Database empty to see every database in your workspace.

Pasting an md: string fills in the form:

md:my_db?motherduck_token=your-token

Tamery reaches MotherDuck through its Postgres endpoint, in the region your token names. Pasting the endpoint's postgresql:// URL from MotherDuck works too.

MotherDuck works in both the desktop and web apps. The token follows the same sync rules as a password.

What works

Browse and edit rows, run SQL, explore relationships, and manage schemas, views, and indexes.

• You can add, rename, and drop columns, and change a column's type or nullability. DuckDB refuses to change any column of a table that has an index, so drop the table's indexes first and add them back after. It also refuses to change a column a key covers.
• Existing constraints are read-only. DuckDB adds no constraint to a table after it was created.
• Lists, structs, maps, and JSON edit as JSON. Unions are read-only.
• On MotherDuck, queries can't read files on your computer.