Chat2DB: An Open-Source AI-Powered Multi-Database Client – Installation, Configuration, and Usage Guide

Chat2DB is a free, open‑source multi‑database client that runs on Windows, macOS, or as a server‑side web application. Compared with traditional tools like Navicat or DBeaver, it integrates AIGC capabilities to convert natural language to SQL, translate SQL back to natural language, and provide optimization suggestions, greatly improving developer efficiency.

Installation & Configuration : Download the appropriate release from the GitHub releases page, drag the app to the Applications folder (macOS), and open the settings to enter an OpenAI API key obtained from the OpenAI website.

Initial Experience : Add a new data source (e.g., MySQL) by clicking the "+" button, fill in connection details, and select the target database. Note a known bug where the database selector defaults to showing all databases.

Sample Data Setup (SQL DDL and DML):

SET NAMES utf8mb4;
SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0;

-- Table structure for `course`
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `course`;
CREATE TABLE `course` (
  `id` int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT '科目ID',
  `name` varchar(50) NOT NULL COMMENT '科目名称',
  `teacher` varchar(50) NOT NULL COMMENT '授课教师',
  `credit` int NOT NULL COMMENT '科目学分',
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=3 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COMMENT='科目表';

INSERT INTO `course` VALUES (1,'语文','张老师',100);
INSERT INTO `course` VALUES (2,'数学','王老师',100);
COMMIT;

-- Table structure for `score`
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `score`;
CREATE TABLE `score` (
  `id` int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT '成绩ID',
  `student_id` int NOT NULL COMMENT '学生ID',
  `course_id` int NOT NULL COMMENT '科目ID',
  `score` int NOT NULL COMMENT '成绩',
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
  KEY `student_id` (`student_id`),
  KEY `course_id` (`course_id`),
  CONSTRAINT `score_ibfk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`student_id`) REFERENCES `student` (`id`),
  CONSTRAINT `score_ibfk_2` FOREIGN KEY (`course_id`) REFERENCES `course` (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=5 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COMMENT='学生成绩表';

INSERT INTO `score` VALUES (1,1,1,90);
INSERT INTO `score` VALUES (2,1,2,95);
INSERT INTO `score` VALUES (3,2,1,100);
INSERT INTO `score` VALUES (4,2,2,99);
COMMIT;

-- Table structure for `student`
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `student`;
CREATE TABLE `student` (
  `id` int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT '学生ID',
  `name` varchar(50) NOT NULL COMMENT '学生姓名',
  `gender` varchar(10) NOT NULL COMMENT '学生性别',
  `birthday` date NOT NULL COMMENT '学生生日',
  `address` varchar(100) NOT NULL COMMENT '学生住址',
  `phone` varchar(20) NOT NULL COMMENT '学生联系方式',
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=3 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COMMENT='学生信息表';

INSERT INTO `student` VALUES (1,'小明','男','2023-06-16','广州','13724889158');
INSERT INTO `student` VALUES (2,'小羊','女','2023-06-16','广州','13800126000');
COMMIT;

-- Table structure for `student_course`
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `student_course`;
CREATE TABLE `student_course` (
  `id` int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT COMMENT '关系ID',
  `student_id` int NOT NULL COMMENT '学生ID',
  `course_id` int NOT NULL COMMENT '科目ID',
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
  KEY `student_id` (`student_id`),
  KEY `course_id` (`course_id`),
  CONSTRAINT `student_course_ibfk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`student_id`) REFERENCES `student` (`id`),
  CONSTRAINT `student_course_ibfk_2` FOREIGN KEY (`course_id`) REFERENCES `course` (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=5 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COMMENT='学生选修科目表';

INSERT INTO `student_course` VALUES (1,1,1);
INSERT INTO `student_course` VALUES (2,1,2);
INSERT INTO `student_course` VALUES (3,2,1);
INSERT INTO `student_course` VALUES (4,2,2);
COMMIT;

SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 1;

Feature Menus : After selecting a table, four main menus appear – Natural Language to SQL, SQL Explanation, SQL Optimization, and SQL Dialect Conversion.

Natural Language to SQL Example : Input the Chinese query “查询学生小明的各科目成绩，包括科目名称、教师名字段”, select the relevant tables (course, score, student), and Chat2DB generates the following SQL:

SELECT course.name, course.teacher, score.score
FROM score
INNER JOIN course ON score.course_id = course.id
INNER JOIN student ON score.student_id = student.id
WHERE student.name = '小明';

SQL Explanation (Chat2DB translates the SQL back to Chinese):

--- BEGIN ---
SELECT course.name, course.teacher, score.score 
FROM score 
INNER JOIN course ON score.course_id = course.id 
INNER JOIN student ON score.student_id = student.id 
WHERE student.name = '小明'
--- 解释SQL ---
这个 SQL 查询语句的作用是从三个表中选择课程名称、教师和分数，其中分数是从score表中获取的。通过 INNER JOIN 将score表与course表和student表连接起来，连接条件是score表中的course_id等于course表中的 id， 同时score表中的student_id等于student表中的 id。最后，通过 WHERE 子句筛选出学生名字为“小明”的记录。
--- END ---

SQL Optimization : Chat2DB suggests adding indexes on score.course_id and score.student_id , avoiding wildcard searches, and using EXISTS instead of an INNER JOIN for better performance. The optimized query is:

SELECT course.name, course.teacher, score.score
FROM score
INNER JOIN course ON score.course_id = course.id
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM student WHERE student.id = score.student_id AND student.name = '小明');

Summary & Future Plans : The guide demonstrates basic usage of Chat2DB for creating data sources, generating and explaining SQL, and receiving optimization tips. Future releases aim to add environment isolation, team collaboration, table editing, and support for non‑relational databases.