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Managing Connections

DbClone stores your database connections locally so you don't have to re-enter credentials every time.

Connection Manager

Open via the Connections button in the toolbar.

Connection Manager

Adding a Connection

Click New and fill in:

Field Description Example
Name Display name (optional, auto-generated as host/database if empty) Production DB
Connection Type Hosting platform — select manually, or auto-detected when importing a connection Supabase / Aiven / Neon / PostgreSQL
Host Server hostname or IP db.example.com
Port PostgreSQL port (auto-filled when you change the Connection Type) 5432
Database Database name my_app
Username Login user postgres
Password Login password ••••••••
SSL Mode Connection security (auto-filled when you change the Connection Type) Prefer / Require

Connection Type Auto-Detection

When you import a connection (from clipboard or file), DbClone detects the platform from the hostname pattern:

Hostname Pattern Detected Platform Default Port Default SSL
*.supabase.co Supabase 5432 Require
*.aivencloud.com Aiven 11521 Require
*.neon.tech Neon 5432 Require
Anything else PostgreSQL (vanilla) 5432 Prefer

When you change the Connection Type dropdown manually, the port and SSL mode are set to that platform's defaults. You can override these values after the auto-fill.

Paste a URI

To add a connection from a full connection string, use Import from Clipboard (in the connection list's ⋮ menu) or the Import button in the form header. DbClone parses URIs and key-value strings, fills all fields, and auto-detects the platform: 

postgres://user:password@host:5432/dbname?sslmode=require

Testing a Connection

Click Test Connection to verify the connection works. DbClone will:

  1. Attempt to connect
  2. Display the PostgreSQL version on success
  3. Show the error message on failure

Color Coding

Assign a color to each connection for quick visual identification. This is especially useful to distinguish production (red) from development (green) databases.

Color Coded Connections

Connection Groups

A group is a named source → destination pair (with an optional color and notes). Groups let you switch both connections at once from the dropdown above the source/destination panels on the main screen.

  • Use the buttons between the source and destination panels to create a group from the current connections or edit the current group
  • In the Connection Manager's Groups tab you can create, edit, and delete groups
  • If you leave the group name empty, it is auto-generated as {source} → {destination}

Editing & Deleting

  • Select a connection and modify the fields, then click Save to update
  • Click Delete to remove a connection — this deletes immediately, without confirmation
  • Click Duplicate to create a copy of the current connection named {name} - Copy

Browse Databases

Click Browse... next to the database field to discover databases on the current server. DbClone connects with the current host/port/credentials and lists all available databases. Select one to fill the database field automatically.

Where Are Connections Stored?

Connections are saved in:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\DbClone\connections.json

Passwords are encrypted using Windows DPAPI (Data Protection API) — they can only be decrypted by the same Windows user on the same machine.