Frequently Asked Questions

Schemity is database design software built for software engineers that turns complex databases into understandable systems. It lets you reverse-engineer a database, break it into focused Context Views (one main ERD as a single source of truth, plus read-only context views for auth, billing, analytics, etc.), and generate precise SQL migrations as your schema evolves - all without sending your data to any cloud server. It is lightweight data modeling software that starts in seconds and runs fully offline. Your ERDs are stored as plain JSON files, making it Git-native by design.

Schemity supports MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, SQLite, and Supabase. PostgreSQL users also get multi-schema support - not just the public schema. You can connect through direct or SSH connections.

Snowflake is supported for design with a license (and during the trial): draw a diagram, or import a Snowflake GET_DDL script so you do not start from scratch, then export a full Snowflake CREATE script. SQL converts both ways, so a PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server or SQLite design can be exported as Snowflake SQL, and a Snowflake design as any of the others. Schemity does not connect to a live Snowflake account.

Schemity is available as a native desktop app on:

• macOS - Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x64)
• Windows - Windows 10/11 x64
• Linux - Ubuntu and Debian (.deb)

Schemity offers a 2-week free trial with all features unlocked, no credit card required. After the trial, the app is still usable - your work is never held hostage.

Schemity is also free for students and educators. Email support@schemity.com with your .edu address to request a free education license.

ChartDB is a cloud schema visualizer - collaboration, AI, and storage all live on the web. Schemity is the offline desktop alternative: your diagrams are plain JSON files on your own machine, AI agents connect through a local MCP server rather than a vendor cloud, migrations are generated as reviewable SQL, and the license is a one-time purchase instead of a subscription. Read the full comparison in Schemity vs ChartDB.

dbdiagram.io is a cloud tool where you describe the schema in a DSL (DBML) and pay a subscription. Schemity is database design software you design in visually: you design directly on the canvas, work fully offline, keep diagrams as local JSON files under Git, and buy it once. Read the full comparison in Schemity vs dbdiagram.io.

Yes. On a new diagram's empty canvas, choose Import DBML and paste the DBML or open the .dbml file: tables, references and enums arrive as native entities, with column types written for your database. DBML stores no layout, so the tables are laid out fresh, and table groups, notes and partials are skipped and counted. The same canvas also opens Visual Paradigm, MySQL Workbench, Navicat and DbSchema model files with their table positions. Schemity exports DBML too, so your schema stays portable in the other direction. See why switching database design software shouldn't mean starting over.

Schemity Lite is the free, online version of Schemity that runs in your browser at lite.schemity.com. It's built for quick visual schema design and one-link online sharing - no install, no account, no credit card. It uses a single default workspace and does not include the desktop-only features such as database connections, reverse engineering, migration generation, SSH tunneling, custom workspaces, or offline use. For those, get the desktop License.

Lite is the online browser version of Schemity - always free, but limited to schema design and online sharing. The Trial is the full desktop app with every feature unlocked for 2 weeks, so you can evaluate database connections, migrations, custom workspaces, and offline work before buying. Use Lite for fast, shareable diagrams; use the Trial to test the complete tool.

After the trial expires, the desktop app keeps working with a feature set close to Lite's - visual schema design without the licensed features - but with the nature of a desktop app rather than an online one: it works offline, your diagrams stay plain local JSON files, and there is no online sharing link.

In Schemity Lite, once you're signed in, you can turn any diagram into a public link. Anyone with the link can view your ERD in their browser - no account needed to look. You can also export the diagram as PNG or JPEG for docs and presentations, or as JSON to keep it in Git or open it in the desktop app. SVG, SQL, Mermaid, and DBML export come with a desktop license.

No - Lite is for visual schema design and sharing. To connect to live databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and more), reverse-engineer existing schemas, and generate SQL migrations, use the Schemity desktop app. It's database design software that keeps your schema on your machine.

Use the visual ERD designer to drag and drop entities onto the canvas, define fields, and connect them with relationships. The interface supports auto-resize, snap-to-guide alignment, and smart connection lines. For speed, use entity templates to reuse common field patterns across entities.

No. Schemity works standalone: design from scratch on the canvas, or import a SQL dump or CREATE TABLE statements to generate the diagram without touching a live database. A connection is only needed when you want to reverse-engineer a running database or apply generated migrations to it.

Yes. Schemity supports reverse engineering - reverse engineer PostgreSQL to ERD, visualize a MySQL schema on your desktop, or connect to MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite, or Supabase and the ERD is generated automatically. This is useful for documenting legacy systems, visualizing a Supabase schema diagram, or onboarding to a new codebase.

Yes. For a reverse-engineered diagram, the live database is the source of truth: reopening the diagram automatically pulls the latest schema, and a Reset ERD action does the same on demand. Existing entities keep their layout, dropped tables disappear, and new tables appear ready to drag into place. See re-sync for details.

Context views are focused sub-diagrams of your main ERD. You pull in just the entities for one subject area - auth, billing, analytics - and arrange them freely, while the main view stays the single source of truth. An orange dot marks any entity with relationships outside the view, so a focused diagram never hides that it is incomplete. You can create as many database context views as you need. See the context views documentation.

Schemity compares your ERD design with the actual database state and generates the exact migration SQL diff to bring them in sync. It handles CREATE, ALTER, and DROP statements automatically. Before you apply it, impact analysis shows what it costs on the live database: data loss, statements that fail on existing rows, table rewrites, locks, and the views in the way. Every migration requires explicit confirmation before being applied, protecting you from accidental changes.

You can export any diagram or context view as a JPG, PNG, or SVG image, export the full SQL of the main view or any context view (or a single entity or legend), export the schema as DBML for dbdiagram.io, dbdocs, and the wider DBML toolchain, and export it as a Mermaid erDiagram that renders natively as a diagram on GitHub, GitLab, Notion, and Obsidian. It also exports PlantUML and D2 (tables grouped by their legends), OpenAPI 3.1 JSON with one schema per table, and a data dictionary in HTML, Markdown, Excel or PDF. The SQL export can be written for another database - PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite or Snowflake - with a report of every type it changed, and the diagram stays untouched. Exports work fully offline.

Yes, in any direction between PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite, and Snowflake: PostgreSQL to MySQL, MySQL to PostgreSQL, SQL Server to PostgreSQL, SQLite to PostgreSQL, PostgreSQL to Snowflake, and so on. Open Export > SQL file, or Get SQL on a selection, and pick the target in the Database dropdown. Schemity writes the same tables as that database's DDL, translating types, defaults, functions, enums, and identity and generated columns, and a report lists every type it changed and anything it could not translate. The diagram stays on its own database. The conversion runs entirely on your machine, with no upload and no internet connection needed, so your schema never leaves your computer - unlike pasting it into an online SQL converter.

It converts the schema, not the data: you get the CREATE TABLE script for the target, and you move the rows with your usual tool, such as pgloader or the target database's import. Converting is a licensed feature. See Export SQL / Generate DDL.

Schemity supports 1:N and N:N relationships with auto junction table generation. Relationship lines adapt and reroute automatically as you move entities on the canvas. You can also add ERD custom waypoints for full manual control over line routing. Lines turn with smooth rounded corners at their waypoints, and where two lines cross, one hops over the other with a small arc - on the canvas and in SVG export - so you can always tell which line goes where.

Schemity supports full constraint coverage including:

• Unique
• Not null
• Default values
• ERD check constraints support (which also act as living documentation)
• ERD composite unique constraints
• Indexes

Yes. Schemity supports secure SSH tunneling for connecting to remote databases. Your database credentials are stored safely in your operating system's native keyring - never in plaintext files.

Schemity is built for keyboard-first use. Every action has a shortcut. It supports:

• Vim-style canvas navigation (h j k l)
• Hot keys for all common operations
• Tab navigation with Cmd+1 through Cmd+9

Yes. Schemity supports multiple native tabs with isolated undo history per ERD. You can switch between them quickly using number-key navigation, making it easy to work across multiple schemas or projects in a single session.

Yes. Schemity has full temporal state management with undo/redo history. Each tab maintains its own isolated history, so undoing in one ERD never affects another.

Yes. You can assign custom colors to entities and their relationships for instant visual grouping and clearer ERD readability.

Yes. Schemity is Git-native - your ERDs are plain JSON files stored locally. You can version control database diagrams in Git, review schema changes in pull requests, and maintain a full history of every design decision. This is a core part of how Schemity is designed to be used.

An entity template is a reusable starting point for new tables. You define a set of fields you add to almost every entity - say id, created_at, and updated_at - and save it as a template. You can create multiple templates and mark one as active. Whenever you create a new entity, it's pre-populated with all the fields from the active template, so you stop retyping the same columns on every table. It's available in all versions, including Lite.

Yes. Schemity is an MCP server, so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, or any other MCP host can read the diagram you have open - schema, context views, dependencies, lint findings, and the impact of pending changes - and stage edits that you review in History before saving. The agent never gets database credentials of its own, and nothing it does writes to a database: a migration only runs from your own click. The server listens only on your machine and requires a token. Schemity runs no model and no AI server, so there is no AI subscription; your agent host brings its own model. The MCP server replaced the earlier built-in AI chat, and it is available on the desktop License; it isn't included in the Lite version.

No. Schemity is database design software that runs fully offline, with no cloud dependency. Your database schemas, designs, and all project data are stored locally on your machine and are never transmitted to any server. It works air-gapped, behind VPNs, and on locked-down corporate laptops - database design software approved by IT because there is nothing to review.

Yes. All design work - the canvas, reverse engineering, migrations, exports, JSON storage - runs entirely on your machine with no network dependency, so Schemity works air-gapped behind strict no-egress policies. AI assistance can stay local too: Schemity's MCP server listens only on your machine, so an agent host running a local model keeps the whole loop offline.

Your workspace is stored as plain JSON files in a local folder on your machine. This database design software uses JSON storage by design, giving you complete data ownership with no cloud dependency. You can version control your database diagrams in Git, back up, move, or delete your data at any time. Safe for NDA projects and client work.

Schemity does not collect any personal information. The only data it transmits is an auto-generated machine ID and your country code, both used solely for license verification. When you purchase a license, your payment and email are handled entirely by LemonSqueezy - Schemity does not store any of that information.

Yes. Schemity does not store your database credentials on any remote server. All connection details, including SSH credentials, remain on your local machine and are stored in your OS native keyring.

Yes, and the workflow is built for exactly that caution: connections go through an SSH tunnel, passwords live in the OS keychain, connections are tagged by environment (Local, Staging, Production), and reverse engineering only reads the schema. Nothing is ever written unless you explicitly review and apply a generated migration diff. See documenting production shouldn't feel dangerous.

Schemity is a one-time purchase with 1 year of updates included. After the first year, you can optionally renew updates for $29/year. Database design software without a subscription - the app works forever even without renewing. You just stop receiving updates.

There is also a free 2-week trial with all features unlocked, and a free education license for students and educators.

Your work is never held hostage. After the trial expires, Schemity remains usable with a feature set close to Lite's, and since v2.13.0 it keeps receiving updates too - visual schema design continues to work offline, just without the licensed features such as database connections and migrations. Updates keep coming because what stays unlocked is basic diagramming, which seldom changes. You get a single friendly reminder when you open the app, once per session - not a popup that blocks your work. Your ERD files are plain JSON on your machine and are always yours.

License activation is handled through LemonSqueezy. After purchase, you will receive a license key via email. Enter that key along with your email address inside Schemity to activate it on your device.

Up to 3 of your own machines per license - for example a laptop, a desktop and a work computer, on any mix of macOS, Windows and Linux. Each machine you activate uses one of the three. To move the license to a new machine, open the License dialog on the old one and click Deactivate this machine to free its seat.

Yes. A license can be active on up to 3 machines at once. To move it to a new one, open the License dialog on the machine you are leaving and click Deactivate this machine. The seat is freed straight away, so you can activate the key on the new machine, and the old one goes back to its trial. If the old machine is lost or no longer starts, contact support@schemity.com and the seat will be released for you.

Yes. Schemity is free for students and educators with all features unlocked and 1 year of updates included. Email support@schemity.com with your .edu email address to request a free license.

The app works forever - you just stop receiving updates, fixes included. You can renew at any time to get the latest version.

All payments are processed by LemonSqueezy, which accepts credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal. Schemity never sees or stores your payment information.

Yes. The Team License is $499, a one-time purchase for up to 5 engineers, with 15 machine activations shared across the team and 1 year of updates. Whoever buys it can see every machine holding a seat at license.schemity.com/seats and free one remotely when someone leaves or a laptop dies. It is bought by card or PayPal, like the single License.

Anything the checkout does not cover - paying by invoice or purchase order, licensing more than 5 engineers, activating machines with no internet access, or answering a security review - is handled by email: write to support@schemity.com with what you need. Schemity stays a one-time purchase either way - there is no per-seat subscription and no features held back behind an enterprise plan.

Use the GitHub feedback repository to report bugs and submit feature requests. You can also reach out on the Discord community.

Email us at support@schemity.com for any questions, licensing issues, or general inquiries.

Yes! Join the Schemity Discord server to connect with other users, share feedback, and get updates on new releases.

New versions are released periodically. Download the latest installer from the Platforms section of the website and install it over your existing version.