MQLens
Documentation

Getting started with MQLens

MQLens is a native desktop GUI for MongoDB. Point it at any deployment — local, self-hosted, or Atlas — and browse, query, aggregate, and manage your data from a single cross-platform app.

Install

Download the build for your platform from the download section or the releases page:

  • macOS — open the .dmg and drag MQLens to Applications. Builds are Apple-notarized, so Gatekeeper will let it run.
  • Windows — run the .msi or .exe installer. Installers are Azure Trusted Signing–signed.
  • Linux — install the .deb (sudo apt install ./MQLens_*.deb) or make the .AppImage executable and run it.

To use the embedded shell you'll also need mongosh on your PATH.

Your first connection

  1. Launch MQLens and set a master password — this encrypts your saved connection profiles at rest.
  2. Create a connection: enter a host (standalone or replica set) or paste a full connection string.
  3. Configure transport and auth as needed — TLS (system CA, custom CA file, or client certificate), an SSH tunnel, or a SOCKS5 proxy, plus your auth mechanism.
  4. Hit Test Connection. The staged check reports each real phase: parse → DNS resolve → connect → ping.
  5. Connect, then browse databases, collections, views, and GridFS buckets in the tree and start querying.

Verifying downloads

Every release asset ships with a detached GPG signature (.asc), and macOS bundles are additionally Apple-notarized. To verify a download:

# Import the MQLens release public key (once):
gpg --import KEYS    # from the repo, or:
curl -L https://mqlens.com/KEYS | gpg --import

# Verify an asset against its .asc:
gpg --verify MQLens_0.1.0_amd64.deb.asc MQLens_0.1.0_amd64.deb

Signing key — MQLens Releases <[email protected]>, fingerprint:

8E10 C09D 1FEC 8C8F 90B1  DB7E 5804 6649 06E7 D373

Security model

  • Connection credentials and settings are encrypted at rest behind your master password using AES-256-GCM with Argon2id key derivation. Nothing is stored in plaintext once the vault is initialized.
  • Disabling TLS certificate validation is an explicit, opt-in choice (with an in-app warning) — it is never silent.
  • AI provider API keys are held in the backend, out of the frontend bundle.
MQLens talks directly to whatever MongoDB deployment you point it at. Use the usual care with production credentials.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/mqlens/mqlens-mongodb.git
cd mqlens-mongodb
npm install
npm run tauri dev      # run the desktop app with hot reload
npm run tauri build    # produce a platform installer / bundle

Prerequisites

Hit a snag? Open an issue on GitHub →