MotherDuck Web UI
Getting started
To log in to the MotherDuck UI, go to app.motherduck.com.
You can also open the web UI directly from the DuckDB CLI:
duckdb "md:" -ui
Main window
The MotherDuck UI is organized around a notebook-style editor with a database browser on the left and results inspection on the right.
Instant SQL: write SQL with real time feedback
Instant SQL gives you keystroke-fast query previews — results update as you type, with no run button needed.
Under the hood, MotherDuck uses Dual Execution to parse and run your query locally first, giving you immediate feedback while full cloud results load in the background. A caching indicator in the cell header shows when results are served from local cache.
Enabling Instant SQL
Toggle Instant SQL on or off per cell using:
- The Instant SQL toggle in the cell header
- The keyboard shortcut
Ctrl/⌘+Shift+.
What works with Instant SQL
- Filtering in real time: Add or change a
WHEREclause and watch results narrow instantly. - Multi-statement cells: Click on any individual statement within a multi-statement cell to preview just that one.
- Window functions: Window functions are fully supported in Instant SQL previews.
Fix errors and edit queries with AI
MotherDuck's AI features help you fix broken queries, rewrite SQL in plain English, and generate queries from scratch — all without leaving the editor.
"Help me fix this broken query" — FixIt
When you run a query that has an error, FixIt automatically analyzes the error and suggests an inline fix. Click to accept and re-run in one step.
By default, FixIt auto-suggests fixes whenever an error occurs. You can turn off auto-suggest and still trigger FixIt manually by clicking Suggest fix at the bottom of any error message.
Toggle auto-suggest in Settings → Preferences → Enable inline SQL error fix suggestions.
FixIt is available on all plans, including the Lite plan (with limits).
"Modify my SQL using plain english" — edit
Select text in your query (or place your cursor anywhere) and press Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + E to open the Edit dialog. Describe what you want to change in natural language:
Review the suggestion, then iterate with follow-up prompts if needed:
When you're happy with the result, click Apply edit to update your query.
Going further with SQL assistant functions
For programmatic AI access (text-to-SQL, query explanation, schema understanding), see the SQL Assistant functions reference. These are available in any DuckDB client connected to MotherDuck, not just the web UI.
Explore your results
Interactive data grid
Query results load into an interactive data grid where you can sort, filter, and pivot without writing more SQL.
Click the Expand button at the top right of any cell to go full-screen on the editor and results.
Column Explorer
The Column Explorer shows statistics for every column in a table or result set — value frequencies, NULL percentages, histograms for numeric columns, and time-series charts for timestamp columns.
Toggle the Column Explorer with Ctrl/⌘ + I or the toggle button at the top right of the results panel.
Cell content pane
Click any cell in the results grid to see its full contents in the Cell Content Pane.
For JSON columns, you can expand and collapse nodes, copy the value, or copy the key path to any nested field.
Write queries faster
Autocomplete
Autocomplete suggests SQL syntax, table names, column names, and functions as you type. Turn it off in Settings → Preferences → Enable autocomplete when typing.
Inline docs
Hover over any SQL function in the editor to see its description, parameter types, and return type. Click the Docs link in the tooltip to open the full reference.
Turn off Inline Docs in Settings → Preferences → Enable Inline Docs.
Format SQL
Press Ctrl/⌘ + Alt/⌥ + O to auto-format the SQL in your current cell. When text is selected, only the selection is formatted.
Navigate the workspace
Object explorer & Favorites
Browse your databases, schemas, and tables in the left-hand panel. Toggle it with Ctrl/⌘ + B. Each section collapses on its own, so you can keep the tree focused on what you are working on.
Pin the objects you use most to a Favorites section at the top of the Object explorer. Hover a database, share, notebook, or Dive and click the star. Click the star again, or choose Remove from favorites in the row menu, to unpin it.
Use the new-folder button in the Favorites header to group related items, then drag rows into a folder or into the order you want. Favorites are personal to your account, so each member of an organization keeps their own set.
Command menu
Press Ctrl/⌘ + K to open the command menu for quick access to actions, notebooks, and settings.
Notebook and worksheet views
Toggle between notebook view (multiple cells) and worksheet view (single expanded cell) with Ctrl/⌘ + E.
Running queries
The Running Queries page, found under Settings → Running Queries, lets you monitor and manage long-running queries on your Duckling. For each query, you can see:
- Query: The SQL text of the query (click to expand the full statement).
- Status: Whether the query is active or has completed.
- Start time: When the query started executing.
- Elapsed time: How long the query has been running.
This is useful for identifying queries that are taking longer than expected. You can cancel a running query directly from this page.
For programmatic access to active connections and query cancellation through SQL, see md_active_server_connections() and md_interrupt_server_connection(). For a broader view of query activity across your organization, see the RECENT_QUERIES and QUERY_HISTORY views.
Duckling overview
The Duckling overview page, found under Settings → Duckling overview, gives you an at-a-glance view of activity across every Duckling in the organization over the last 24 hours. Viewing it requires permission to view organization-wide Duckling activity, which the Admin and Builder preset roles include by default. For each Duckling, you can see:
- Account: The MotherDuck user or service account the Duckling belongs to.
- Status: Whether the Duckling is running normally or has encountered errors.
- Spills: Whether queries on this Duckling spilled to disk, which indicates memory pressure from larger-than-memory workloads.
- Active minutes: How long the Duckling was actively running queries over the last 24 hours.
Click a Duckling row to drill in. A bar chart visualizes query activity over time, and a table below lists individual queries. Click a query to open a side panel with the full SQL text, or open a dedicated focus page for a single query.
Use the timezone toggle in the page header to switch between UTC and your local time.
This page requires permission to view organization-wide Duckling activity and is built on the QUERY_HISTORY view, so it has the same ingestion delay — queries from the last few seconds may not appear yet. The Admin and Builder preset roles include this permission by default. For a programmable view of the same data, or a more real-time view of ongoing queries, see the QUERY_HISTORY and RECENT_QUERIES views.
Keyboard shortcuts
Use Ctrl for Windows/Linux and ⌘ (Command) for Mac. Use Alt for Windows/Linux and ⌥ (Option) for Mac.
Running queries
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl/⌘ + Enter | Run the current cell. |
Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + Enter | Run selected text in the current cell. If no text is selected, run the whole cell. |
Shift + Enter or Alt/⌥ + Enter | Run the current cell, then advance to the next cell (creates a new one if needed). |
Editing
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl/⌘ + z | Undo within current cell. |
Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + z | Redo within current cell. |
Ctrl/⌘ + Alt/⌥ + o | Format SQL in the current cell (or selection). |
Ctrl/⌘ + / | Toggle line comments (--). |
Tab | Indent current line (in editor). |
Shift + Tab | De-indent current line (in editor). |
AI features
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + . | Toggle Instant SQL on/off for the active cell. |
Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + e | Open Edit for your current cell or selected text. |
Navigation and layout
| Command | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl/⌘ + k | Open the command menu. |
Ctrl/⌘ + / | Search notebooks, databases and more. |
Ctrl/⌘ + b | Toggle the Object Explorer (left panel). |
Ctrl/⌘ + i | Toggle the Column Explorer (right panel). |
Ctrl/⌘ + e | Toggle notebook/worksheet view for the active cell. |
Ctrl/⌘ + ↑ | Move current cell up. |
Ctrl/⌘ + ↓ | Move current cell down. |
Esc | Switch Tab to UI navigation mode (reverts on next cell selection). |
Settings
Settings are found by clicking your profile at the top-left.
| Section | Setting | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Details | Changing the organization display name requires permission to update it, included in Admin by default. See Managing organizations. |
| Plans | Viewing invoices and selecting a plan each require the corresponding permission, included in Admin by default. | |
| Members | Viewing members and roles requires the corresponding permission, included in every preset role. Managing them requires separate permissions included in Admin. Invitations for Builder and Explorer depend on the invite policy. Members include human users and service accounts. | |
| My Account | Preferences | Enable autocomplete, inline SQL error fix suggestions (FixIt), and Inline Docs. |
| Notifications | Configure notification preferences. | |
| Ducklings | Manage Duckling sizes, Read Scaling pool size, version information, and Duckling reset for troubleshooting. | |
| Integrations | Access Tokens | Create tokens for programmatically authenticating to MotherDuck. Tokens can have expiry dates. |
| Secrets | Storing credentials requires permission to create secrets, while removing them requires permission to delete secrets. Admin and Builder include both permissions by default. See AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage. | |
| Monitor | Running Queries | View and manage active queries. |
| Duckling overview | Viewing organization-wide Duckling activity requires the corresponding permission, included in Admin and Builder by default. See Duckling overview. | |
| Data | Databases | Browse and manage your databases. |
| Shares | View and manage shared databases. | |
| Content | Dives | Manage your saved Dives. |
Databases
Under Data → Databases, viewing every database in the organization requires permission to view all organization databases, which Admin includes by default. Without it, you see databases you own and shared databases you can access. Per-database storage breakdowns require a separate permission to view organization-wide storage information, also included in Admin by default. Click a row to view its lifecycle stages.
Shares
Under Data → Shares, view and manage the databases you've shared and the ones shared with you.
Access tokens
Under Integrations → Access Tokens, create and revoke tokens for authenticating to MotherDuck from the CLI, Python, or other clients.
Dives
Under Content → Dives, find every Dive in your organization, including those created by teammates.
