Moving data sources to another machine

File › Export data sources… writes data sources, and the projects they are in, to one file. File › Import data sources… adds them on another machine, or updates the ones it already has. Use it to set up a new computer, or to share a team’s databases. Passwords are never exported: each data source asks for its own the first time it connects (see Passwords and the keychain).

Exporting

Tick the data sources to export. Ticking a project ticks all of its data sources; a project is also exported whenever one of its data sources is, so each lands in its project on the other machine. Projects carry their MCP settings, and data sources their MCP login’s user, but not its password (see Connecting an AI assistant). Export… asks where to write the file.

The file is TOML, in the same format as your own data_sources.toml (see Where dbdesk keeps its files), plus a format_version and the projects. It is readable and diffable, so a team can keep it in a repository.

Paths travel with it: a SQLite or DuckDB file, or a CA file, next to the exported file (or in a folder under it) is written relative to it, and one in your home folder as ~/…. Both are turned back into full paths on import, so a repository holding the export and its databases works wherever it is checked out. Paths with a placeholder are kept as they are.

Importing

Import data sources… asks for a file, then shows what importing it would change before anything is saved:

• Each project and data source is new, unchanged, or differs, with each setting that differs shown as this machine’s value → the file’s.

• Entries are matched by their id, which every export keeps, so importing a file twice never duplicates anything. Projects are matched by id, and then by their slug.

• A database or CA file this machine doesn’t have is shown in amber. Import it anyway, and change the path afterwards with Edit….

• Choose, for each entry:

  Choice	What it does
  Import / Update	Adds it, or makes this machine’s entry match the file. A project keeps its slug, so MCP clients set up with it keep working.
  Skip	Leaves this machine as it is. A data source in a skipped new project is imported in No project.
  Import as a copy	Adds it next to this machine’s entry, under a new id, with “(copy)” after its name. A copied project gets a slug of its own.

New and changed entries start on Import or Update, unchanged ones on Skip, so importing a file you imported before changes nothing. Import saves the projects, then the data sources.