macOS, Windows & Linux

One GPU-rendered workbench across macOS, Windows, and Linux, using the native graphics path on each rather than a webview in a trench coat.

SQLly is one Rust codebase with a GPU-accelerated native interface on macOS, Windows, and Linux. You get the same editor, object explorer, and result grid everywhere; only the small platform layer that talks to the window system, GPU, and text stack changes underneath. The desktop app renders directly on the GPU, with no browser runtime along for the ride.

How it talks to each OS

Each platform uses the native rendering and windowing path that fits it best rather than settling for a shared lowest common denominator:

Same engine, same features, same pig. These differences are simply how SQLly feels at home on each operating system.

macOS

On the Mac, SQLly uses Metal on Apple Silicon, Core Text for layout, and Cocoa / AppKit for its windows. The goal is straightforward: it should feel like a good Mac app, not a compromise that happened to compile there.

• Intuitive file navigation - a custom open & save dialog designed for how you actually browse files on macOS; the project file picker already searches with prefixes like v:, p:, f:, and schema:.
• Keyboard-first flow - a command palette, a keyboard tab switcher, and fuzzy matching baked into search and navigation throughout.
• Native to the platform - real Metal drawing on Apple Silicon, system font rendering via Core Text, and standard macOS window and menu behavior.
• An adorable pig mascot - non-negotiable, genuinely delighted you're writing SQL.

SQLly

Windows

On Windows, the same UI uses Direct3D 11 (DirectX) and DirectComposition for smooth presentation, with DirectWrite handling text. The Win32 window layer keeps snapping, virtual desktops, and high-DPI scaling behaving as Windows users expect.

• DirectX-native rendering - every frame on the GPU via Direct3D 11, no software fallback and no embedded browser.
• Crisp text at any scale - DirectWrite handles font shaping and per-monitor DPI, so the editor stays sharp on mixed-DPI setups.
• The whole workbench - identical editor, explorer, and result grid; the same keyboard-first flow and command palette.
• x64 & ARM64 - native builds for both Intel/AMD and ARM Windows machines, on Windows 10 and 11.

Linux

On Linux, SQLly renders through Vulkan via GPUI's Blade layer and prefers Wayland, with an X11 path when Wayland is unavailable. Fontconfig and Cosmic Text pick up the fonts already on your machine.

• Vulkan-accelerated - GPU rendering through Blade on a modern Vulkan driver, not a CPU rasterizer.
• Wayland-first - native Wayland windowing with fractional scaling, and an X11 path for older sessions.
• System-native fonts - Fontconfig + Cosmic Text pull in the fonts already installed on your machine.
• x64 & ARM64 - native builds for both Intel/AMD and ARM64 (aarch64) Linux desktops.