Calíope

Open the Connection Manager from the sidebar or main menu bar, then click the + button. Fill in your server's host, port, username, and password.

Your credentials are stored securely using the native Keychain (macOS Security Framework) and are never transmitted to any third-party or developer servers.

In the Connection Manager, enable the SSH Tunnel toggle. Enter your SSH host, port, and username.

Calíope supports password authentication and key-based authentication (Ed25519 and ECDSA P-256/384/521). The implementation uses native SwiftNIO-SSH — no external SSH clients are needed and decrypted keys are never written to disk.

As of the July 2026 security hardening, Calíope verifies the server's TLS certificate by default against system trust roots. If you connect to a server with a self-signed certificate and you don't supply a CA, the connection will fail.

You have two options:

• Recommended: provide the CA certificate file in the SSL section of the profile.
• For development only: tick the "Accept untrusted certificate (insecure)" checkbox. The connection will still be encrypted but is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.

Please perform the following quick diagnostics:

• Verify the connection host, port, username, and password are correct.
• Ensure that your MariaDB/MySQL server is configured to accept remote connections from your IP address (check the bind-address setting in your my.cnf).
• If using SSL, verify your certificates and ensure the proper SSL mode is selected.
• If behind a firewall or VPN, make sure that port 3306 (or your custom database port) is fully open.
• Isolate the issue by attempting to connect from the terminal using the command-line client mysql -u [user] -h [host] -p.

Your query history is kept locally on your device in a private SQLite database. It is strictly offline by default and is never uploaded. You can browse, search, filter, and permanently delete your execution logs via the History panel inside the SQL editor.

If you opt in to iCloud query log sync, the literal query text travels to your private iCloud — Calíope shows a warning before enabling this.

Navigate to the Backup engine in the sidebar. Select your desired databases and tables, establish your backup schedule (daily, weekly, custom), and select the target local destination folder. Backup operations are executed locally using a non-blocking asynchronous streaming engine.

Yes. Calíope offers optional iCloud synchronization for connection profiles, snippets and scheduled backups using Apple's iCloud Key-Value Store and CloudKit private database.

To preserve security, database passwords are not synced by default; Keychain entries stay on the device unless you explicitly enable iCloud Keychain sync. You can manage iCloud sync under Preferences → iCloud.

Open Preferences → Privacy → Erase all my data. One button wipes connection profiles, Keychain entries, query log, snippets, configuration and widget cache. This complies with GDPR Article 17.

Because we want Calíope to be shaped by the people who use it, and that only works if there's someone on the other end with the time to listen. We're a small team: we read and answer the email ourselves, and feature requests genuinely make it onto the work list.

The subscription is also what lets us not do other things. Calíope carries no ads, no trackers and no third-party analytics, and it sells nobody's data. Your telemetry is a local JSON file you can read in full, and it is shared only if you choose to send it. Keeping that model running costs money, and we'd rather you paid for it than an advertiser.

If something's missing, ask for it — it's the most direct way to influence what gets built, and whatever is already underway is on the public roadmap.

And yes, some of it goes on coffee. We consider that critical infrastructure.

We read it, we reply, and we log it on the public roadmap. From there two things carry weight: how many people are asking for the same thing, and whether it fits the way Calíope is built.

We can't promise that everything requested gets built — that would be a promise we couldn't keep. What we do promise is that it gets read, and that if we turn an idea down we tell you why. Write to us from Suggest a feature.

The contextual AI assistant is optional and disabled by default. To use it, navigate to Preferences → AI Assistant and supply your personal API key for OpenAI or Google Gemini.

Only database metadata (table and column names, foreign keys) plus the prompt you type are sent to the AI API. Your row contents and credentials are never transmitted.

Yes. Calíope is monetized through a yearly subscription managed by StoreKit 2 and the Apple App Store. It includes a 7-day free trial. Your subscription is linked directly to your Apple ID, enabling you to use Calíope on any of your macOS and iPadOS devices signed into that Apple ID.

To manage, review, or cancel your subscription, open the App Store app → tap your account icon → Subscriptions.

Open Calíope and tap or click Restore Purchases in the paywall view. The app queries the App Store to validate your active entitlement automatically.

We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try these steps:

1. Completely restart Calíope.
2. Verify that your operating system and Calíope are fully updated.
3. If the issue continues, please reach out to us at support@caliope.org. If possible, attach any diagnostic logs or crash reports from Console.app (macOS) or Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements (iPadOS).