Connecting

The Databases page lists everything discovery found. Pick one and press Connect (or Open once it’s connected).

The dialog fills in what Wharfbase already knows: the user and database from the container’s environment, and where a password is (for example env:POSTGRES_PASSWORD). You choose how to log in:

• Type the password, or
• Use the password from the container: Wharfbase reads that one variable when you connect, uses it, and writes an audit entry. It never shows it. Admins can turn this off (WB_SECRET_HINTS=off).

Options:

• Remember the password: stored encrypted with the master key. Otherwise it’s kept in memory until the server restarts, and you’re asked again after that.
• Read-only: Wharfbase refuses writes, and where the engine can, the database refuses them too.
• Shared (admins): everyone can use the connection; viewers only read.
• Test checks the credentials without saving anything.

The first connection to a database activates it. The Community plan activates 5 databases per server; an admin can free a slot with Deactivate. A database nobody saved a password for and nobody opened in 30 days frees its slot by itself.

Production databases (tagged production, by label or by hand) open read-only. The lock in the workspace header unlocks writes for 5 to 60 minutes; a red countdown shows while they’re on, and the unlock is audited.

SQLite files inside containers open as a snapshot (a read-only copy); files Wharfbase can see on the host can open live.