Connect and get started with CanvaDB
CanvaDB is a visual canvas for managing, querying, and migrating your databases — without writing raw SQL or ops scripts. Follow the steps below to go from sign-up to your first live database connection.
Create an account
Sign up at canvadb.com with your email or continue with Google, GitHub, or Microsoft. No credit card required for the free plan.
Verify your email
Check your inbox for a verification link. You must confirm your email before you can log in. The link expires after 24 hours — use the resend option if needed.
Check your spam folder if the email doesn't arrive within a few minutes.
Check your inbox
We sent a verification link to alex@company.com.
Click it to activate your account. The link expires in 24 hours.
Complete onboarding
A short 4-step wizard walks you through your organization details, the databases you work with, your migration goals, and a bit about your team. You can skip it and come back later.
Create a workspace
From the Projects page, create a new workspace — think of it as a canvas for one database environment (e.g. "Production", "Staging"). Free accounts can have one workspace.
Connect a database
Drag a database type onto the canvas, then click Connect. Paste your connection string — CanvaDB will parse the credentials, test the connection, and pull your schema automatically. Supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, MongoDB, and DynamoDB.
Credentials are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and never stored in plain text.
Use ?sslmode=require for cloud-hosted instances (RDS, Supabase, Neon).
Append ?ssl=true for PlanetScale, AWS RDS, or any TLS-required host.
Windows auth not supported. Use SQL Server auth (username + password).
Use mongodb+srv:// for Atlas. For local: mongodb://localhost:27017/dbname.
DynamoDB uses AWS credentials instead of a connection string. Provide your AWS Region, Access Key ID, and Secret Access Key.
- Supabase — Project Settings → Database → Connection string (URI tab)
- Neon — Dashboard → your project → Connection Details → Pooled connection
- PlanetScale — Connect → select framework → copy the DATABASE_URL
- MongoDB Atlas — Database → Connect → Connect your application → copy the SRV string
- AWS RDS — RDS console → your DB → Connectivity → Endpoint + Port
Use a connection string from your cloud provider (Atlas, RDS, Cloud SQL, PlanetScale, etc.)
Explore the canvas
Your connected databases appear as nodes on the canvas. Drag to rearrange, draw edges to map relationships between databases, and use the toolbar to save, export, or share a public read-only link.
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Double-click a node to inspect tables
Double-clicking any connected node opens the DB Builder — a full-screen panel with three areas: a Schema Explorer on the left listing every table and column, a visual Table Canvas in the center where tables appear as draggable cards showing columns, primary keys (PK), and foreign keys (FK), and a Query Builder on the right where you can write and run queries directly against your live database. The Quick Query bar at the bottom gives one-click shortcuts for common queries like Select all, Count rows, or Filter by ID.
The AI assistant has 20 free lifetime uses on the free plan. Upgrade to PRO for unlimited AI query generation.
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Invite your team
Head to the Organisation page to create departments and invite teammates by email. Members can be assigned Read, Write, or Admin roles per workspace.
Member invites require a PRO or Enterprise plan.
Ready to visualize your databases?
The free plan includes one workspace, one database connection, 20 AI query uses, and pipelines up to 1 GB — no credit card needed.