Connecting to your data
Every data source uses the same flow: open Connections, create a connection, pick the source, fill in its form, test, and save. The form adapts to the engine, so you only see fields that apply. Fields marked required must be filled in; everything else has a sensible default.
Passwords, API keys and other secrets go to Windows Credential Manager, never to the connection profile.
DataCraft supports 24 providers. This page covers the most common forms. The other providers follow the same flow, with fields that match the engine.
Databases
PostgreSQL
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Host (required) | Server name or IP address |
| Port (required) | Usually 5432 |
| Database (required) | The database to open |
| Username (required) | |
| Password | Stored in Credential Manager |
| SSL mode (required) | Match your server's TLS requirement |
| Root certificate | For verifying a server certificate signed by your own CA |
| Connection timeout, query timeout | In milliseconds |
| Minimum and maximum pool size | Connections kept open for this profile |
| Application name | Shown to the server, for example in pg_stat_activity |
SQL Server
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Server (required) | Server name or IP address |
| Port (required) | Usually 1433 |
| Database (required) | |
| Authentication (required) | How to sign in to the server |
| Login (required) | |
| Password | Stored in Credential Manager |
| Encrypt connection | Turn on when the server requires encryption |
| Trust server certificate | Only for servers with self-signed certificates you trust |
| Application name | Shown to the server |
| Query timeout | In milliseconds |
MySQL / MariaDB
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Host (required) | Defaults to localhost |
| Port (required) | Usually 3306 |
| Database (required) | |
| Username (required) | |
| Password | Negotiates caching_sha2_password or mysql_native_password with the server |
| TLS mode (required) | Defaults to verifying the server's certificate and host name |
| CA certificate | Shown when the TLS mode verifies the certificate |
| Connection timeout | Default 10 seconds |
| Query timeout | Default 60 seconds |
| Pool size | Connections kept open for this profile |
SQLite
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Database file (required) | For example D:\data\app.sqlite |
| Create when missing | Create a new, empty database if the file doesn't exist |
No user name or password—SQLite is a local file.
DuckDB
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Database file (required) | For example D:\data\analytics.duckdb |
| Create when missing | Create a new, empty database if the file doesn't exist |
| Worker threads | Default 4 |
No user name or password—DuckDB runs inside DataCraft.
Document and search engines
MongoDB
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Connection URI (required) | For example mongodb://host:27017 or a mongodb+srv:// URI |
| Authentication database | Often admin |
| Username, password | Leave empty for servers without authentication |
| Replica set | Name of the replica set, if any |
| Read preference | Which members queries may read from |
| Use TLS, CA certificate | For encrypted connections |
| Connection timeout, operation timeout | In milliseconds |
| Maximum pool size | |
Elasticsearch
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Endpoint (required) | For example https://localhost:9200 |
| Default index or alias | Opened by default in the editor |
| Authentication (required) | User name and password, API key, or Elastic Cloud ID |
| Verify TLS certificate | Keep on unless you use a certificate you trust but can't verify |
| CA certificate | For clusters signed by your own CA |
| Request timeout | In milliseconds |
Files
File sources need no server, user name or password. Point DataCraft at a folder and every matching file in it appears as a table you can query with SQL.
CSV files
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Folder (required) | Every .csv, .tsv, .psv and .txt file becomes an object |
| First row is a header | On by default |
| Delimiter | Comma, semicolon, tab or pipe |
| Quote character | Default " |
| Encoding | UTF-8, UTF-8 with BOM, Windows-1252 or ISO-8859-1 |
| Rows sampled for type inference | Default 1,000 (10–100,000). More rows infer column types more accurately but open files more slowly |
CSV folders support writes and complete large exports.
Excel, JSON and Parquet files
| Source | Files included |
|---|
| Excel workbooks | .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .xls, .ods |
| JSON files | .json, .jsonl, .ndjson |
| Parquet files | .parquet |
| Field | Notes |
|---|
| Folder (required) | Every matching file in the folder becomes an object |
| Rows sampled for type inference | Default 1,000 (10–100,000) |
These sources are read-only. Column types are inferred from the data, and each column shows that its type was inferred.
Tips
- Test before saving. The test tells you whether the host, credentials and TLS settings work.
- Timeouts are the safety net for engines where a running query can't be stopped from the app.
- Connection problems? See Troubleshooting.
