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Show HN: Aidmin – Web-based database GUI

by inssein on 4/18/21, 3:32 PM with 41 comments

Hi All,

I’ve been working on Aidmin for quite some time now, and finally released a beta version of it.

I’ve focused most of my efforts on security, making sure that Aidmin can’t negatively impact your database. I talk about that a little bit in the Security Overview (https://github.com/aidmin-io/docs/blob/main/security-overvie...).

I would love to know if Aidmin would be helpful at your workplace, and if not, why? Are there any features that are missing which would make it much more useful?

Thank you for checking out the project!

  • by cloudking on 4/18/21, 5:50 PM

    It looks like your goal is to enable non-developers in an organization to make changes to a production database?

    If so, you may want to consider that non-developers typically don't have access to production databases for a good reason: they can easily make breaking changes.

    You may want to consider creating a "pull request" type functionality where a non-developer can create a change, and instead of having it executed immediately, be sent to a developer/reviewer for review and approval. This would still save developers time in crafting complex SQL queries, instead focusing on reviewing the changes others are proposing and ensuring they don't break the system.

  • by zsims on 4/18/21, 10:16 PM

    > In order for Aidmin to help you manage your database, we require that you share your database credentials with us.

    Woah. This is a huge red flag for any company or enterprise.

  • by adontz on 4/18/21, 8:06 PM

    I would attach Django to an existing database and [ab]use django.contrib.admin to get quite user friendly interface to a database, with validation, mater-detail views, etc. It's really not that hard.

    What is the advantage of aidmin?

  • by jesterson on 4/19/21, 6:28 AM

    Hate to be a party breaker, but what are selling points of your product? What does it make better than Metabase or phpMyAdmin?

    As it was mentioned, sharing access password with the service is worst thing possible in system like yours. It is a dealbreaker for me and many others.

  • by ineedasername on 4/19/21, 1:57 AM

    I'd like to check it out, but you can't even view their beta site without giving name and email. It's interesting, but I'm having a hard time getting much enthusiasm when they don't respect my privacy at such a basic level.

  • by lakshmibaskaran on 4/18/21, 6:19 PM

    Start ups do not have the luxury of creating access control mechanisms for developers in the Production DB. I believe Aidmin will act as the Audit log for developer access

  • by ark0n3 on 4/18/21, 7:11 PM

    I would see this as an on-premise tool more than a SaaS, given we're taking about low level access to dbs. My 2 cents.

  • by someuser123123 on 4/19/21, 2:30 AM

    If someone is capable of hosting their own PostgreSQL database they probably use it as a storage for their backend and you don't want to give any access for production database. If you do then why use self hosted DB? Maybe google spreadsheets is enough for your business?

    RBAC? Look at row based security. Audit logs? There are few robust trigger based solutions. Want quick access and UI? Just use any existing tool.

    I don't see any benefit of using this tool.

  • by kqvamxurcagg on 4/18/21, 6:27 PM

    Looks neat. I’ve developed a bunch of apps for our business but haven’t developed a management GUI. Looks like this could do the job with minimal hassle.

  • by conzar on 4/18/21, 8:52 PM

    For read-only, we use Metabase at work.

    https://www.metabase.com

  • by ineedasername on 4/19/21, 2:57 AM

    Seems like phpMyAdmin only w/ SaaS. And there's near equivalents for phpMyAdmin for many different systems.

  • by johnchristopher on 4/18/21, 6:21 PM

    Looks neat. From the video, I assume it keeps a log of every users' queries, right ?

    What's the advantage over giving dbeaver to users and set up their users right at the db level ? Cleaner UI (that's a big +1) ? Access and right management ?

  • by yoavm on 4/18/21, 9:35 PM

    What databases are supported? I couldn't find any list like that.

  • by de6u99er on 4/18/21, 7:56 PM

    What happened to the source code? Someone could easily get the impression that you're using other peoples' open source code in your application, or that you're trying to hide something else.

    As long as I don't see the source code, you won't get any other feedback from me.