pgAdmin

The PostgreSQL web UI for engineers — inspect tables, write ad-hoc SQL, review query plans. Starts on click, stops when idle.

Tier

Hot. pgAdmin stays running so engineers can reach the warehouse at any moment without waiting on an image pull or container start. Memory: ~500 MB. (Previously cold-tier; we promoted it to hot because the spin-up wait on every Open broke the "I just want to glance at a table" flow.)

Sign-in: pgAdmin runs its own session. From the dashboard, open pgAdmin's Details · pin · activity page → in the Connection card click Reveal to surface the email + password the wizard captured, then paste them into pgAdmin's sign-in form. Admin-only; every reveal lands in the audit log.

Role

Engineer-only tool for exploring the warehouse. Stakeholders use Metabase; engineers use pgAdmin when they need raw SQL or schema inspection. Alternatives: Adminer (~50 MB, single-file PHP) or pgweb (~30 MB, read-only Go binary).

Configuration

• PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL — admin login email
• PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD — admin password

On first launch, add a server connection pointing at postgres:5432 with your warehouse credentials.

Who has access

By default, only users with roles that have can_start=true and can_use=true on pgAdmin. That's typically Admin and Engineer. Analysts can be granted access per-role from the dashboard's Users → Roles page.