This page lists what Kerry Studio does that a typical SQL client does not, and what it does with fewer steps, fewer server privileges, or the same interface on PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, Oracle, and SQLite.

Use the tables in an internal discussion: what changes in daily work, what no longer needs a DBA, and what no longer leaves the computer.

How to read

Each topic has up to two tables.

Only in Kerry is what the other client does not deliver in SQL or in the UI. When a server-side equivalent exists, the cell names the cost: DB Link, FDW, a separate script.

More efficient in Kerry is what other clients also do, but with another window, another engine, another tool, or a longer flow.

Others = common desktop SQL clients. The comparison describes the pattern, not a named product.

SQL, projects, and environments

The query stays SQL. The SQL alias @project.table points to a connection you already saved. Variables in SQL :variable take the value from the Variables panel. If the SQL does not pin an environment, the tab’s environment is used.

sql

-- Tab on staging. Production is used only where the token asks.
SELECT s.id, s.amount, p.refunded_at
FROM @billing.public.orders s
LEFT JOIN @billing:production.public.refunds p
  ON p.order_id = s.id;

The same pattern works across engines: the tab on Postgres and @shop.customers on MySQL. Kerry does not ask for a gateway on the server.

Only in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
JOIN with SQL alias across projects, environments, or engines	Yes. `@project.table` or `@project:environment`	No. Only with a DB Link, FDW, or federated table on the server.
Variable in SQL with one value per environment	Yes. `:variable` or `:variable:environment`	No. Generic bind does not choose the environment in the token.
Test data in SQL with `$faker.`	Yes. In the editor or in the variable value	No. Seed is usually a script or a separate tool.
SQL-type variable to reuse a fragment without quotes	Yes. The fragment enters the query as SQL	No.
Export the query with alias and variables already resolved	Yes. In the tab’s dialect	Not as this set.

If the team compares Staging with Production, or Postgres with MySQL, the same query covers both sides. There is no DBA ticket to cross the databases, and the SQL does not need to be rewritten when you change the selector.

More efficient in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Switch Development, Staging, or Production without rewriting the SQL	The tab selector changes. The SQL stays the same if the alias or the variable does not pin the environment.	Another connection, another file, or edit the SQL.
Several statements in the same file, on the same session	Runs in order. Each `SELECT` gets a grid. `BEGIN`/`COMMIT` and `SET` still apply to the next command.	Many clients split the file. The previous result disappears, or the transaction does not span the commands.
Same file talking to two projects via SQL alias	Two `@project.table` tokens in consecutive statements open two grids. A `JOIN` in the same statement materializes the other project.	Two windows, two files, or a script outside the client.

GIS

The map in results draws the query geometry beside the grid. WKT, EWKT, or GeoJSON in the cell is enough. Native types need PostGIS, Locator or Spatial, SpatiaLite, or MySQL’s spatial types.

Only in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Automatic area (m², ha, km²) on the results map	Yes. On the geometry, the drawing, and the column total	No. Spatial viewer, without automatic area.
Draw a polygon on the map and paste it into SQL	Yes. Lasso, rectangle, or ellipse in the tab’s dialect	No.
Merge geometries on the map and paste the result into SQL	Yes. Union of the query with the drawing	No.
Several spatial columns on the same map, one color each	Yes. One color per column	Not as this set.
Export the map with area and measurements	Yes. PNG, SVG, WebP, GeoJSON, and print	Not as this set.

Site visits, zoning, flood extent, a commercial perimeter: you compare polygons in the same result that ran the SQL.

Results and editing

Only in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Edit a cell of a `SELECT` that crosses projects with SQL alias	Yes. It writes to the project and environment of that alias, not to the tab’s connection. Review groups by destination.	No. Grid editing, when it exists, assumes the current connection.
Confirm a production write by typing the environment name	Yes. Production already has this on.	No. The risk of writing to production stays a matter of habit.

More efficient in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Edit a result cell only when the row is a single record	You see the SQL and confirm.	Many clients edit the grid. Few show destination, SQL, and the lock reason.
Undo from history what the table editor wrote	Local history per table. Compare previous and new. Revert an item or the batch.	Generic file history, or the database backup.

Schema and catalog

More efficient in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Keys, FK, tooltip, and table editor the same on all four engines	The same interface on all four engines.	Each engine has a client, or the same app changes what the UI knows.
Know which table a column came from after the query	The grid still knows the table, including with SQL alias. The FK panel opens the related row.	Breaks on `JOIN`, a view, or another database.
Schema from another project in the Entities sidebar	`@project.schema` appears in the same sidebar, with the environment on the icon.	The other database sits in another connection, another tree.
ER diagram from the schema already loaded	Uses the same schema as the sidebar. Filter, orientation, export image.	A separate tool, out of date relative to what the app already loaded.
Monitor sessions, locks, and replication on the tab	Sessions, locks, waits, I/O, replication, and storage for the tab’s connection. End a session. Auto.	Catalog queries pasted by hand, or a different monitor per engine.

Desktop AI

The local MCP server listens only on your computer. Password, SSH, and certificate stay in Kerry. The assistant receives project, environment, schema, and the result of the queries it runs.

Only in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Local MCP server on saved connections, without sending the password	Yes. Schema and SQL in the AI client. The credential does not go to the agent.	Not as a product. Wrappers and scripts exist. The credential usually goes to the agent.
MCP permission by project and environment	Yes. Separate lists for read-only and for writes.	No.
Separate Insert, Update, and Delete in MCP	Yes. There is a default for the list, and each project or connection can differ.	No. Writes, when they exist, are usually one block.
MCP read-only by default	Yes. `INSERT`, `UPDATE`, `Delete`, and `SELECT … FOR UPDATE` are refused until you turn on full mode.	Depends on the wrapper.
Omit password, token, and email in the MCP log and response	Yes. You add fields from your database.	Not with this control.
AI assistant opens and filters the ER diagram	Yes. Opens, filters, frames, and exports, with the MCP mark on the tab.	No.

The team uses Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or another client on the schema, without putting the database password in the agent and without opening Production in write mode. When write access is on, Insert, Update, and Delete still split by project and environment.

Workspace and tabs

More efficient in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
Each tab has its own connection, not the window’s	One tab on Postgres and another on Oracle. Side by side. Read-only is per tab as well.	Another window, or disconnect what was already open.
One project with several environments, switched on the tab selector	The project appears in any workspace. The selector changes the tab’s environment.	Reconnect, or duplicate the connection under another name.
Paste a connection string and open the project already filled in	Opens the project dialog already filled in.	Paste field by field.
Command palette `⌘K` / `CtrlK`	Command, tab, panel, and settings, on the home screen and in a workspace.	Menus and shortcuts scattered.
Snippet filtered by engine and environment	A prefix completes in the editor. All leaves the snippet available on any tab.	A global snippet, with no environment filter.

Data on the computer

Saved connections, credentials, SQL, results, and schema stay on your computer. License checks and updates talk to the Kerry Studio API: key, account email, device id, and the app version, not your database.

More efficient in Kerry

Capability	Kerry Studio	Others
No query or schema telemetry	Does not send it.	A cloud client sends query and schema. Third-party desktops vary.
Backup of the install in a `.ksb` file	Workspaces, connections, snippets, variables, and history.	Reinstall and reconnect.
Export a workspace as `.json` to share	The slice, without taking the whole install.	A loose SQL file, or a database backup.
Copy a table between connections of the same engine, on the computer	In the background. Native dump when the slice is the database.	`pg_dump` on the command line, CSV, or ETL.

If the MCP server is on, the desktop assistant may send schema and results to its own cloud model. That is the AI client, not Kerry.