longo-ui

A k9s-style terminal UI for MongoDB database management.

Features

• Manage multiple MongoDB connection strings (contexts)
• Browse databases and collections interactively
• View documents with compressed or full JSON modes
• Execute MongoDB queries (basic and advanced)
• Edit documents using neovim
• Keyboard-driven navigation with shortcuts

Installation

cd longo-ui
pip install -e .

Configuration

Add a connection context

longo config add --name local --connection "mongodb://localhost:27017"
longo config add --name prod --connection "mongodb://user:pass@host:27017/db?authSource=admin"

List contexts

longo config list

Remove a context

longo config remove --name local

Usage

Launch the UI:

longo

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global

• ? - Show help with all shortcuts
• q - Quit application
• c - Switch contexts
• d - Jump to databases view
• r - Refresh current view

Navigation

• enter - Select item (database, collection, or document)
• escape - Go back one level
• ↑/↓ - Navigate up/down
• j/k - Navigate up/down (vim-style)

Document View

• Space - Expand/collapse current document (JSON view mode)
• v - Toggle between JSON and table view modes
• V - Expand all columns with horizontal scrolling (table mode only)
• ←/→ - Scroll columns left/right (table mode only)
• s - Open search bar (field-specific filtering)
• / - Open sort bar (sort by field and direction)
• : - Open drilldown bar (nested field selection)
• Ctrl+Q - Open query bar (MongoDB queries)
• j - View document in popup dialog
• e - Edit selected document in neovim
• x - Delete selected document
• n - Next page
• p - Previous page

Collection View

• i - Show collection info/stats

Query Dialog

• ctrl+e - Execute query
• escape - Cancel query

Navigation Flow

1. Databases View (default)

   • Shows all databases with collection counts
   • Press enter to select a database

2. Collections View

   • Shows collections in selected database with document counts
   • Press enter to view documents in a collection
   • Press escape to go back to databases
   • Press i to show collection stats

3. Documents View

   • Shows documents as expandable JSON (default view)
   • Press Space to expand/collapse individual documents
   • Press v to switch to table view mode
   • Press j to view document in popup dialog
   • Press e to edit document in neovim
   • Press x to delete document
   • Press s to search/filter documents
   • Press / to sort documents
   • Press Ctrl+Q to execute custom query
   • Press n/p for next/previous page
   • Press escape to go back to collections

Query Examples

Execute MongoDB queries using the Ctrl+Q key:

Basic queries:

collection.find({})
collection.find({"status": "active"})
collection.find({"age": {"$gt": 25}})

Advanced queries:

collection.find({}).sort("name", 1)
collection.find({"status": "active"}).limit(10)
db.collection_name.aggregate([{"$group": {"_id": "$status", "count": {"$sum": 1}}}])

Note: For simple sorting, use the / key (Sort Mode) instead of writing queries.

Document Views

JSON View (default)

Shows documents as compact JSON, similar to MongoDB Compass:

• Each document displayed as single-line JSON (truncated at 200 chars)
• Press Space to expand/collapse individual documents
• Expanded documents show formatted, indented JSON
• Works perfectly with collections that have varying schemas
• Navigate with arrow keys or j/k
• Press Space again to collapse back to single-line

Example:

# Collapsed:
1  {"_id": "507f...", "name": "John", "email": "john@example.com", "address": {...}}

# Expanded (press Space):
1  {
     "_id": "507f...",
     "name": "John",
     "email": "john@example.com",
     "address": {
       "street": "123 Main St",
       "city": "NYC"
     }
   }

Table View (press v to switch)

Shows documents in traditional column format:

• First 10 columns by default
• Values truncated to 50 characters
• Press V to expand all columns with horizontal scrolling
• Best for collections with consistent schemas

Popup Dialog (j)

View individual document as formatted JSON in a popup dialog.

Command Bar (k9s-style)

A command bar appears at the top of the screen when activated. It has four modes:

Search Mode (s)

• Opens command bar with 🔍 Field > prompt
• Step 1: Enter field name to filter on
  • Supports dot notation (e.g., user.address.city)
  • Use ALL_FIELDS for global search across all fields
  • Shows field suggestions as you type
  • Press → to accept top suggestion
  • Press Enter to proceed to value entry
• Step 2: Enter value to search for
  • Uses MongoDB queries for server-side filtering
  • Searches ALL documents in collection (not just current page)
  • Case-insensitive partial matching
  • Real-time filtering with 2-second debounce
  • Press Enter to apply filter and close command bar
• Shows total match count in header
• Supports pagination through filtered results
• ESC to close and clear filter

Sort Mode (/)

• Opens command bar with ⬍ Field > prompt
• Step 1: Enter field name to sort by
  • Supports dot notation (e.g., user.age, metadata.createdAt)
  • Shows field suggestions as you type
  • Press → to accept top suggestion
  • Press Enter to proceed to direction entry
• Step 2: Enter sort direction
  • Type: asc, desc, 1, or -1
  • Shows suggestions: asc | desc
  • Press → to accept top suggestion
  • Press Enter to apply sort and close command bar
• Sorting persists across page navigation
• ESC to close without sorting

Query Mode (Ctrl+Q)

• Opens command bar with ⚡ prompt
• Enter MongoDB query syntax
• Press Enter to execute
• Example: collection.find({"status": "active"})
• ESC to cancel

Drill Down Mode (:)

• Opens command bar with 🎯 prompt
• Type nested field path (e.g., user.address.city)
• Shows suggestions below as you type
• Press → (right arrow) to accept top suggestion
• Press Enter to drill into that field
• Shows nested data as table columns
• ESC in drilldown view clears it

The command bar appears at the top when activated, with suggestions displayed below the input.

Editing Documents

1. Navigate to a document in the Documents view
2. Press e to open in neovim
3. Edit the JSON
4. Save and quit (:wq)
5. Document will be updated in MongoDB

Note: The _id field is preserved and cannot be modified.

Configuration File

Contexts are stored in ~/.config/longo/config.yaml:

contexts:
  local: mongodb://localhost:27017
  prod: mongodb://user:pass@host:27017/db
current_context: local

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• MongoDB 3.6+
• neovim (for document editing)

Dependencies

• textual - Modern TUI framework
• pymongo - MongoDB driver
• pyyaml - Configuration management