Install the DBeaver plugin
The PanDev Metrics plugin for DBeaver makes database work visible in your metrics. Before it, an analyst, DBA, or backend developer could spend half a day investigating an incident through SQL queries and still look inactive in the reports. The plugin installs from a p2 update site, signs in with an API token, and its data lands in the same activity timeline as your IDE, browser, and terminal activity.
Requirements
- DBeaver 25.x or newer, Community or PRO. Verified on DBeaver 26.1.4.
- No separate Java install — DBeaver ships its own runtime.
- An API token from your PanDev Metrics workspace (see Sign in).
What the plugin does
The plugin hooks into Query Manager, DBeaver's built-in extension point that every database call passes through. That means no DBeaver fork and no dependency on internal UI classes: the handler registers itself when the IDE starts.
| Event | When it fires | What reaches the metrics |
|---|---|---|
CONSOLE_QUERY | You run SQL | Query structure, row count, duration, error text |
CONNECTION_SUCCESSFUL | A database connection opens | Connection name, DBMS, JDBC URL, database user |
CONNECTION_FAILED | A connection attempt fails | The same, plus the reason |
DB_CELL_MANUAL_CHANGE | You edit data by hand in the result grid | Table, column, new value, row id |
Events are batched and sent every 90 seconds. Anything that did not make it out is encrypted and written to disk, so it survives a DBeaver restart and goes out once the connection is back. Service queries that DBeaver runs on its own — metadata reads for the navigator and autocomplete — are filtered out before anything is queued.
See the overview for the full list of captured and non-captured signals.
Install
There are two ways in: the DBeaver wizard, which is the recommended one and takes about a minute, and the p2 director command line for mass rollout. The wizard steps are below.
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In DBeaver, open Help → Install New Software…
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Click Add… and paste the update site URL into Location:
https://storage.googleapis.com/pandev-backoffice-cloud-test-assets/dbeaver/updates/Offline install: download the plugin archive and pick it with Add… → Archive… instead.
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Select the PanDev Metrics category, click Next and accept the license.
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Finish the wizard and agree to restart DBeaver.
After the restart a PanDev Metrics menu appears in the main menu bar.
Launch DBeaver at least once before you install the plugin. DBeaver in /Applications is a signed and notarized bundle: until the first launch it still carries the quarantine flag, and Gatekeeper verifies the whole signature on that first launch, so any file added inside the bundle before that breaks the signature. macOS does not merely refuse to start such an app — it deletes it as damaged, and recovery is a reinstall.
brew install --cask dbeaver-community
open -a DBeaver # first launch: Gatekeeper checks and approves the app
# quit DBeaver — only now install the plugin
Command-line install
The p2 director works without a GUI and reports failures clearly, which makes it the right tool for mass rollout and CI.
/Applications/DBeaver.app/Contents/MacOS/dbeaver \
-application org.eclipse.equinox.p2.director \
-repository https://storage.googleapis.com/pandev-backoffice-cloud-test-assets/dbeaver/updates/ \
-installIU kz.pandev.metrics.dbeaver.feature.feature.group \
-nosplash -consoleLog
On Linux the launcher is /usr/share/dbeaver/dbeaver, on Windows C:\Program Files\DBeaver\dbeaver.exe. A successful run prints Overall install request is satisfiable and Operation completed. Swap -installIU for -uninstallIU to remove the plugin.
The dropins folder does not work on DBeaver 26.1.4 — the bundle never lands in the p2 profile. Use the wizard or the p2 director.
Sign in
Sign-in is by API token only; login and password are not supported — that is the legacy path. You do not enter a server address or a company login either: the server URL is encrypted inside the token itself and extracted locally.
- After the restart, DBeaver shows the login window. You can also open it later from PanDev Metrics → Sign In…
- Paste your API token and click Sign In.
Open the PanDev Metrics web app, go to Settings → Plugins and click DBeaver — the install instructions open. Copy the value from the Enter your token step; tokens start with pandev_.
The same step has Rotate token and Revoke token. One token is active per workspace, and the same token works for the IDE plugins, the browser extensions and the CLI. On-prem is no different: take the token from your own instance.
The plugin stores the API token itself in the platform secure storage, not just the access token issued from it. When the access token expires, the plugin renews it silently, so you are only asked to sign in again if the token was revoked — and the queued events are kept either way. Collection starts right after you sign in; no restart needed.
Activity indicator
Since version 1.2.0, the DBeaver status bar at the bottom of the window shows a PanDev Metrics chip, one per configured server. The chip carries a state dot and today's activity time, for example 3 h 51 m, and refreshes itself every 60 seconds in the background.
- Green dot — the server is responding.
- Red dot — the server is unreachable or you need to sign in again.
- Grey dot — data is loading.
The time on the chip is your whole day across every category — coding, browser, database, terminal, and AI — the same number the web dashboard shows, not just database work. Clicking the chip opens the Activity time popup: a donut by category, a breakdown with time and shares, a separate AI section that includes background AI time excluded from the total, and a button into the full dashboard. It is the same indicator as in the JetBrains plugin.
Settings
PanDev Metrics → Settings…, or Preferences → PanDev Metrics.
| Setting | Default | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Collect DBeaver work statistics | On | The master switch |
| SQL queries executed by the user | On | CONSOLE_QUERY events |
| Database connections (successful and failed) | On | CONNECTION_SUCCESSFUL / CONNECTION_FAILED events |
| Manual data edits in the results grid | On | DB_CELL_MANUAL_CHANGE events |
| Hide values in query text | On | Literal masking |
| Store new values of manually edited cells | On | The new value inside the edit event |
Privacy
By default, the values inside query text are replaced with ?: the structure is kept, the data is not. Comments are stripped entirely, because that is where copy-pasted production data usually ends up.
-- you ran
SELECT * FROM clients WHERE email = 'ivan@example.com' AND balance > 1000000
-- the server receives
SELECT * FROM clients WHERE email = ? AND balance > ?
Result set contents are never collected, under any setting. Database passwords are never seen: the plugin only knows the connection's user name. What does travel is query structure, table and column names, connection metadata, duration and outcome, and the fact and content of a manual data edit — all over HTTPS, and every one of those points can be turned off in the plugin preferences, including collection as a whole.
Verify
- Open Window → Show View → Error Log right after the restart. You should see
[PanDev Metrics]lines reporting that the bundle is active and the Query Manager handler is registered. - Open a connection and run any query.
- Wait up to 90 seconds — that is the flush interval.
- Open the PanDev Metrics web app → your profile → today. Database activity appears on the timeline.
Troubleshooting
No [PanDev Metrics] lines in the Error Log.
The plugin is not installed. Repeat the install through the wizard or the p2 director — the dropins folder does not work.
No data on the dashboard. Events are sent in batches every 90 seconds, so give it a couple of minutes. Then check that the master switch in Preferences is on and that the status bar chip is green.
Authentication failed, or the chip turned red. The token was most likely rotated or revoked in the web app. Copy the current one from Settings → Plugins and paste it again in PanDev Metrics → Sign In…
macOS deleted DBeaver as damaged.
The plugin was installed into a bundle that had never been launched. Reinstall with brew reinstall --cask dbeaver-community, launch DBeaver once, then install the plugin.
I need a detailed log.
Add -Dpandev.metrics.debug=true after -vmargs in dbeaver.ini (/Applications/DBeaver.app/Contents/Eclipse/dbeaver.ini on macOS, C:\Program Files\DBeaver\dbeaver.ini on Windows, /usr/share/dbeaver/dbeaver.ini on Linux) and restart DBeaver.
I work offline a lot. Nothing to configure. Events queue up locally in encrypted form, survive a restart, and are sent once you are back online.
FAQ
Why a separate plugin instead of the Eclipse one?
DBeaver is built on Eclipse RCP, but the PanDev Eclipse bundle hard-requires org.eclipse.egit, org.eclipse.debug.core, and org.eclipse.core.resources, which DBeaver does not ship; the bundle would simply fail to resolve there. The subject matter differs too: the Eclipse plugin measures work on code, with projects, branches, and commits, while DBeaver is about connections, queries, and data.
Will my query results be uploaded? No. Result sets are never collected. The plugin sends query structure, connection metadata and timings — and by default literals inside the query text are masked.
Does it slow down my queries? No. The handler only puts an event into an in-memory queue; there is no network or disk work inside query execution, and any failure inside the plugin is swallowed on the spot.
Can I use it together with other PanDev Metrics plugins? Yes. DBeaver activity lands in the same timeline as your IDE, browser, terminal and AI activity. Data from DBeaver and DataGrip shares one report.
Do I need to sign in with a login and password? No, and there is no way to. The API token carries the server address inside it, so the token is the only thing you enter.