connections

The connections package integrates DBI-compliant database packages (like RPostgres, RSQLite, RMariaDB, and bigrquery) with the RStudio IDE’s Connection Pane. It provides connection_open() and connection_close() functions that work like dbConnect() but automatically display database connections, tables, and views in RStudio’s interface.

The package solves the problem of managing database connections and queries by providing visual integration with RStudio and persistence through the pins package. It supports dplyr operations like tbl() and copy_to() that automatically update the Connections pane when tables change. You can pin both database connections and dplyr queries, storing the code needed to recreate them rather than the data itself, which enables reproducible database workflows across sessions.