Connections and security

Authentication and transport

• 8 authentication methods: no auth, username/password, SCRAM-SHA-1, SCRAM-SHA-256, and on Pro X.509, LDAP, Kerberos, and AWS IAM
• Configurable authentication source for any of them
• Connect from a URI or from individual fields. Pasting a URI fills in host, port, credentials, auth, TLS, replica set, and read preference
• Both mongodb:// and mongodb+srv:// are supported
• MongoDB server 4.4 or newer is required. Connecting to an older server fails with an error rather than opening
• Save password can be turned off for username/password and SCRAM. The password is then written nowhere on disk, and Monghoul asks for it once per app session
• SSL/TLS with a custom CA certificate and an option to allow invalid certificates for self-signed setups
• SSH tunneling with password or private key file, and a tunnel that closes with its connection

Topology and query behaviour

• Direct or replica-set topology with read preference: primary, primaryPreferred, secondary, secondaryPreferred, nearest
• Per-connection result cap, default 1,000 documents. An explicit .limit() wins over the cap even when it is larger
• Auto-explain per connection. Read queries collect plan statistics automatically
• Automatic query execution the first time a tab is opened in a session, per connection
• Cancellable queries. Stopping one, by hand or by timeout, also ends the operation on the server
• Switching to a query tab opens its connection in the background, so the first query does not wait for connection setup
• Configurable connection timeout, default 30 seconds

Visibility and write protection

• Database and collection filtering in ignore (hide listed) or allow (show only listed) mode. System databases are filtered by default
• Those filters are organizational, not a security boundary. They do not change MongoDB permissions or stop raw query code from naming a hidden collection
• Write protection scoped to a connection, or to selected databases and collections. It covers inserts, updates, deletes, bulk writes, drops, renames, index changes, and aggregation output stages
• Protected operations require explicit confirmation, at every entry point including the keyboard and the aggregation builder’s stage preview
• The confirmation is raised by reading the query, but the block is enforced at the driver, so a destructive call the text cannot show is still refused when it runs
• Copying a collection or duplicating a database into a protected target asks the same confirmation
• Protected connections, databases, and collections are marked in navigation and previews

Managing profiles

• Connectivity and credentials are tested before a new connection saves, and any connection can be re-tested on demand
• Unique connection names, generated from host, port, and database when you do not supply one
• Connection color coding with 12 presets and a custom picker. The color propagates to tabs and sidebar entries
• Deleting a connection closes its tabs and removes its pins and favorites. Its log history is kept