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Dev tools · March 15, 2024

Open-source, browser-local data exploration using DuckDB-WASM and PRQL

Hey HN! We’ve built Pretzel, an open-source data exploration and visualization tool that runs fully in the browser and can handle large files (200 MB CSV on my 8gb MacBook air is snappy). It’s also reactive - so if, for example, you change a filter, all the data transform blocks after it re-evaluate automatically. You can try it here: https://pretzelai.github.io/ (static hosted webpage) or see a demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73wNEun_L7w You can play with the demo CSV that’s pre-loaded (GitHub data of text-editor adjacent projects) or upload…

Open-source, browser-local data exploration using DuckDB-WASM and PRQL launched on March 15, 2024 with 227 votes, #207 of 4,270 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 2 years on.

Visit github.com ↗Alternativestop 5% of March 2024

In plain words

Pretzel is an open-source data exploration tool that runs entirely in the browser using DuckDB-WASM and PRQL. It handles large files efficiently and features reactive updates—when users modify filters or transforms, all dependent blocks automatically re-evaluate. Users can upload CSV or XLSX files and explore data through a series of transforms and visualizations. Since it operates locally in the browser, no data is sent to servers, making it suitable for sensitive information.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

The modern replacement for Jupyter Notebooks. Contribute to pretzelai/pretzelai development by creating an account on GitHub.

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hey HN! We’ve built Pretzel, an open-source data exploration and visualization tool that runs fully in the browser and can handle large files (200 MB CSV on my 8gb MacBook air is snappy). It’s also reactive - so if, for example, you change a filter, all the data transform blocks after it re-evaluate automatically.…

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