Milestone 0.0.4 — Recipe Redesign & Platform Polish

Statisticians Workbench Reference

Version 0.12.0 documentation — covering the rebuilt recipe system, AI-guided analysis, multi-database support, and platform configuration. For background and earlier versions, see the v0.9 documentation.

📋 Table of Contents
📋 This documentation is under active development. Version 0.12.0 is the Recipe Redesign & Platform Polish milestone (15 of 21 tasks complete). Sections marked new are new in 0.12.0; sections marked updated reflect significant changes from v0.9; sections marked planned are scheduled for completion before release.

Getting Started

📖What Is the Workbench?

The Statisticians Workbench is a self-hosted web application that combines database management, AI assistance, and data visualisation in one place — designed for domain experts, not IT specialists.

Read overview →

🚀Installationupdated

Install on Linux directly. Desktop users can use Workbench Win (Windows) or Workbench Mac (planned). Covers prerequisites, first-run setup, and post-installation checks.

Installation guide →

🔧Post-Installation Configurationupdated

Configure your Workbench after installation — email settings, public URL, AI providers, database connections, user registration, and scheduled tasks.

Configuration guide →

⬆️Upgrading from v0.9new

Migration notes and breaking changes when upgrading from v0.9. Covers schema changes, recipe format changes, and translation system updates.

Upgrade guide →

Core Features

🧩Recipe Systemredesigned

The recipe system has been completely rebuilt for 0.12.0. Master-detail layout, three-component pipeline editor (Dataset/Transform, Algorithm, Output), and a universal SQL execution engine across five database backends.

Recipe documentation →

🤖AI-Guided Analysisnew

An AI assistant guides you through building recipes — it sees your actual schema and data, suggests stages and configuration, and records every suggestion for audit. Connect to cloud AI providers or run a local LLM.

AI guide →

🗄️Database Connectionsupdated

Connect to PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQL Server, and MS Access. Schema browsing, table preview, and cross-database querying from a single interface. New in 0.12.0: MSSQL and MS Access support.

Connections guide →

📥File Import & Virtual Datasetsupdated

Import CSV, JSON, and Excel files with automatic type detection. New in 0.12.0: Virtual Datasets — DuckDB federated queries across uploaded files and database tables, with AI-guided creation.

Import guide →

📊Statistics & Visualisationupdated

Descriptive statistics, correlation, t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square, and linear regression via DuckDB-native aggregates. New chart types in 0.12.0: scatter, area, horizontal bar, donut, histogram, distribution.

Statistics guide →

📓Notebook Importnew

Import Jupyter .ipynb notebook files into your workspace. Notebooks are stored alongside datasets and recipes and can be shared with your group.

Notebook import →

User Management

👤User Accounts & Self-Registration

Create accounts, self-register with email verification, password policies, and preferred language selection. New in 0.12.0: enhanced password strength enforcement.

User guide →

👥User Groups & Sharingupdated

Organise users into groups. Share recipes, database connections, and datasets within a group. New in 0.12.0: recipe sharing with "Shared by" badge and read-only mode.

Groups guide →

🛡️Admin Functionsupdated

System administration — user management, global settings, licence management, AI provider control, demo mode, and scheduled tasks. New in 0.12.0: Settings restructured under Admin → Setup.

Admin guide →

🔍Demo Mode & Example User

Evaluate the Workbench in read-only demo mode with sample data. A pre-configured example user account demonstrates working recipes and workflows for learning purposes.

Demo guide →

Platform

🌐Multilingual Supportupdated

The Workbench supports 9 languages in the application UI, targeting 20. Translation is managed through YAML-based key files loaded into the database. New in 0.12.0: translation compliance audit completed.

Languages guide →

🔒Security & Privacy

Local-first architecture — your data stays on your machine. No cloud required. AI-guided features can use cloud providers or local LLMs. Designed for healthcare, government, and commercial data with privacy requirements.

Security overview →

🔄Recipe Export & Importplanned

Export recipes as JSON or YAML for portability and backup. Import recipes from other Workbench installations. Planned for 0.12.0.

Export guide →

📋Changelog

Detailed release notes for each version — what's new, what's fixed, breaking changes, and migration notes from v0.9 through v0.12.0.

View changelog →

Reference

TopicDescription
SQL Execution EnginenewUniversal ops compiler (451 lines) with 5 backends: DuckDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, Access. Capability matrix with automatic pandas fallback.
Recipe Stages ReferencenewComplete reference for every recipe stage: Filter, Join, Aggregate, Pivot, Impute, Sort, Sample, and Custom SQL. Input/output types and configuration options.
AI Provider ConfigurationupdatedSetup for Anthropic, Ollama, OpenAI-compatible providers (DeepSeek, etc.). Endpoint URLs, API keys, model selection, and per-provider capabilities.
Dataset Types & SourcesupdatedUnderstanding dataset sources: database tables, uploaded files, virtual datasets, and recipe outputs. How DuckDB federated queries work across sources.
Translation SystemupdatedHow the YAML-based translation system works. Adding a new language, updating translations, and the delta-mode import process.
Licensing & Feature GatesupdatedOpen-source Workbench vs Workbench-BE commercial edition. Feature comparison, licence key activation, and per-backend licence flags (mssql_db, etc.).
Audio Input/OutputSpeech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities. Per-user settings for audio input language and TTS voice. Delivered in 0.11.0.
Mobile & Responsive UIHamburger drawer navigation, responsive sidebars, touch-optimised targets. The Workbench is designed for desktop use but fully functional on tablets and phones. Delivered in 0.11.0.
Chart Types ReferenceupdatedComplete reference: bar, line, scatter, area, horizontal bar, donut, histogram, distribution, and pie charts. Configuration options and usage in recipes vs sandbox.
Algorithm & Output DiscoverynewHow the recipe editor dynamically discovers available algorithm types and visualisation types from the backend API. New in 0.12.0.
v0.9 DocumentationArchived documentation for version 0.9. Useful for historical context and upgrade planning. Some content may be superseded by 0.12.0.
📝 Documentation status: This index outlines the planned structure for the v0.12.0 documentation. Section pages will be written progressively as the release approaches completion. Currently 15 of 21 milestone tasks are complete. See the main documentation page for current user guides, or the v0.9 archive for historical reference.