diff --git a/.github/workflows/formatter.yml b/.github/workflows/formatter.yml
index c1860fdf..384c34c3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/formatter.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/formatter.yml
@@ -21,13 +21,25 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
         if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
 
-      - name: Check files using the ruff formatter
+      # This is used for forked PRs as write permissions are required to format files
+      - name: Run and commit changes with `ruff format .` locally on your forked branch to fix errors if they appear
+        if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork == true }}
+        uses: chartboost/ruff-action@v1
+        id: ruff_formatter_suggestions
+        with:
+          args: format --diff
+
+      # This only runs if the PR is NOT from a forked repo
+      - name: Format files using ruff
+        if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork == false }}
         uses: chartboost/ruff-action@v1
         id: ruff_formatter
         with:
           args: format
 
+      # This only runs if the PR is NOT from a forked repo
       - name: Auto commit ruff formatting
+        if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork == false }}
         uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v5
         with:
-          commit_message: 'style fixes by ruff'
\ No newline at end of file
+          commit_message: 'style fixes by ruff'
diff --git a/data_diff/databases/mysql.py b/data_diff/databases/mysql.py
index 647388f2..2b1e810f 100644
--- a/data_diff/databases/mysql.py
+++ b/data_diff/databases/mysql.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import Any, ClassVar, Dict, Type
+from typing import Any, ClassVar, Dict, Type, Union
 
 import attrs
 
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     import_helper,
     ConnectError,
     BaseDialect,
+    ThreadLocalInterpreter,
 )
 from data_diff.databases.base import (
     MD5_HEXDIGITS,
@@ -148,3 +149,11 @@ def create_connection(self):
             elif e.errno == mysql.errorcode.ER_BAD_DB_ERROR:
                 raise ConnectError("Database does not exist") from e
             raise ConnectError(*e.args) from e
+
+    def _query_in_worker(self, sql_code: Union[str, ThreadLocalInterpreter]):
+        "This method runs in a worker thread"
+        if self._init_error:
+            raise self._init_error
+        if not self.thread_local.conn.is_connected():
+            self.thread_local.conn.ping(reconnect=True, attempts=3, delay=5)
+        return self._query_conn(self.thread_local.conn, sql_code)
diff --git a/data_diff/databases/postgresql.py b/data_diff/databases/postgresql.py
index d29fa0eb..e9a38cde 100644
--- a/data_diff/databases/postgresql.py
+++ b/data_diff/databases/postgresql.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from typing import Any, ClassVar, Dict, List, Type
-
+from urllib.parse import unquote
 import attrs
 
 from data_diff.abcs.database_types import (
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ def create_connection(self):
 
         pg = import_postgresql()
         try:
+            self._args["password"] = unquote(self._args["password"])
             self._conn = pg.connect(
                 **self._args, keepalives=1, keepalives_idle=5, keepalives_interval=2, keepalives_count=2
             )
diff --git a/data_diff_demo b/data_diff_demo
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..d0784e8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data_diff_demo
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit d0784e8de9fc7958f91a599fa454be4f8b09c60d
diff --git a/datafold-demo-sung b/datafold-demo-sung
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..6ebfb06d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datafold-demo-sung
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 6ebfb06d1e0937309384cdb4955e6dbd23387256
diff --git a/tests/test_postgresql.py b/tests/test_postgresql.py
index b5e9fa10..ed1baecf 100644
--- a/tests/test_postgresql.py
+++ b/tests/test_postgresql.py
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import unittest
 
+from urllib.parse import quote
 from data_diff.queries.api import table, commit
 from data_diff import TableSegment, HashDiffer
 from data_diff import databases as db
-from tests.common import get_conn, random_table_suffix
+from tests.common import get_conn, random_table_suffix, connect
+from data_diff import connect_to_table
 
 
 class TestUUID(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -113,3 +115,41 @@ def test_100_fields(self):
         id_ = diff[0][1][0]
         result = (id_,) + tuple("1" for x in range(100))
         self.assertEqual(diff, [("-", result)])
+
+
+class TestSpecialCharacterPassword(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        self.connection = get_conn(db.PostgreSQL)
+
+        table_suffix = random_table_suffix()
+
+        self.table_name = f"table{table_suffix}"
+        self.table = table(self.table_name)
+
+    def test_special_char_password(self):
+        password = "passw!!!@rd"
+        # Setup user with special character '@' in password
+        self.connection.query("DROP USER IF EXISTS test;", None)
+        self.connection.query(f"CREATE USER test WITH PASSWORD '{password}';", None)
+
+        password_quoted = quote(password)
+        db_config = {
+            "driver": "postgresql",
+            "host": "localhost",
+            "port": 5432,
+            "dbname": "postgres",
+            "user": "test",
+            "password": password_quoted,
+        }
+
+        # verify pythonic connection method
+        connect_to_table(
+            db_config,
+            self.table_name,
+        )
+
+        # verify connection method with URL string unquoted after it's verified
+        db_url = f"postgresql://{db_config['user']}:{db_config['password']}@{db_config['host']}:{db_config['port']}/{db_config['dbname']}"
+
+        connection_verified = connect(db_url)
+        assert connection_verified._args.get("password") == password