I don't follow. I used the BaseX GUI to start a server (via the dialog "Server Administration"), connect to it and then (I thought) the GUI was interacting with the server. It even displayed a warning that GUI accesses may not be synchronized.
This is exactly why we'll soon detach the server dialog from the GUI, as it frequently leads to misunderstandings. Instead, we may replace it with a web-based administration dialog, or offer it as a separate application (but, as already indicated, this is currently out of scope).
Could you clarify what the server administration dialog is for if the GUI doesn't interact with the server?
Back then, the server administration dialog was introduced because users were asking for a visual interface to control the server, create users, display log files, etc.
Hope this helps, Christian