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For developers

An admin for your Postgres database, without writing the app

Point the CLI at your database and get a typed description you can edit. Protobase runs the admin app, the API and sign-in from it, and maintains them across releases. Run it on your own servers, or start a new app in Protobase Cloud.

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Or self-host it for free

Start

Three commands to a description of your database

The CLI runs on Node 22.12 or later, or on Bun, and reads your database in a read-only session.

  • scaffold writes data.ts and ui.ts per table: field types, keys, enums, relations, soft delete and tenant columns.
  • doctor checks the description against the database and prints the CREATE INDEX a filter needs.
  • Then add sign-in, create your first admin with protobase users create, and run protobase dev.
Terminal
# Install the CLI and the packages your config imports
npm install @protobase/cli @protobase/schema \
  @protobase/layout @protobase/server @protobase/ui

# Describe your tables, read in a read-only session
npx protobase scaffold postgres://you@localhost:5432/shop --ui

# Check every resource against the database
npx protobase doctor postgres://you@localhost:5432/shop
Getting started See a table become an admin

Day to day

It works like the rest of your code

  • TypeScript in your repository

    Resources and views are TypeScript builders in your own repository, reviewed and versioned like the rest of your code.

  • A typed client

    @protobase/client takes its record types from your resources, with a typed filter helper.

  • Hot reload

    protobase dev reloads configs, layouts, server code and UI without a restart, on one port.

  • Real sign-in

    There is no development login, so you test with the same sign-in your users get.

Extend

Add your own code without forking

Read who maintains what, and what the plugin API promises.

  • Plugins add list displays, record sections, page elements, record cards, field types, actions, assistant widgets and items in the top bar.
  • The admin app shares exactly four modules with plugins: react, react/jsx-runtime, react-dom and @protobase/ui. That gives one React, one query cache and one session.
  • Releases add to the plugin API but never break it. A plugin that does not fit, or crashes, turns itself off instead of the app, and admins see why.
  • API functions live in functions/, one file per endpoint, with the caller’s session and records that follow their access.
  • Remote resources show another Protobase app’s records as if they were local.

Coding agents

Your coding agent can read the manual

Get the Agent Skill

  • The docs are published as an Agent Skill, generated from the docs, and CI fails when it falls behind.
  • Every docs page is also served as Markdown, and every code sample in the docs is type-checked and tested.
  • The empty preset ships an AGENTS.md with rules for coding agents: one migration per change, never edit existing migrations, never touch auth/ or .github/workflows/.

Ship

Run it yourself, or push it to the cloud

Self-hostOne folder and one runtimeThe build needs no secrets and no database. Serve it with the protobase command, a single runtime file on Bun, or the Docker image.Open source and self-hostingProtobase Cloud Early accessPush to GitHub, and it deploysEach app gets its own Postgres database, deploys on every push, and gets Protobase updates on the schedule you choose.Protobase Cloud

Before you start

Good to know

  • Postgres only. The examples and CI run on Postgres 18, and the tests also run on PGlite.
  • Before 1.0, a minor version may change the config format. The plugin API is the stable promise.
  • The built-in screens are in English.

Keep reading

Your back office, live in a few minutes

Sign up with GitHub or email, pick a starting point, and ask the assistant for what you need.

Start in the cloud

Early access Plans from €0.99 a month.