Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v22 or later

Quickstart with the CLI

The fastest way to get started — no installation needed:

npx babybase ./my-database.db

Your browser will open automatically. See the CLI guide for all options.

Embedding in a Hono server

If you want Babybase alongside an existing app, install it as a dependency:

pnpm add @babybase/core
pnpm add hono @hono/node-server

Then mount it as a route:

import { serve } from "@hono/node-server";
import { defineBabybase } from "@babybase/core";
import { Hono } from "hono";
import type { DatabaseSync } from "node:sqlite";

type AppEnv = { Variables: { db: DatabaseSync | null } };

const { app: babybaseApp, getDb } = defineBabybase({ database: "./my-app.db" });

const app = new Hono<AppEnv>();

// Make the current db available to all your routes via context
app.use("*", async (c, next) => {
  c.set("db", getDb());
  await next();
});

app.get("/users", (c) => {
  const db = c.get("db");
  const users = db?.prepare("SELECT * FROM users").all() ?? [];
  return c.json(users);
});

app.route("/baby", babybaseApp);

serve(app);

Open http://localhost:3000/baby in your browser to access the GUI.

Sharing the database connection

defineBabybase returns both app (the Hono router) and getDb (a function that returns the active DatabaseSync instance). Calling getDb() on each request — rather than storing the result once — ensures your routes always use the correct connection even when Babybase mounts or unmounts a different database at runtime.

Configuration

Option	Type	Default	Description
database	string	—	Path to your .db or .sqlite file (required)
basePath	string	"/"	URL prefix when mounted at a sub-path
migrationsDir	string	./.babybase/migrations	Directory for .sql migration files
storage	string | S3Config	./.babybase/storage	Local directory path, or an S3 config for remote storage
readonly	boolean	false	Hide schema editing and migration tools
autoBackup	"daily" | "weekly"	—	Automatically create backups on a schedule

S3 storage

Pass an S3Config object to storage to send backups to any S3-compatible service — including Garage, AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, and MinIO. Backups are uploaded automatically whenever one is created.

const { app: babybaseApp } = defineBabybase({
  database: "./my-app.db",
  storage: {
    endpoint: "https://s3.example.com",
    bucket: "my-backups",
    accessKeyId: "your-access-key-id",
    secretAccessKey: "your-secret-access-key",
    region: "garage",       // optional, defaults to "garage"
    keyPrefix: "babybase",  // optional, prefixes uploaded object keys
  },
});

For local storage, pass a directory path string instead:

const { app: babybaseApp } = defineBabybase({
  database: "./my-app.db",
  storage: "./my-backups", // defaults to ./.babybase/storage
});

S3Config options:

Option	Type	Default	Description
endpoint	string	—	Base URL of the S3-compatible service
bucket	string	—	Target bucket name
accessKeyId	string	—	Access key ID
secretAccessKey	string	—	Secret access key
region	string	"garage"	Region passed to the S3 client
keyPrefix	string	—	Optional path prefix for uploaded object keys

Credentials and environment variables

Avoid hardcoding credentials in source code. Read them from environment variables instead:

storage: {
  endpoint: process.env.S3_ENDPOINT!,
  bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET!,
  accessKeyId: process.env.S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,
  secretAccessKey: process.env.S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!,
},

Read-only mode

Setting readonly: true hides all schema editing controls — creating/modifying tables and the migrations panel are disabled, and their write endpoints return 403. Row data remains fully readable and writable. This is useful when you want to expose Babybase to team members who should be able to work with data but not modify the schema.

const { app: babybaseApp } = defineBabybase({
  database: "./my-app.db",
  readonly: true,
});