How Your Data Is Stored

How your data is stored

Gubbins is local-first: your entire inventory lives in a database inside your browser, on your own device. There's no account, no server, and nothing is uploaded anywhere unless you explicitly choose to. Understanding this explains a lot about how the app behaves.

Where the data lives

Gubbins keeps your data in an in-browser SQLite database (running as WebAssembly, stored in your browser's private OPFS storage). That database is the single source of truth — every item, location, loan and report reads from it.

Because it's all local:

• It works fully offline. No connection is ever required to use Gubbins.
• It's fast. Queries run on your device, not over a network.
• It's private. Your inventory doesn't exist on anyone else's computer. See Privacy & security.

ℹ️ Note The database is stored unencrypted. That's what makes it portable and recoverable — you can export the raw file and open it with any SQLite tool. It also means that turning on sign-in guards the app, not the file: anyone with access to this device's files can read your inventory regardless. If the data itself needs protecting, that's a job for your device's passcode and disk encryption.

⚠️ Heads-up Because the data is stored by your browser, clearing your browser's site data for Gubbins — or an aggressive "free up space" cleanup — can remove it. Keep a backup, and install the app and grant persistent storage so the browser won't evict it.

Getting data in and out

Local-first doesn't mean locked-in. You can move your data freely:

• Cloud sync — keep devices in step via your own storage.
• Backup & restore — a single portable file of everything.
• Export & import — open formats (Markdown, CSV, raw SQLite).
• The optional bridge — read your data from other tools.

💡 Tip A good habit: install Gubbins, turn on cloud sync to your own folder or drive, and take an occasional backup. That's belt and braces — your data is safe and portable, and still never leaves your control.

Related pages

• Cloud sync, Backup & restore, Export & import — the ways data travels.
• Storage triage — managing space.
• Privacy & security — the privacy guarantees in full.