Instant DB

A CLI tool that spins up isolated database instances instantly for development, with zero configuration.

Features

• 🚀 Start PostgreSQL or Redis instances in seconds
• 🔒 Fully isolated - no conflicts with existing databases
• 🧹 Clean shutdown - zero traces left behind
• 💻 Cross-platform - macOS, Linux, Windows
• 🎯 Auto-assigned ports - no configuration needed
• 📦 Persistent or ephemeral - your choice
• ⏸️ Pause/resume instances to save resources
• 🎨 Beautiful interactive CLI with prompts and tables
• 📛 Manage instances by name or ID

Supported Databases

• PostgreSQL - Embedded binaries, zero dependencies
• Redis - Embedded binaries, zero dependencies
• MySQL - Coming soon

Installation

# Quick install
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/db-toolkit/instant-db/main/install.sh | bash

# Or manual install
git clone https://github.com/db-toolkit/instant-db.git
cd instant-db
go build -o instant-db src/instantdb/cmd/instantdb/main.go
sudo mv instant-db /usr/local/bin/

Quick Start

# Start an instance (interactive - choose PostgreSQL or Redis)
instant-db start

# Start PostgreSQL with a name
instant-db start -e postgres --name my-app

# Start Redis with a name
instant-db start -e redis --name my-cache

# List all instances
instant-db list

# Get connection URL (by name or ID)
instant-db url my-app

# Pause instance (stops process, keeps data)
instant-db pause my-cache

# Resume paused instance
instant-db resume my-cache

# Stop and clean up
instant-db stop my-app

Commands

# Start a new instance (interactive)
instant-db start

# Start with flags (non-interactive)
instant-db start -e postgres --name myapp -u myuser --password mypass --port 5432 --persist
instant-db start -e redis --name mycache --password mypass --persist

# Stop instance (removes data unless --persist was used)
instant-db stop <name-or-id>

# Pause instance (stops process, always keeps data)
instant-db pause <name-or-id>

# Resume paused instance
instant-db resume <name-or-id>

# List all instances
instant-db list

# Get connection URL
instant-db url <name-or-id>

# Check instance status
instant-db status <name-or-id>

# Show version
instant-db --version

# Show help
instant-db --help

Examples

PostgreSQL

# Start PostgreSQL
instant-db start -e postgres --name my-postgres

# Get connection URL
instant-db url my-postgres
# Output: postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:54321/postgres

# Connect with psql
psql $(instant-db url my-postgres)

Redis

# Start Redis
instant-db start -e redis --name my-redis --password secret

# Get connection URL
instant-db url my-redis
# Output: redis://:secret@localhost:63791

# Connect with redis-cli
redis-cli -h 127.0.0.1 -p 63791 -a secret

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or PR.

License

MIT

Part of DB Toolkit

instant-db is part of the DB Toolkit organization - a collection of modern database tools for developers.

Other tools:

• Migrator - Database migrations made simple
• DB Toolkit Desktop - Cross-platform database management GUI