Databases

DevCatz runs real database servers for your sites — as many as you like, each with its own version, port and data folder. Open Database in the rail to set them up. Each site then links to the one it uses, and DBCatz opens them all without any setup.

The engines

The same engines run on macOS and Windows; where the server builds come from differs. The install form and each server’s page say so under Builds: / Builds from, with a link to the source.

Server builds are downloaded once and shared by every instance of that version, under db-services/bin in DevCatz’s data folder.

Adding a database server

Press New database service at the top of the Database sidebar, pick the engine and the version, and fill in the form. You can run any number of instances, even several of the same engine side by side.

Servers listen on 127.0.0.1 and ::1 only, so nothing outside your computer can reach them.

A PostgreSQL data folder only runs with the major version that created it. To move to a newer major version, make a new instance and import the databases into it.

Managing a server

Each server has its own page with overview, connection and logs tabs, and these actions:

• Start, Stop and Restart.
• Show database files and Show database server binaries open the folders in FinderFile Explorer.
• Settings… changes the form above.
• Linked sites shows which sites use this server.
• Remove… — type the service name to confirm. Ticking the option also deletes its data; otherwise the data folder stays.

The overview also shows Builds from — where this engine’s server builds come from, with a link.

The Database sidebar works like the Projects sidebar: favorites, groups, drag-and-drop order and a Running only filter. Deleting a group keeps the services.

The connection tab

The connection tab has everything a project needs to connect: host, port, user, password and database, with ready-made lines to paste:

• DATABASE_URL
• Laravel’s DB_* lines
• REDIS_URL for Redis and Valkey

Press Copy, or Write to .env to put them into a site’s .env file. You see a diff of the change first.

Servers that already run elsewhere

DevCatz notices database servers that something else runs on your computer, and port clashes with them, so you know why port 3306 is taken.

Importing from elsewhere

Import… copies MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL databases from another server into a DevCatz service. The source is only read, never changed, so you can move over at your own pace and switch the site when you are ready.

The site Database tab

Each site has a Database tab that ties it to its data.

Linking a server

The card at the top shows which server the site uses. Choose a service… and Link connect it; from then on the linked server starts together with the site. A site that uses a SQLite file or an external database shows that instead.

Commands for the framework

Below the link card, the tab offers buttons for the site’s framework (see Detected stacks for each one):

• Commands — migrations, seeders and the like for Laravel, CodeIgniter, Yii, Symfony, CakePHP, WordPress, Drupal, Django, Flask and Alembic.
• Artisan card for Laravel: migrate, db:seed, migrate:fresh --seed.
• Prisma card: migrate dev, db seed, generate, migrate reset….
• GORM / Go card: AutoMigrate, goose and other migration tools.
• Data access — the database libraries the project uses (ORMs, query builders, migration tools).

The Redis card

Sites that use Redis or Valkey get a Redis card. It tells Valkey apart from Redis and sets which numbered database the site uses:

Giving every site its own index keeps their keys apart on one shared server. Worktree sites get their own index this way too.

Open in DBCatz

Open in DBCatz buttons on the Database page, the site’s link card and the Redis card open that database in DBCatz straight away. DBCatz also lists every DevCatz server under DevCatz services, with a live status dot and the credentials filled in. If DBCatz is not installed, DevCatz offers Download & Install. See the DBCatz docs and What the cats share.

Settings → Database

Each server logs to logs/db-<id>.log in DevCatz’s data folder; the logs tab shows it.

DevCatz never keeps database data in <data>/databases, because Chromium (which DevCatz runs on) uses and deletes a folder with that name.

Last updated 2026-11-01