GuidesDatabase

Local PostgreSQL

Run a PostgreSQL database on your machine for development.

Docs are in beta — content is improving rapidly. Found something missing? Open an issue on GitHub or reach out on Twitter.

Option A — Postgres.app (macOS, recommended)

Download and install Postgres.app
Open it and start the server
Open a terminal and create a database:

createdb betterstarter

Your connection string:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://your_user@localhost:5432/betterstarter

Option B — Docker

docker run --name betterstarter-db \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=betterstarter \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -d postgres:16

Connection string:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/betterstarter

Run Migrations

Once DATABASE_URL is set in .env.local:

pnpm db:generate
pnpm db:migrate

GUI Tools

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Neon

Use Neon serverless PostgreSQL as your database.

On this page

Option A — Postgres.app (macOS, recommended)

Option B — Docker