cmd db

nself db

Database operations: migrations, backups, restore, seed, and shell.

Synopsis

nself db <subcommand> [flags]

Description

nself db provides a complete interface for interacting with the PostgreSQL database in your ɳSelf stack. It covers the full database lifecycle: migrations, seeding, backup and restore, an interactive shell, and Hasura metadata management.

All operations target the PostgreSQL container managed by ɳSelf. The shell subcommand opens an interactive psql session inside the container. The backup and restore subcommands use pg_dump and pg_restore and produce SQL dump files that are compatible with standard PostgreSQL tooling.

The hasura subgroup controls Hasura metadata, useful for applying tracked tables and permissions from version-controlled metadata files without opening the Hasura Console.

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
migrate up	Apply pending migrations
migrate down	Revert the last migration
migrate status	Show migration status
migrate create <name>	Create a new migration file
seed [file]	Run seed data (default seed file if not specified)
backup [file]	Create a pg_dump backup (timestamped filename if omitted)
backup list	List available backups with size and date
restore <file>	Restore database from a backup file
shell	Open interactive psql shell in the PostgreSQL container
drop	Drop the project database , DESTRUCTIVE
reset	Drop and recreate the database , DESTRUCTIVE
hasura console	Open the Hasura Console in browser
hasura metadata apply	Apply Hasura metadata from files
hasura metadata export	Export Hasura metadata to files
hasura metadata reload	Reload the metadata cache

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--plugin	""	Migrate a specific plugin schema (for migrate subcommands)
--migration-dir	auto-detect	Directory of .sql migrations (for migrate up and migrate status). Auto-detect order: hasura/migrations/default, hasura/migrations, migrations, postgres/migrations
--force, -f	false	Skip confirmation prompt (for reset)
--yes	false	Skip confirmation prompt (for drop, reset, restore)
--overwrite	false	Allow overwriting existing data (for restore)
--format	""	Output format: table (default) or json (for backup list)
--help, -h	—	Show help

Examples

# Apply all pending migrations
nself db migrate up

# Apply migrations for a specific plugin
nself db migrate up --plugin ai

# Revert the last migration
nself db migrate down

# Check migration status
nself db migrate status

# Check status for a non-standard migrations layout
nself db migrate status --migration-dir postgres/migrations

# Create a new migration file
nself db migrate create add_users_table

# Run default seed data
nself db seed

# Run a specific seed file
nself db seed seeds/dev.sql

# Create a timestamped backup
nself db backup

# Backup to a specific file
nself db backup /tmp/backup-2026-03-28.sql

# Restore from a backup
nself db restore /tmp/backup-2026-03-28.sql

# Open an interactive psql shell
nself db shell

# Drop the project database (interactive confirmation)
nself db drop

# Drop without confirmation (CI)
nself db drop --yes

# Drop and recreate database (interactive confirmation)
nself db reset

# Drop and recreate without confirmation (CI)
nself db reset --force

# List available backups (table format)
nself db backup list

# List available backups in JSON format
nself db backup list --format json

# Open Hasura Console
nself db hasura console

# Apply Hasura metadata
nself db hasura metadata apply

# Export Hasura metadata
nself db hasura metadata export

# Reload metadata cache
nself db hasura metadata reload

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