Databases

Skytells provides managed database instances directly from the CLI. Supported engines are PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, and Redis. All databases are provisioned within your project's network and can be linked to apps via environment variables.

Commands on this page

Command	Description
`skytells databases ls`	List databases in the linked project
`skytells databases add`	Provision a new database
`skytells databases inspect`	Show connection details and configuration
`skytells databases set`	Update a database setting
`skytells databases rm`	Delete a database
`skytells databases start`	Start a stopped database
`skytells databases stop`	Stop a running database
`skytells databases deploy`	Apply a pending configuration change

skytells databases ls

Lists all database instances in the linked project.

Syntax

skytells databases ls [--json]

Example

skytells databases ls

┌─────────┬──────────────┬────────────┬─────────┬──────────────────┐
│ ID      │ Name         │ Engine     │ Status  │ Version          │
├─────────┼──────────────┼────────────┼─────────┼──────────────────┤
│ db_001  │ main-db      │ PostgreSQL │ running │ 17               │
│ db_002  │ cache        │ Redis      │ running │ 7.4              │
└─────────┴──────────────┴────────────┴─────────┴──────────────────┘

skytells databases add

Provisions a new managed database instance.

Syntax

skytells databases add <name> <type> [--version <v>] [--username <u>] [--password <p>] [--port <n>] [--json]

Arguments

Argument	Description
`name`	Name for the database instance.
`type`	Engine type. See supported values below.

Supported engines

`type` value	Description
`postgresql`	PostgreSQL relational database
`mysql`	MySQL relational database
`mariadb`	MariaDB (MySQL-compatible)
`mongodb`	MongoDB document database
`redis`	Redis in-memory data store

Flags

Flag	Description
`--version <v>`	Engine version. Defaults to the latest stable version.
`--username <u>`	Initial database username. Defaults to `admin`.
`--password <p>`	Initial database password. Omit to auto-generate.
`--port <n>`	Port number. Defaults to the engine's standard port.
`--json`	Output the created database as JSON.

Examples

# PostgreSQL (default latest version)
skytells databases add main-db postgresql

# PostgreSQL 17, specific credentials
skytells databases add main-db postgresql --version 17 --username appuser --port 5432

# Redis cache
skytells databases add cache redis --version 7.4

# MongoDB
skytells databases add sessions mongodb --version 7

# MySQL
skytells databases add users-db mysql --version 8

# Capture connection info
DB=$(skytells databases add main-db postgresql --json)
echo "Host: $(echo $DB | jq -r '.host')"
echo "Port: $(echo $DB | jq -r '.port')"

Store the connection details returned at creation time — this is the only time the generated password is shown in plain text. Use skytells env set to inject the connection string into your apps.

skytells databases inspect

Returns detailed connection details, configuration, and current status for a database.

Syntax

skytells databases inspect <id> [--json]

Example

skytells databases inspect db_001

# Extract connection string
skytells databases inspect db_001 --json | jq -r '.connection_string'

skytells databases set

Updates a configurable field on a database. Some fields require a skytells databases deploy to take effect.

Syntax

skytells databases set <id> <field> <value> [--json]

Allowed fields

Field	Description
`name`	Database display name
`password`	Update the database password
`version`	Target engine version (requires deploy to apply)

Examples

skytells databases set db_001 name "prod-database"
skytells databases set db_001 password "new-secure-password"

skytells databases rm

Permanently deletes a database and all its data.

Syntax

skytells databases rm <id> [-f] [--json]

Flag	Description
`-f`	Skip the confirmation prompt.

Database deletion is irreversible. All data, tables, indexes, and configuration are permanently removed. Take a backup before deleting.

Lifecycle commands

`skytells databases start`

Starts a stopped database. The database resumes from its last persisted state.

skytells databases start <id> [--json]

`skytells databases stop`

Stops a running database. Data is preserved; the database is taken offline.

skytells databases stop <id> [-f] [--json]

Flag	Description
`-f`	Force stop without confirmation.

`skytells databases deploy`

Applies pending configuration changes (such as a version upgrade) to the database instance.

skytells databases deploy <id> [--json]

Connect an app to a database

# Inspect the database to get connection details
DB=$(skytells databases inspect db_001 --json)
CONN_STR=$(echo $DB | jq -r '.connection_string')

# Inject into app environment
skytells env set DATABASE_URL="$CONN_STR" --app app_abc123

# Restart the app to pick up the new variable
skytells apps restart app_abc123

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