Databases

TypstDrive stores everything in a database. You have three choices:

Database	Good for
SQLite (built in)	Most installs. Nothing extra to run or look after.
PostgreSQL	Larger installs, or if you already run PostgreSQL.
MySQL or MariaDB	If you already run one of them.

You do not need to create tables. TypstDrive sets up the database on first start and upgrades it automatically after updates.

SQLite

This is the default. The database is a file at /data/typstdrive.db inside the container. You can set it explicitly:

environment:
  - DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///data/typstdrive.db?mode=rwc

PostgreSQL

Add a database container and point TypstDrive at it:

services:
  typstdrive:
    image: ghcr.io/sirblobby/typstdrive:latest
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://typstdrive:change-me@db:5432/typstdrive
      - COOKIE_SECRET=paste-your-secret-here
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: typstdrive
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: change-me
      POSTGRES_DB: typstdrive
    volumes:
      - ./postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data

MySQL and MariaDB

MySQL 8.0.13 or newer and MariaDB 10.5 or newer work. The database must use the utf8mb4_bin collation:

services:
  typstdrive:
    image: ghcr.io/sirblobby/typstdrive:latest
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=mysql://typstdrive:change-me@mysql:3306/typstdrive
      - COOKIE_SECRET=paste-your-secret-here
    depends_on:
      - mysql

  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.4
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: --character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_bin --max-allowed-packet=256M
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: change-me-too
      MYSQL_DATABASE: typstdrive
      MYSQL_USER: typstdrive
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: change-me
    volumes:
      - ./mysql:/var/lib/mysql

Uploaded files are stored in the database unless you use object storage, so max-allowed-packet must be larger than your biggest upload.

Switching later

TypstDrive does not move data between database types for you. Pick the one you want before people start using the server.

Upgrades

When a new version needs database changes, TypstDrive makes them on startup. Make a backup before every update, just in case.