sqlite-admin

A lightweight web UI for browsing and querying SQLite databases. No build step — runs directly with Bun.

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devchitchat/sqlite-admin/main/install.sh | bash

Installs the source to ~/.local/share/sqlite-admin and a shim to ~/.local/bin/sqlite-admin. Requires Bun to be installed.

Options:

# Pin to a specific release
curl -fsSL .../install.sh | SQLITE_ADMIN_REF=v1.2.0 bash

# Install from main branch (bleeding edge)
curl -fsSL .../install.sh | SQLITE_ADMIN_REF=main bash

# Custom install locations
curl -fsSL .../install.sh | INSTALL_DIR=~/apps/sqlite-admin BIN_DIR=~/bin bash

If ~/.local/bin is not in your PATH, add this to your shell profile:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Run

Point it at a database file and it starts a web server:

DB_FILE_PATH=/path/to/your.db sqlite-admin

Then open http://localhost:4269/sqlite-admin.

Update to the latest release:

sqlite-admin update             # update to latest release
sqlite-admin update --ref v1.2.0  # pin to a specific version
sqlite-admin update --force     # reinstall even if already on the latest

Options:

sqlite-admin --port 7889     # override port via CLI flag
PORT=9000 sqlite-admin       # or via environment variable (CLI flag takes precedence)

Variable	Default	Description
DB_FILE_PATH	—	Path to the SQLite file to open (required, or set in the UI)
PORT	4269	Port to listen on (overridden by --port)
SQLITE_ADMIN_BASE_PATH	/sqlite-admin	URL prefix for all routes

You can also set the database path from the UI — there is a path field at the top of every page. It is persisted in a browser cookie for the session.

Development

Prerequisites: Bun ≥ 1.3

git clone git@github.com:devchitchat/sqlite-admin.git
cd sqlite-admin

No dependencies to install — the project uses only Bun built-ins (bun:sqlite, Bun.serve).

Start with file watching:

DB_FILE_PATH=/path/to/your.db bun run dev

Run tests:

bun test

Project layout:

src/
  SqliteAdmin.mjs   — request handler, all routes, HTML rendering
server.js           — Bun.serve() entry point
scripts/
  package.mjs       — builds sqlite-admin-src.zip for release
  release.mjs       — bumps version, commits, tags, packages
tests/
  SqliteAdmin.test.mjs
install.sh          — curl-installable installer

Releasing

Uses conventional commits to determine the version bump automatically.

bun run release          # auto-detect: fix: → minor, feat!:/BREAKING → major, else patch
bun run release:fix      # force minor bump
bun run release:breaking # force major bump

Then push:

git push && git push --tags

Pushing the tag triggers the GitHub Actions release workflow, which builds sqlite-admin-src.zip and attaches it to a GitHub Release. That asset is what the install script downloads.

To preview what a release would do without making changes:

bun run release --dry-run