Database

Paperclip uses PostgreSQL via Drizzle ORM. There are three ways to run the database, from simplest to most production-ready.

1. Embedded PostgreSQL — zero config

If you don't set DATABASE_URL, the server automatically starts an embedded PostgreSQL instance and manages a local data directory.

pnpm dev

That's it. On first start the server:

1. Creates a ~/.paperclip/instances/default/db/ directory for storage
2. Ensures the paperclip database exists
3. Runs migrations automatically for empty databases
4. Starts serving requests

Data persists across restarts in ~/.paperclip/instances/default/db/. To reset local dev data, delete that directory.

If you need to apply pending migrations manually, run:

pnpm db:migrate

When DATABASE_URL is unset, this command targets the current embedded PostgreSQL instance for your active Paperclip config/instance.

Issue reference mentions follow the normal migration path: the schema migration creates the tracking table, but it does not backfill historical issue titles, descriptions, comments, or documents automatically.

To backfill existing content manually after migrating, run:

pnpm issue-references:backfill
# optional: limit to one company
pnpm issue-references:backfill -- --company <company-id>

Future issue, comment, and document writes sync references automatically without running the backfill command.

This mode is ideal for local development and one-command installs.

Docker note: the Docker quickstart image also uses embedded PostgreSQL by default. Persist /paperclip to keep DB state across container restarts (see doc/DOCKER.md).

2. Local PostgreSQL (Docker)

For a full PostgreSQL server locally, use the included Docker Compose setup:

docker compose up -d

This starts PostgreSQL 17 on localhost:5432. Then set the connection string:

cp .env.example .env
# .env already contains:
# DATABASE_URL=postgres://paperclip:paperclip@localhost:5432/paperclip

Run migrations:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://paperclip:paperclip@localhost:5432/paperclip \
  pnpm db:migrate

Start the server:

pnpm dev

3. Hosted PostgreSQL (Supabase)

For production, use a hosted PostgreSQL provider. Supabase is a good option with a free tier.

Setup

1. Create a project at database.new
2. Go to Project Settings > Database > Connection string
3. Copy the URI and replace the password placeholder with your database password

Connection string

Supabase offers two connection modes:

Direct connection (port 5432) — use for migrations and one-off scripts:

postgres://postgres.[PROJECT-REF]:[PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:5432/postgres

Connection pooling via Supavisor (port 6543) — use for the application:

postgres://postgres.[PROJECT-REF]:[PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgres

Configure

For the application runtime, use a direct PostgreSQL connection unless the database client has explicit prepared-statement configuration for your pooling mode:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres.[PROJECT-REF]:[PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:5432/postgres

If you later run the app with a pooled runtime URL, set DATABASE_MIGRATION_URL to the direct connection URL. Paperclip uses it for startup schema checks/migrations and plugin namespace migrations, while the app continues to use DATABASE_URL for runtime queries:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres.[PROJECT-REF]:[PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgres
DATABASE_MIGRATION_URL=postgres://postgres.[PROJECT-REF]:[PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:5432/postgres

If your hosted database requires transaction-pooling-only connections, use a direct or session-pooled connection for Paperclip until runtime pooling support is documented in this guide. Do not edit database client source files as part of deployment setup.

Push the schema

# Use the direct connection (port 5432) for schema changes
DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres.[PROJECT-REF]:[PASSWORD]@...5432/postgres \
  pnpm db:migrate

Free tier limits

• 500 MB database storage
• 200 concurrent connections
• Projects pause after 1 week of inactivity

See Supabase pricing for current details.

Switching between modes

The database mode is controlled by DATABASE_URL:

Your Drizzle schema (packages/db/src/schema/) stays the same regardless of mode.

Plugin database namespaces

The plugin runtime tracks plugin-owned database namespaces and migrations in plugin_database_namespaces and plugin_migrations. Hosted deployments that separate runtime and migration connections should set DATABASE_MIGRATION_URL; plugin namespace migration work uses the migration connection when present.

Backups

Paperclip supports automatic and manual database backups. See doc/DEVELOPING.md for the current paperclipai db:backup / pnpm db:backup commands and backup retention configuration.

Secret storage

Paperclip stores secret metadata and versions in:

• company_secrets
• company_secret_versions

For local/default installs, the active provider is local_encrypted:

• Secret material is encrypted at rest with a local master key.
• Default key file: ~/.paperclip/instances/default/secrets/master.key (auto-created if missing).
• CLI config location: ~/.paperclip/instances/default/config.json under secrets.localEncrypted.keyFilePath.

Optional overrides:

• PAPERCLIP_SECRETS_MASTER_KEY (32-byte key as base64, hex, or raw 32-char string)
• PAPERCLIP_SECRETS_MASTER_KEY_FILE (custom key file path)

Strict mode to block new inline sensitive env values:

PAPERCLIP_SECRETS_STRICT_MODE=true

You can set strict mode and provider defaults via:

pnpm paperclipai configure --section secrets

Inline secret migration command:

pnpm secrets:migrate-inline-env --apply