Database Studio with Fly.io

This guide shows you how to connect to your production database on Fly.io and run wasp db studio to inspect or modify your data.

:::warning Working with production data You are about to point your local tooling at the live production database. Make sure to understand the Security Considerations before proceeding. :::

Prerequisites

• A Wasp app deployed to Fly.io
• The Fly CLI installed and authenticated

Overview

To connect to your production database, you'll need to:

1. Get the database name
2. Get the database password
3. Open a tunnel to the database
4. Configure your local environment
5. Run wasp db studio

Step 1: Get the Database Name

Connect to your Postgres app (replace some-test-db with your actual database app name):

fly postgres connect -a some-test-db

Once connected, list all databases:

\l

Your database name will typically follow the pattern server_name_with_underscores. For example, if your server app is named some-test-server, the database name would be some_test_server.

Type \q to exit the Postgres prompt.

Step 2: Get the Database Password

SSH into your database app:

fly ssh console -a some-test-db

Then retrieve the password:

echo $OPERATOR_PASSWORD

Copy this password and type exit to leave the SSH session.

Step 3: Open a Database Tunnel

Before opening the tunnel, make sure nothing else is running on port 5432:

• Stop any local database started with wasp db start
• Check for Docker containers that might be using the port

:::warning Background processes Even if you close the terminal that was running wasp db start, the Docker container may still be running in the background. Make sure to stop it before proceeding. :::

Open the tunnel:

fly proxy 5432 -a some-test-db

Keep this terminal tab open and use a new terminal for the following steps.

Step 4: Configure the Database URL

Edit your .env.server file to point to the production database:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:<password>@localhost:5432/<db_name>

Replace <password> with the password from Step 2 and <db_name> with the database name from Step 1.

For example:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:myDatabasePassword@localhost:5432/some_test_server

Step 5: Run Database Studio

Now you can run Prisma Studio to browse and edit your production data:

wasp db studio

This will open a web interface where you can view and modify your database records.

Security Considerations

• Any changes you make to production data are immediate and may be hard or impossible to undo
• Back up your database before making changes
• Consider using a read-only user for routine inspections
• Remember to restore your .env.server to point to your local database when you're done
• Close the tunnel when finished by terminating the fly proxy command
• Never commit production credentials to version control