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Tabby uses a local Supabase instance running in Docker instead of the cloud service. This gives you full control over your data and eliminates cloud dependencies.

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Prerequisites

Docker Desktop must be running before you start Supabase
Make sure you have:
  • Docker Desktop installed and running
  • Completed the repository clone and dependency installation

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Initial Setup

1

Initialize Supabase

Run this command in your project root (only needed the first time):
npx supabase init
This creates the supabase/ directory with configuration files.
2

Start local Supabase

npx supabase start
The first run will pull approximately 13 Docker images, which takes a few minutes. Subsequent starts take only ~10 seconds.
When completed, the command prints all credentials including:
  • API URL (typically http://127.0.0.1:54321)
  • anon key
  • service_role key
Save these credentials - you’ll need them for environment configuration
3

Verify database schema

The database schema is automatically applied from supabase/migrations/ when you start Supabase.You can verify the setup by visiting the Supabase Studio at:
http://localhost:54323

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Create Storage Buckets

Tabby requires two storage buckets for file uploads and context captures.

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Option 1: Using PowerShell (Windows)

# Replace <SERVICE_ROLE_KEY> with the key from `npx supabase status`
$headers = @{
  "apikey" = "<SERVICE_ROLE_KEY>"
  "Authorization" = "Bearer <SERVICE_ROLE_KEY>"
  "Content-Type" = "application/json"
}

# Create context-captures bucket
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://127.0.0.1:54321/storage/v1/bucket" -Method Post -Headers $headers -Body '{"id":"context-captures","name":"context-captures","public":true}'

# Create project-assets bucket
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://127.0.0.1:54321/storage/v1/bucket" -Method Post -Headers $headers -Body '{"id":"project-assets","name":"project-assets","public":true}'

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Option 2: Using curl (macOS/Linux)

# Replace <SERVICE_ROLE_KEY> with the key from `npx supabase status`
SERVICE_ROLE_KEY="<SERVICE_ROLE_KEY>"

# Create context-captures bucket
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:54321/storage/v1/bucket" \
  -H "apikey: $SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":"context-captures","name":"context-captures","public":true}'

# Create project-assets bucket
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:54321/storage/v1/bucket" \
  -H "apikey: $SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":"project-assets","name":"project-assets","public":true}'

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Option 3: Using Supabase Studio (Manual)

  1. Open Supabase Studio at http://localhost:54323
  2. Navigate to Storage in the left sidebar
  3. Click New bucket
  4. Create a bucket named context-captures (set to public)
  5. Create another bucket named project-assets (set to public)

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Database Schema

The database includes tables for:
  • conversations - Stores chat conversations with metadata
  • messages - Individual messages within conversations
  • Custom functions for SQL execution and timestamp updates
All schema migrations are automatically applied from supabase/migrations/20240101000000_init.sql.

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Quick Reference

Common Supabase commands:
ActionCommand
Startnpx supabase start
Stopnpx supabase stop
Statusnpx supabase status
Admin UIhttp://localhost:54323
Reset DBnpx supabase db reset
Docker Desktop must be running before executing npx supabase start

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Troubleshooting

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Docker not running

If you see connection errors, make sure Docker Desktop is running and fully initialized.

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Port conflicts

If ports 54321 or 54323 are already in use, stop other services or configure different ports in supabase/config.toml.

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Reset database

To start fresh with a clean database: 
npx supabase db reset

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Next Steps

After setting up the database:
  1. Note your API URL, anon key, and service_role key from npx supabase status
  2. Configure environment variables with these credentials
  3. Optionally set up Neo4j knowledge graph

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