Database Configuration

Flowise supports multiple database systems including SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB. This guide covers setup and configuration for each.

Supported Databases

Flowise uses TypeORM and supports the following databases:

SQLite - Default, no configuration required
PostgreSQL - Recommended for production
MySQL - Fully supported
MariaDB - Fully supported

SQLite (Default)

SQLite is used by default with zero configuration. Great for development and small deployments.

# Optional: customize database location
DATABASE_TYPE=sqlite
DATABASE_PATH=/path/to/flowise/data

DATABASE_TYPE

string

default:"sqlite"

Set to sqlite or leave unset for default SQLite database

DATABASE_PATH

string

default:"~/.flowise"

Directory where database.sqlite file will be created

Default Location

By default, SQLite database is stored at:

Linux/macOS: ~/.flowise/database.sqlite
Windows: C:\Users\{username}\.flowise\database.sqlite

SQLite is suitable for development and small deployments. For production environments with multiple instances or high traffic, use PostgreSQL.

PostgreSQL (Recommended for Production)

PostgreSQL is the recommended database for production deployments.

Basic Configuration

# PostgreSQL Configuration
DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=localhost
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password

DATABASE_TYPE

string

Set to postgres for PostgreSQL

DATABASE_HOST

string

PostgreSQL server hostname or IP address (e.g., localhost, db.example.com)

DATABASE_PORT

number

default:"5432"

PostgreSQL server port

DATABASE_NAME

string

default:"flowise"

Name of the database to connect to

DATABASE_USER

string

PostgreSQL username

DATABASE_PASSWORD

string

PostgreSQL password

PostgreSQL Setup Steps

Create Database and User

-- Connect to PostgreSQL as admin
psql -U postgres

-- Create database
CREATE DATABASE flowise;

-- Create user
CREATE USER flowise_user WITH PASSWORD 'secure_password';

-- Grant privileges
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE flowise TO flowise_user;

-- Exit
\q

Configure Flowise

Add to your .env file:

DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=localhost
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password

Start Flowise

Flowise will automatically create tables on first startup.

PostgreSQL with SSL

For secure connections to PostgreSQL:

DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=db.example.com
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password
DATABASE_SSL=true
DATABASE_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true

DATABASE_SSL

boolean

default:"false"

Enable SSL/TLS connection to PostgreSQL

DATABASE_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED

boolean

default:"true"

Reject connections with invalid SSL certificates. Set to false for self-signed certificates.

DATABASE_SSL_KEY_BASE64

string

Self-signed SSL certificate in BASE64 format

# Encode certificate to base64
cat certificate.crt | base64 -w 0

# Add to .env
DATABASE_SSL_KEY_BASE64=LS0tLS1CRUdJTi...

PostgreSQL Advanced Options

Flowise uses these additional PostgreSQL settings:

Connection pooling: Automatic
Idle timeout: 120 seconds
Logging: Errors, warnings, info, and log statements
Application name: Flowise

MySQL

MySQL is fully supported for Flowise deployments.

Basic Configuration

# MySQL Configuration
DATABASE_TYPE=mysql
DATABASE_HOST=localhost
DATABASE_PORT=3306
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password

DATABASE_TYPE

string

Set to mysql for MySQL

DATABASE_PORT

number

default:"3306"

MySQL server port

MySQL Setup Steps

Create Database and User

-- Connect to MySQL as root
mysql -u root -p

-- Create database
CREATE DATABASE flowise CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

-- Create user
CREATE USER 'flowise_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';

-- Grant privileges
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON flowise.* TO 'flowise_user'@'localhost';

-- Apply changes
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

-- Exit
EXIT;

Configure Flowise

DATABASE_TYPE=mysql
DATABASE_HOST=localhost
DATABASE_PORT=3306
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password

MySQL with SSL

DATABASE_TYPE=mysql
DATABASE_HOST=db.example.com
DATABASE_PORT=3306
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password
DATABASE_SSL=true

Flowise automatically uses utf8mb4 charset for MySQL to support full Unicode including emojis and special characters.

MariaDB

MariaDB configuration is nearly identical to MySQL.

Basic Configuration

# MariaDB Configuration
DATABASE_TYPE=mariadb
DATABASE_HOST=localhost
DATABASE_PORT=3306
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=secure_password

DATABASE_TYPE

string

Set to mariadb for MariaDB

MariaDB Setup Steps

-- Connect to MariaDB
mariadb -u root -p

-- Create database
CREATE DATABASE flowise CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

-- Create user
CREATE USER 'flowise_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';

-- Grant privileges
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON flowise.* TO 'flowise_user'@'localhost';

-- Apply changes
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

-- Exit
EXIT;

Cloud Database Services

AWS RDS (PostgreSQL)

DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=flowise-db.xxxxx.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_admin
DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
DATABASE_SSL=true

Google Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL)

DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=/cloudsql/project:region:instance  # Unix socket
# OR
DATABASE_HOST=xx.xx.xx.xx  # Public IP
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise-user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
DATABASE_SSL=true

Azure Database for PostgreSQL

DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=flowise-db.postgres.database.azure.com
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise
DATABASE_USER=flowise_admin@flowise-db
DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
DATABASE_SSL=true
DATABASE_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true

Supabase (PostgreSQL)

DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=db.xxxxxxxxxxxx.supabase.co
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=postgres
DATABASE_USER=postgres
DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_project_password
DATABASE_SSL=true

Database Migrations

Flowise automatically handles database migrations:

First Startup: All tables and schemas are created
Upgrades: Migrations run automatically when updating Flowise
Rollback: Not supported - backup before upgrading

Always backup your database before upgrading Flowise to a new version.

Manual Migration

Migrations run automatically, but you can check migration status:

# View current migration status
npx typeorm migration:show -d dist/DataSource.js

Database Entities

Flowise creates these main tables:

chat_flow - Chatflow configurations
chat_message - Chat history and messages
credential - Encrypted API credentials
tool - Custom tools
assistant - OpenAI assistants
variable - Global variables
document_store - Vector store documents
document_store_file_chunk - Document chunks
lead - Lead capture data
user - User accounts (Enterprise)
organization - Organizations (Enterprise)
workspace - Workspaces (Enterprise)
role - Roles and permissions (Enterprise)

Backup and Restore

SQLite Backup

# Backup
cp ~/.flowise/database.sqlite ~/.flowise/database.sqlite.backup

# Restore
cp ~/.flowise/database.sqlite.backup ~/.flowise/database.sqlite

PostgreSQL Backup

# Backup
pg_dump -h localhost -U flowise_user -d flowise > flowise_backup.sql

# Restore
psql -h localhost -U flowise_user -d flowise < flowise_backup.sql

MySQL Backup

# Backup
mysqldump -h localhost -u flowise_user -p flowise > flowise_backup.sql

# Restore
mysql -h localhost -u flowise_user -p flowise < flowise_backup.sql

Performance Tuning

PostgreSQL Connection Pooling

Flowise uses TypeORM connection pooling with these defaults:

Idle timeout: 120 seconds
Auto-reconnect: Enabled

For high-traffic deployments, adjust PostgreSQL configuration:

-- In postgresql.conf
max_connections = 100
shared_buffers = 256MB
effective_cache_size = 1GB
work_mem = 4MB

MySQL Performance

-- In my.cnf
max_connections = 100
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M
innodb_log_file_size = 64M

Troubleshooting

Connection Refused

Problem: Cannot connect to database Solutions:

Verify database server is running
Check firewall allows connection on database port
Verify DATABASE_HOST and DATABASE_PORT are correct
Test connection manually:

# PostgreSQL
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U flowise_user -d flowise

# MySQL/MariaDB
mysql -h localhost -P 3306 -u flowise_user -p flowise

Authentication Failed

Problem: Login error or access denied Solutions:

Verify DATABASE_USER and DATABASE_PASSWORD are correct
Check user has correct permissions
For MySQL, ensure user is created for correct host (localhost vs %)

SSL/TLS Errors

Problem: SSL handshake failed Solutions:

Set DATABASE_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false for self-signed certificates
Verify DATABASE_SSL_KEY_BASE64 is correctly encoded
Check database server SSL configuration

Migration Errors

Problem: Migration failed on startup Solutions:

Backup database
Check logs for specific error
Verify database user has CREATE/ALTER table permissions
Restore from backup and retry

Example Production Configuration

PostgreSQL on AWS RDS

# Database Configuration
DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=flowise-prod.xxxxx.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=flowise_production
DATABASE_USER=flowise_admin
DATABASE_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}  # Use secret management
DATABASE_SSL=true
DATABASE_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true

PostgreSQL on Supabase

# Database Configuration  
DATABASE_TYPE=postgres
DATABASE_HOST=db.projectref.supabase.co
DATABASE_PORT=5432
DATABASE_NAME=postgres
DATABASE_USER=postgres
DATABASE_PASSWORD=${SUPABASE_DB_PASSWORD}
DATABASE_SSL=true

Get Started

Core Concepts

Building Flows

Deployment

Configuration

​Supported Databases

​SQLite (Default)

​Default Location

​PostgreSQL (Recommended for Production)

​Basic Configuration

​PostgreSQL Setup Steps

​PostgreSQL with SSL

​PostgreSQL Advanced Options

​MySQL

​Basic Configuration

​MySQL Setup Steps

​MySQL with SSL

​MariaDB

​Basic Configuration

​MariaDB Setup Steps

​Cloud Database Services

​AWS RDS (PostgreSQL)

​Google Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL)

​Azure Database for PostgreSQL

​Supabase (PostgreSQL)

​Database Migrations

​Manual Migration

​Database Entities

​Backup and Restore

​SQLite Backup

​PostgreSQL Backup

​MySQL Backup

​Performance Tuning

​PostgreSQL Connection Pooling

​MySQL Performance

​Troubleshooting

​Connection Refused

​Authentication Failed

​SSL/TLS Errors

​Migration Errors

​Example Production Configuration

​PostgreSQL on AWS RDS

​PostgreSQL on Supabase

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Supported Databases

SQLite (Default)

Default Location

PostgreSQL (Recommended for Production)

Basic Configuration

PostgreSQL Setup Steps

PostgreSQL with SSL

PostgreSQL Advanced Options

MySQL

Basic Configuration

MySQL Setup Steps

MySQL with SSL

MariaDB

Basic Configuration

MariaDB Setup Steps

Cloud Database Services

AWS RDS (PostgreSQL)

Google Cloud SQL (PostgreSQL)

Azure Database for PostgreSQL

Supabase (PostgreSQL)

Database Migrations

Manual Migration

Database Entities

Backup and Restore

SQLite Backup

PostgreSQL Backup

MySQL Backup

Performance Tuning

PostgreSQL Connection Pooling

MySQL Performance

Troubleshooting

Connection Refused

Authentication Failed

SSL/TLS Errors

Migration Errors

Example Production Configuration

PostgreSQL on AWS RDS

PostgreSQL on Supabase