Database

SnapOtter uses PostgreSQL 17 with Drizzle ORM (pg-core / node-postgres) for data persistence. The schema is defined in apps/api/src/db/schema.ts.

The connection is configured via the DATABASE_URL environment variable (default postgres://snapotter:snapotter@postgres:5432/snapotter). In Docker Compose, the Postgres container stores its data in the SnapOtter-pgdata named volume.

Tables

users

Stores user accounts. Created automatically on first run from DEFAULT_USERNAME and DEFAULT_PASSWORD.

Column	Type	Notes
id	uuid	Primary key
username	varchar	Unique, required
passwordHash	varchar	scrypt hash
role	varchar	admin, editor, or user
mustChangePassword	boolean	Forced password reset flag
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time
updatedAt	timestamp	Last update time

sessions

Active login sessions. Each row ties a session token to a user.

Column	Type	Notes
id	varchar	Primary key (session token)
userId	uuid	Foreign key to users.id
expiresAt	timestamp	Expiry time
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time

teams

Groups for organizing users. Admins can assign users to teams.

Column	Type	Description
id	uuid	Primary key
name	varchar (unique, max 50 chars)	Team name
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time

api_keys

API keys for programmatic access. The raw key is shown once on creation; only the hash is stored.

Column	Type	Notes
id	uuid	Primary key
userId	uuid	Foreign key to users.id
keyHash	varchar	scrypt hash of the key
name	varchar	User-provided label
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time
lastUsedAt	timestamp	Updated on each authenticated request

Keys are prefixed with si_ followed by 96 hex characters (48 random bytes).

pipelines

Saved tool chains that users create in the UI.

Column	Type	Notes
id	uuid	Primary key
name	varchar	Pipeline name
description	varchar	Optional description
steps	jsonb	Array of { toolId, settings } objects
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time

user_files

Persistent file library with version chain tracking. Each processing step that saves a result creates a new row linked to its parent via parentId, forming a version tree.

Column	Type	Description
id	uuid	Primary key
userId	uuid	FK to users (CASCADE DELETE)
originalName	varchar	Original upload filename
storedName	varchar	Filename on disk
mimeType	varchar	MIME type
size	integer	File size in bytes
width	integer	Image width in px
height	integer	Image height in px
version	integer	Version number (1 = original)
parentId	uuid or null	FK to user_files (parent version)
toolChain	jsonb	Tool IDs applied in order to produce this version
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time

jobs

Tracks processing jobs for progress reporting and cleanup.

Column	Type	Notes
id	uuid	Primary key
type	varchar	Tool or pipeline identifier
status	varchar	queued, processing, completed, or failed
progress	real	0.0-1.0 fraction
inputFiles	jsonb	Array of input file paths
outputPath	varchar	Path to the result file
settings	jsonb	Tool settings used
error	varchar	Error message if failed
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time
completedAt	timestamp	Completion time

settings

Key-value store for server-wide settings that admins can change from the UI.

Column	Type	Notes
key	varchar	Primary key
value	varchar	Setting value
updatedAt	timestamp	Last update time

roles

Custom roles with granular permissions.

Column	Type	Notes
id	uuid	Primary key
name	varchar	Unique role name
description	varchar	Optional description
permissions	jsonb	Array of permission strings
createdAt	timestamp	Creation time

audit_log

Security-relevant action log.

Column	Type	Notes
id	uuid	Primary key
userId	uuid	FK to users
action	varchar	Action type
details	jsonb	Action-specific data
createdAt	timestamp	Action time

Migrations

Drizzle handles schema migrations. Migration files live in apps/api/drizzle/. During development:

cd apps/api
npx drizzle-kit generate   # generate a migration from schema changes
npx drizzle-kit migrate    # apply pending migrations

In production, pending migrations are applied automatically on startup.

Backup and restore

The relational database lives in the Postgres container's SnapOtter-pgdata volume, not the app's /data volume.

Option 1: pg_dump (recommended)

# Dump the database while the stack is running
docker exec SnapOtter-postgres pg_dump -U snapotter snapotter > backup.sql

# Restore into a fresh database
cat backup.sql | docker exec -i SnapOtter-postgres psql -U snapotter snapotter

Option 2: Volume snapshot

# Stop the stack, then snapshot the pgdata volume
docker compose down
docker run --rm -v SnapOtter-pgdata:/data -v $(pwd)/backup:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/snapotter-pgdata.tar.gz -C /data .

Migrating from 1.x (SQLite)

If you are upgrading from SnapOtter 1.x, set SQLITE_MIGRATE_PATH to the path of your old snapotter.db file on first boot. The migration runs once and imports users, settings, pipelines, and files into Postgres. Remove the variable after migration succeeds.