Local Development
Build locally using SQLite, libSQL Server or Turso.
Developers can build locally with Turso using either of the following methods:
- SQLite — local SQLite database file
- Turso CLI — managed libSQL server
- libSQL Server — self managed libSQL server
- Turso Database — remote Turso database
Using a dump locally
You can always dump your production database and use it locally for development:
Create a dump using the Turso CLI
turso db shell your-database .dump > dump.sql
Create SQLite file from dump
cat dump.sql | sqlite3 local.db
Connect to SQLite file
You can use any of the methods below with the local.db file, or you can use a new file name if you prefer to create a database from scratch.
SQLite
There are a few things to keep in mind when using SQLite for local development:
- Doesn’t have all the features of libSQL
- Works with non-serverless based Turso SDKs
When working with an SDK, you can pass it a file: URL to connect to a SQLite database file instead of a remote Turso database:
You don’t need to provide an authToken in development.
It’s recommended to use environment variables for both url and authToken for a seamless developer experience.
Turso CLI
If you’re using libSQL specific features like extensions, you should use the Turso CLI:
turso dev
This will start a local libSQL server and create a database for you. You can then connect to it using the url option in your SDK:
Changes will be lost when you stop the server.
If you want to persist changes, or use a production dump, you can pass the --db-file flag with the name of the SQLite file:
turso dev --db-file local.db
libSQL Server
You can build and run libSQL server (sqld) yourself locally, or inside your own infrastructure using the source code:
Turso Database
If you already have a database created with Turso, you can use that same one in development by passing the url option to your SDK.
Connecting a GUI
During development you can easily connect to a SQLite, libSQL, or Turso database using one of the tools below:
- Beekeeper Studio — macOS, Linux, and Windows
- Outerbase — Runs in the browser
- TablePlus — macOS, Windows, and Linux
- Dataflare — Paid (with limited free version) macOS, Windows, and Linux
- libSQL Studio - Runs in the browser
Was this page helpful?