Configuration

Astroladb uses a simple YAML configuration file for project settings and database connections.

Configuration File

Create alab.yaml in your project root:

database:
  dialect: postgres # or sqlite
  url: postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb

schemas: ./schemas
migrations: ./migrations

Configuration Options

Option	Description	Required	Default
database.dialect	Database type (postgres or sqlite)	Yes	—
database.url	Connection string	Yes	—
schemas	Path to schema files	No	./schemas
migrations	Path to migration output	No	./migrations

Full Example

# Database configuration
database:
  dialect: postgres
  url: postgres://myuser:mypass@localhost:5432/myapp_dev

# Project paths
schemas: ./schemas
migrations: ./migrations

# Optional: Export settings (future feature)
# exports:
#   output: ./generated
#   formats: [typescript, go, openapi]

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
ALAB_DATABASE_URL	Overrides database.url from config

# Use environment variable instead of config file
export ALAB_DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb"
alab migrate

Connection Strings

PostgreSQL

Standard connection string format:

postgres://username:password@hostname:port/database_name

Examples:

# Local development
database:
  dialect: postgres
  url: postgres://dev:dev123@localhost:5432/myapp_dev

# Production with SSL
database:
  dialect: postgres
  url: postgres://produser:securepass@prod.example.com:5432/myapp?sslmode=require

# With connection pooling parameters
database:
  dialect: postgres
  url: postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb?pool_max_conns=20

Common PostgreSQL Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
sslmode	SSL connection mode	require, disable
pool_max_conns	Max connection pool size	20
connect_timeout	Connection timeout in seconds	10

SQLite

SQLite uses file paths instead of connection strings:

# Relative path (recommended for development)
database:
  dialect: sqlite
  url: ./dev.db

# Relative path in subdirectory
database:
  dialect: sqlite
  url: ./data/local.db

# Absolute path
database:
  dialect: sqlite
  url: /var/lib/myapp/database.db

# In-memory (testing only - data lost on exit)
database:
  dialect: sqlite
  url: ":memory:"

Note: SQLite databases are single files. The directory must exist before running migrations.

Connection String Security

Never commit credentials to version control. Use environment variables in production:

database:
  dialect: postgres
  url: ${ALAB_DATABASE_URL}

Then set the environment variable:

export ALAB_DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:pass@prod.example.com:5432/myapp"