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Quick start

Run the SQLly Embedded package on localhost in five minutes: start the bridge and the sample app, link a license, add a profile, and open SQLly as a user.

This runs the whole SQLly Embedded package on one machine: the bridge, its engine, and the sample admin app. Everything stays on localhost, and the free trial on your sqlly.app account covers it. You need Node.js 20 or newer, plus a database SQLly can reach.

Run it

  1. Download and unpack the SQLly Embedded package for your platform from Downloads (Linux x86-64 and arm64, macOS Apple silicon, Windows x86-64 and arm64). On Linux, unpack with tar -xzf so the executables keep their permissions.

    To script it, each platform has a stable link that always serves the newest package built for that platform. If a release didn't build for your platform, the link serves the newest one that did.

    PlatformLatest package
    Linux x86-64https://sqlly.app/download/embedded/latest/linux-amd64
    Linux arm64https://sqlly.app/download/embedded/latest/linux-arm64
    macOS Apple siliconhttps://sqlly.app/download/embedded/latest/macos-arm64
    Windows x86-64https://sqlly.app/download/embedded/latest/windows-amd64
    Windows arm64https://sqlly.app/download/embedded/latest/windows-arm64
     
    curl -fsSL -o sqlly-embedded.tar.gz https://sqlly.app/download/embedded/latest/linux-amd64
tar -xzf sqlly-embedded.tar.gz

    Add /version to any of them (for example /download/embedded/latest/linux-amd64/version) to get the version and file name as JSON without downloading.

  2. Start everything from the sqlly-embedded folder:

    macOS / Linux 
    ./start-sample.sh
    Windows 
    start-sample.cmd

    The script creates .env from .env.example, checks Node.js, generates the shared manage token on first run, starts the bridge, waits for its management API, and starts the sample app on http://127.0.0.1:8090.

  3. Sign in as the admin at http://127.0.0.1:8090/admin with sqlly-admin / GoodLittlePiggy. (The sample app refuses to listen on anything but loopback until you change that password.)

  4. Link a license. On Status, click Connect to sqlly.app, then Open sqlly.app to approve. Sign in to sqlly.app, check the code matches the one on your admin page, pick a license (your trial works) and click Approve. The Status page notices by itself and shows the linked account. This install now has its own key, which the bridge keeps across restarts.

    Prefer configuration? Generate a key on your Embedded page and set SQLLY_EMBEDDED_LICENSE_KEY in .env before starting. Offline plans set SQLLY_EMBEDDED_LICENSE_FILE to the downloaded file instead.

  5. Create a profile. Profiles → Create profile, give it a name, and add a connection: pick the engine, fill in the server, database and sign-in. Click Test to prove the bridge can reach it; the result appears on the form before you save. Then Launch opens SQLly with that profile in a new tab.

  6. Add a user. Users → Create user with a username, a password and the profile. Open http://127.0.0.1:8090/ in a private window, sign in as that user, and click Open SQLly. That's the experience your own users get.

Back on Status you'll see the seat that user now holds. Close their SQLly tab and it frees.

The settings in .env

SettingWhat it's for
SQLLY_EMBEDDED_LICENSE_KEYA connected license key (sqe_…). Leave empty to link from the admin page instead.
SQLLY_EMBEDDED_LICENSE_FILEAn offline license file. Don't set both.
SQLLY_EMBEDDED_MANAGE_TOKENThe shared secret between the bridge and the admin app. Generated on first run.
SQLLY_EMBEDDED_DOMAINThe domain your app is served from. Leave empty on localhost. Setting it binds an unbound license on the first check-in.
SQLLY_EMBEDDED_PUBLIC_URLThe wss://…/proxy URL browsers use, once you're behind a reverse proxy.
SQLLY_EMBEDDED_STATE_DIRWhere the bridge keeps profiles, the license cache and a linked key.

Every bridge flag has an environment variable; the full list is on Going to production.

What's in the package

PathWhat it is
bin/sqlly-bridgeThe SQLly bridge; sqlly-bridge embedded … is the mode this package uses.
bin/sqlly-cliThe engine the bridge starts per session. Keep it beside the bridge.
web/The SQLly browser build: index.html, boot.js, sqlly_browser.js, sqlly_browser_bg.wasm, sqlly2.svg. Platform-independent.
sample-app/The sample admin and launcher app. server.js is the routing, lib/bridge.js a complete management API client, lib/credentials.js builds credential documents.
start-sample.sh, start-sample.cmdStart the bridge and the sample app together from .env.

Next

Take the sample app tour to see each screen, or go straight to building your own app.