Starting with version 0.4.0, Oxy uses PostgreSQL as its primary database. This guide will help you migrate your existing SQLite data to PostgreSQL using Oxy’s built-in migration commands.

Why PostgreSQL?

Oxy has migrated to PostgreSQL to provide:

Better Concurrency: Handle multiple simultaneous connections without locking issues
Production-Ready Performance: Scale to larger datasets and user bases
Advanced Features: Support for analytics workloads with better query optimization
Unified Architecture: Single database system for all deployments

Overview

Oxy now offers three convenient CLI commands for database management:

oxy start: Automatically starts PostgreSQL in Docker and launches the Oxy server
oxy status: Shows the status of PostgreSQL, Docker, and database connectivity
oxy migrate-sqlite: Migrates your existing SQLite data to PostgreSQL

Quick Start

For most users, migrating to PostgreSQL is a simple three-step process:

# Step 1: Start PostgreSQL with Docker
oxy start

# Step 2: Check that everything is running
oxy status

# Step 3: Migrate your existing SQLite data
oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

That’s it! Your data is now running on PostgreSQL.

Detailed Migration Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting the migration, ensure you have:

Docker installed and running - oxy start uses Docker to run PostgreSQL
Oxy 0.4.0 or later - Check with oxy --version
Existing SQLite database - Usually at ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite

Verify Docker Installation

# Check if Docker is installed
docker --version

# Check if Docker daemon is running
docker ps

If Docker isn’t installed, download it from docker.com.

Step-by-Step Migration

Step 1: Backup Your SQLite Database

Before migrating, create a backup of your existing SQLite database:

# Default SQLite location
cp ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite ~/oxy-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sqlite

# Or if you've set OXY_STATE_DIR
cp $OXY_STATE_DIR/db.sqlite ~/oxy-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sqlite

Step 2: Start PostgreSQL with Docker

The oxy start command automatically:

Checks Docker availability
Pulls the PostgreSQL Docker image (if needed)
Starts a PostgreSQL container named oxy-postgres
Waits for PostgreSQL to be ready
Starts the Oxy web server

oxy start

What happens:

✓ Docker is available
✓ Starting PostgreSQL container...
✓ PostgreSQL is ready
✓ Server starting at http://localhost:3000

PostgreSQL Configuration:

Container name: oxy-postgres
Port: 15432 (host) → 5432 (container)
Database: oxy
Username: postgres
Password: postgres
Connection: postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

The container data is persisted in a Docker volume named oxy-postgres-data, so your data survives container restarts.

Step 3: Verify PostgreSQL is Running

Use the oxy status command to check that everything is working:

oxy status

Expected output:

=== Oxy Status ===

[Docker Daemon]
✓ Running (version: 24.0.0)

[PostgreSQL Container]
✓ Container 'oxy-postgres' is running
  Port: 15432 → 5432
  Volume: oxy-postgres-data
  Started: 2 minutes ago

[Database Connection]
✓ Connected to PostgreSQL
  URL: postgresql://postgres:***@localhost:15432/oxy

[Helpful Commands]
  View logs:        docker logs oxy-postgres
  Follow logs:      docker logs -f oxy-postgres
  Access database:  docker exec -it oxy-postgres psql -U postgres -d oxy

If you see any errors, the status output will include troubleshooting steps.

Step 4: Test Migration (Dry Run)

Before migrating your actual data, perform a dry run to verify everything will work:

oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy \
  --dry-run

What this does:

Connects to both SQLite and PostgreSQL
Validates database accessibility
Shows how many records would be migrated from each table
Does NOT actually migrate any data

Expected output:

✓ Connected to SQLite: /Users/you/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite
✓ Connected to PostgreSQL: postgresql://postgres:***@localhost:15432/oxy
✓ PostgreSQL schema is up to date

[DRY RUN] Would migrate:
  users: 5 records
  workspaces: 2 records
  projects: 10 records
  threads: 45 records
  messages: 230 records
  runs: 180 records
  artifacts: 95 records
  ...

Total: 567 records would be migrated

Step 5: Run the Migration

Once the dry run looks good, run the actual migration:

oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

Migration process: The command will migrate data in dependency order (respecting foreign key constraints):

✓ Connected to SQLite
✓ Connected to PostgreSQL
✓ Running PostgreSQL migrations...

Migrating data in dependency order:

[1/17] users: Found 5 records → Migrated 5 records ✓
[2/17] workspaces: Found 2 records → Migrated 2 records ✓
[3/17] git_namespaces: Found 1 records → Migrated 1 records ✓
[4/17] workspace_users: Found 5 records → Migrated 5 records ✓
[5/17] project_repos: Found 8 records → Migrated 8 records ✓
[6/17] projects: Found 10 records → Migrated 10 records ✓
[7/17] branches: Found 15 records → Migrated 15 records ✓
[8/17] threads: Found 45 records → Migrated 45 records ✓
[9/17] secrets: Found 3 records → Migrated 3 records ✓
[10/17] api_keys: Found 2 records → Migrated 2 records ✓
[11/17] messages: Found 230 records → Migrated 230 records ✓
[12/17] artifacts: Found 95 records → Migrated 95 records ✓
[13/17] logs: Found 120 records → Migrated 120 records ✓
[14/17] runs: Found 180 records → Migrated 180 records ✓
[15/17] checkpoints: Found 50 records → Migrated 50 records ✓
[16/17] settings: Found 10 records → Migrated 10 records ✓
[17/17] tasks: Found 0 records → Migrated 0 records ✓

✓ Migration completed successfully!
Total records migrated: 567

The migration copies data from SQLite to PostgreSQL but does NOT delete your SQLite database. Your original data remains safe at ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite.

Step 6: Verify the Migration

After migration, verify your data in PostgreSQL:

# Access PostgreSQL directly
docker exec -it oxy-postgres psql -U postgres -d oxy

# Inside PostgreSQL, check record counts
SELECT 'users' as table_name, COUNT(*) FROM users
UNION ALL SELECT 'projects', COUNT(*) FROM projects
UNION ALL SELECT 'threads', COUNT(*) FROM threads
UNION ALL SELECT 'messages', COUNT(*) FROM messages;

# Exit PostgreSQL
\q

Compare these counts with your SQLite database:

sqlite3 ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite "
SELECT 'users' as table_name, COUNT(*) FROM users
UNION ALL SELECT 'projects', COUNT(*) FROM projects
UNION ALL SELECT 'threads', COUNT(*) FROM threads
UNION ALL SELECT 'messages', COUNT(*) FROM messages;
"

The counts should match exactly.

Step 7: Use Oxy with PostgreSQL

Now that your data is migrated, oxy start will automatically use PostgreSQL:

oxy start

The server will connect to the PostgreSQL database and you can use Oxy normally.

Command Reference

`oxy start`

Start PostgreSQL in Docker and launch the Oxy server. Usage:

oxy start [OPTIONS]

What it does:

Checks if Docker is available
Starts/creates PostgreSQL container (oxy-postgres)
Waits for PostgreSQL to be ready (up to 30 seconds)
Sets environment variable for database connection
Starts the Oxy web server

Options: All options from oxy serve are supported (port, host, etc.) Examples:

# Start with defaults (port 3000)
oxy start

# Start on custom port
oxy start --port 8080

# Start with custom host
oxy start --host 0.0.0.0

`oxy status`

Display status of PostgreSQL, Docker, and database connectivity. Usage:

oxy status

What it shows:

Docker daemon status
PostgreSQL container status (running/stopped)
Database connectivity (can connect or not)
Helpful troubleshooting commands

Output sections:

Docker Daemon: Running/Not running with version info
PostgreSQL Container: Status, ports, volume, uptime
Database Connection: Connected/Failed with connection URL (password masked)
Helpful Commands: Docker commands for logs, access, cleanup

Example output:

=== Oxy Status ===

[Docker Daemon]
✓ Running (version: 24.0.0)

[PostgreSQL Container]
✓ Container 'oxy-postgres' is running
  Port: 15432 → 5432
  Volume: oxy-postgres-data
  Started: 1 hour ago

[Database Connection]
✓ Connected to PostgreSQL
  URL: postgresql://postgres:***@localhost:15432/oxy

[Helpful Commands]
  View logs:        docker logs oxy-postgres
  Follow logs:      docker logs -f oxy-postgres
  Access database:  docker exec -it oxy-postgres psql -U postgres -d oxy
  Stop container:   docker stop oxy-postgres
  Remove container: docker rm oxy-postgres
  Remove volume:    docker volume rm oxy-postgres-data

`oxy migrate-sqlite`

Migrate data from SQLite to PostgreSQL. Usage:

oxy migrate-sqlite --to <POSTGRES_URL> [OPTIONS]

Required Arguments:

--to <POSTGRES_URL>: PostgreSQL database connection URL

Optional Arguments:

--from <SQLITE_URL>: SQLite database URL (default: ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite)
--dry-run: Preview migration without actually migrating data

Examples:

# Migrate with defaults (from ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite)
oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

# Migrate from custom SQLite location
oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --from sqlite:///path/to/custom.sqlite \
  --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

# Dry run to preview migration
oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy \
  --dry-run

# Migrate to external PostgreSQL
oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://user:password@your-host:5432/oxy

Migration Order: Data is migrated in dependency order to respect foreign key constraints:

Base entities: users, workspaces, git_namespaces
First-level: workspace_users, project_repos
Second-level: projects, branches, threads, secrets, api_keys
Third-level: messages, artifacts, logs
Fourth-level: runs
Fifth-level: checkpoints
Final: settings, tasks

Connection Retry:

SQLite: 3 attempts with exponential backoff
PostgreSQL: 20 attempts (allows startup time)

Advanced Scenarios

Using External PostgreSQL

If you don’t want to use Docker, you can connect to an external PostgreSQL instance:

Option 1: Local PostgreSQL Installation

# Install PostgreSQL (example for macOS)
brew install postgresql@16
brew services start postgresql@16

# Create database and user
createdb oxy
createuser -s postgres

# Migrate
oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres@localhost:5432/oxy

Option 2: Managed PostgreSQL Service

AWS RDS:

oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://oxy_user:[email protected]:5432/oxy

Supabase:

oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://postgres:[email protected]:5432/postgres

DigitalOcean:

oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://oxy_user:[email protected]:25060/oxy?sslmode=require

Option 3: Custom Docker PostgreSQL

# Start your own PostgreSQL container
docker run --name my-postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mypassword \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=oxy \
  -p 5433:5432 \
  -v my-oxy-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
  -d postgres:16

# Migrate to it
oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --to postgresql://postgres:mypassword@localhost:5433/oxy

Production Deployment

For production environments, use external PostgreSQL instead of Docker:

Step 1: Set Up PostgreSQL

Create a dedicated database and user:

-- Connect as superuser
psql -U postgres

-- Create database and user
CREATE DATABASE oxy;
CREATE USER oxy_user WITH PASSWORD 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE oxy TO oxy_user;

-- PostgreSQL 15+ requires additional permission
\c oxy
GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA public TO oxy_user;

Step 2: Set Environment Variable

Make PostgreSQL connection permanent:

export OXY_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://oxy_user:secure_password@your-host:5432/oxy

Persist in environment: Docker Compose:

services:
  oxy:
    image: oxy:latest
    environment:
      - OXY_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://oxy_user:password@postgres:5432/oxy

Kubernetes:

env:
  - name: OXY_DATABASE_URL
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: oxy-secrets
        key: database-url

Systemd Service:

[Service]
Environment="OXY_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://oxy_user:password@localhost:5432/oxy"

Step 3: Migrate and Start

# Migrate your data
oxy migrate-sqlite --to $OXY_DATABASE_URL

# Start Oxy (will use OXY_DATABASE_URL)
oxy serve

Troubleshooting

Docker Issues

Docker Not Running

Error:

✗ Docker is not available
Error: Docker daemon is not running

Solution:

# Start Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows)
# OR start Docker daemon (Linux)
sudo systemctl start docker

# Verify
docker ps

Docker Not Installed

Error:

✗ Docker is not installed

Solution: Install Docker from docker.com/get-started

Port Already in Use

Error:

Error: Port 15432 is already in use

Solution:

# Find what's using the port
lsof -i :15432

# Either stop that service or use a different port
# (Note: oxy start doesn't currently support custom ports for PostgreSQL)

# Alternative: Use external PostgreSQL on a different port

PostgreSQL Container Issues

Container Stopped

Check status:

oxy status

If container is stopped, restart it:

docker start oxy-postgres

# Or remove and recreate
docker rm oxy-postgres
oxy start

Container Not Found

# Check if container exists
docker ps -a | grep oxy-postgres

# If not found, oxy start will create it
oxy start

View Container Logs

# View all logs
docker logs oxy-postgres

# Follow logs in real-time
docker logs -f oxy-postgres

# Last 100 lines
docker logs --tail 100 oxy-postgres

Migration Issues

Cannot Connect to SQLite

Error:

✗ Failed to connect to SQLite database
Error: unable to open database file

Solutions:

# Check if file exists
ls -la ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite

# Use absolute path
oxy migrate-sqlite \
  --from sqlite://$HOME/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite \
  --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

# Check file permissions
chmod 644 ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite

Cannot Connect to PostgreSQL

Error:

✗ Failed to connect to PostgreSQL database
Error: connection refused

Solutions:

# Check PostgreSQL is running
oxy status

# Verify connection manually
docker exec -it oxy-postgres psql -U postgres -d oxy

# Check connection string format
# Should be: postgresql://user:password@host:port/database

Migration Fails Partway

Error:

[10/17] messages: Found 230 records → Error: foreign key constraint violation

Solution: This shouldn’t happen as the migration respects dependency order. If it does:

Check for data corruption in SQLite
Run dry-run to see what would be migrated
Report the issue with full error details

# Clean up partial migration
docker exec -it oxy-postgres psql -U postgres -d oxy -c "DROP SCHEMA public CASCADE; CREATE SCHEMA public;"

# Try migration again
oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

Slow Migration

For large databases:

Normal: ~1000 records/second
Large databases (>10k records): May take several minutes
Very large (>100k records): May take 10-30 minutes

Progress is shown in real-time:

[11/17] messages: Found 50000 records → Migrating...

Database Connection Issues

Wrong Database URL Format

Incorrect:

# Missing protocol
postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

# Wrong protocol
postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

# Missing port
postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost/oxy

Correct:

postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

Format:

postgresql://[user[:password]@][host][:port][/database]

Best Practices

Backup Strategy

Always keep backups of your data:

# Before migration
cp ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite ~/backups/oxy-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sqlite

# After migration - backup PostgreSQL
docker exec oxy-postgres pg_dump -U postgres oxy > ~/backups/oxy-postgres-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# Automated daily backup (cron)
0 2 * * * docker exec oxy-postgres pg_dump -U postgres oxy | gzip > ~/backups/oxy-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).sql.gz

Development vs Production

Development (Local):

# Use Docker PostgreSQL - simple and isolated
oxy start
oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

Production (Deployment):

# Use external managed PostgreSQL for reliability
export OXY_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@managed-postgres:5432/oxy
oxy migrate-sqlite --to $OXY_DATABASE_URL
oxy serve  # Uses OXY_DATABASE_URL automatically

Data Validation

After migration, validate your data:

# Check critical tables
docker exec -it oxy-postgres psql -U postgres -d oxy -c "
SELECT
  'users' as table, COUNT(*) as count FROM users
UNION ALL SELECT 'projects', COUNT(*) FROM projects
UNION ALL SELECT 'threads', COUNT(*) FROM threads
UNION ALL SELECT 'messages', COUNT(*) FROM messages
ORDER BY table;
"

# Compare with SQLite
sqlite3 ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite "
SELECT
  'users' as 'table', COUNT(*) as count FROM users
UNION ALL SELECT 'projects', COUNT(*) FROM projects
UNION ALL SELECT 'threads', COUNT(*) FROM threads
UNION ALL SELECT 'messages', COUNT(*) FROM messages
ORDER BY 'table';
"

Counts should match exactly.

Cleaning Up SQLite

After successful migration and verification:

# Keep backup for at least one release cycle
mv ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite ~/backups/oxy-sqlite-archived-$(date +%Y%m%d).sqlite

# Or delete if you're confident
# rm ~/.local/share/oxy/db.sqlite

FAQ

Q: Do I need to keep Docker running after migration? A: If you use oxy start, yes - it uses the Docker PostgreSQL container. Alternatively, migrate to external PostgreSQL and use oxy serve instead. Q: Can I switch back to SQLite? A: No, Oxy 0.4.0+ only supports PostgreSQL. Your old SQLite file remains intact if you need to downgrade to an earlier version. Q: What happens if I run oxy migrate-sqlite twice? A: The second migration will fail due to duplicate key constraints. The command is not idempotent - run it only once. Q: Can I migrate to PostgreSQL on a different machine? A: Yes! Set --to to any accessible PostgreSQL URL (managed service, remote server, etc.) Q: How much disk space does the Docker PostgreSQL use? A: Initial size: ~50-100MB for PostgreSQL image + ~50MB for data. Grows with your data. Q: Does oxy start work in CI/CD? A: Yes, as long as Docker is available. Useful for automated testing against PostgreSQL. Q: What PostgreSQL version is used? A: oxy start uses PostgreSQL 18 (Alpine Linux). External PostgreSQL should be version 14+. Q: Can I customize the Docker container settings? A: Not currently through oxy start. For custom settings, use external PostgreSQL and oxy serve.

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

Run oxy status - Shows current state and helpful commands
Check Docker logs - docker logs oxy-postgres
Try dry-run - oxy migrate-sqlite --to ... --dry-run
Report issues - github.com/oxy-hq/oxy/issues

Include in your report:

Oxy version: oxy --version
Docker version: docker --version
OS: macOS/Linux/Windows
Full error message
Output from oxy status

Summary

Migrating to PostgreSQL with Oxy’s CLI commands is straightforward:

# Quick migration (3 commands)
oxy start      # Start PostgreSQL in Docker
oxy status     # Verify it's running
oxy migrate-sqlite --to postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:15432/oxy

You’re now running on PostgreSQL with better performance and scalability for production use!

Get Started

Learn about Oxy

MCP Server

Migration

​Why PostgreSQL?

​Overview

​Quick Start

​Detailed Migration Guide

​Prerequisites

​Verify Docker Installation

​Step-by-Step Migration

​Step 1: Backup Your SQLite Database

​Step 2: Start PostgreSQL with Docker

​Step 3: Verify PostgreSQL is Running

​Step 4: Test Migration (Dry Run)

​Step 5: Run the Migration

​Step 6: Verify the Migration

​Step 7: Use Oxy with PostgreSQL

​Command Reference

​oxy start

​oxy status

​oxy migrate-sqlite

​Advanced Scenarios

​Using External PostgreSQL

​Option 1: Local PostgreSQL Installation

​Option 2: Managed PostgreSQL Service

​Option 3: Custom Docker PostgreSQL

​Production Deployment

​Step 1: Set Up PostgreSQL

​Step 2: Set Environment Variable

​Step 3: Migrate and Start

​Troubleshooting

​Docker Issues

​Docker Not Running

​Docker Not Installed

​Port Already in Use

​PostgreSQL Container Issues

​Container Stopped

​Container Not Found

​View Container Logs

​Migration Issues

​Cannot Connect to SQLite

​Cannot Connect to PostgreSQL

​Migration Fails Partway

​Slow Migration

​Database Connection Issues

​Wrong Database URL Format

​Best Practices

​Backup Strategy

​Development vs Production

​Data Validation

​Cleaning Up SQLite

​FAQ

​Getting Help

​Summary

Why PostgreSQL?

Overview

Quick Start

Detailed Migration Guide

Prerequisites

Verify Docker Installation

Step-by-Step Migration

Step 1: Backup Your SQLite Database

Step 2: Start PostgreSQL with Docker

Step 3: Verify PostgreSQL is Running

Step 4: Test Migration (Dry Run)

Step 5: Run the Migration

Step 6: Verify the Migration

Step 7: Use Oxy with PostgreSQL

Command Reference

`oxy start`

`oxy status`

`oxy migrate-sqlite`

Advanced Scenarios

Using External PostgreSQL

Option 1: Local PostgreSQL Installation

Option 2: Managed PostgreSQL Service

Option 3: Custom Docker PostgreSQL

Production Deployment

Step 1: Set Up PostgreSQL

Step 2: Set Environment Variable

Step 3: Migrate and Start

Troubleshooting

Docker Issues

Docker Not Running

Docker Not Installed

Port Already in Use

PostgreSQL Container Issues

Container Stopped

Container Not Found

View Container Logs

Migration Issues

Cannot Connect to SQLite

Cannot Connect to PostgreSQL

Migration Fails Partway

Slow Migration

Database Connection Issues

Wrong Database URL Format

Best Practices

Backup Strategy

Development vs Production

Data Validation

Cleaning Up SQLite

FAQ

Getting Help

Summary