Installation

Install Sovrium globally or as a project dependency using Bun.

Prerequisites

Tables and auth work out of the box on an embedded SQLite database — no setup required. PostgreSQL 15+ is optional and unlocks advanced features (raw SQL, vector search). Running from source or as a library requires Bun 1.3+.

Standalone binary (recommended)

Sovrium ships as a self-contained binary — the recommended way to install. No runtime to install separately.

# Install script
curl -fsSL https://sovrium.com/install | sh

# Homebrew
brew install sovrium/tap/sovrium

# Docker
docker pull ghcr.io/sovrium/sovrium:latest

After installing, the sovrium command is available from anywhere.

As a library

To use Sovrium programmatically from a Bun project, add it as a dependency:

bun add sovrium

Verify installation

Run the help command to check that Sovrium is installed correctly:

sovrium --help

Create a config file

Sovrium reads a YAML or JSON configuration file. Create an app.yaml with the simplest valid config:

name: my-app

Database setup

Sovrium uses an embedded SQLite database by default — tables and auth work with zero configuration. Set DATABASE_URL only to choose the SQLite file location or to switch to PostgreSQL:

# Default: embedded SQLite — no DATABASE_URL needed

# Optional — choose where the SQLite file lives:
export DATABASE_URL="file:./data/app.db"

# Optional — use PostgreSQL for advanced features:
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/myapp"

Next steps

• Quick Start — build and run your first app.
• Core Concepts — the anatomy of a Sovrium app.
• Configuration Files — YAML, JSON, TypeScript, and $ref.