Database
The Reference Implementation uses a PostgreSQL database to store all of its data — tenants, users, service registrations, credentials metadata, configuration, and more. See System Architecture for what the database contains and how it relates to the external services.
Provisioning
When using the Docker Compose configuration from the repository, a PostgreSQL instance (ri-db) is provisioned automatically. Organisations using the Reference Implementation Docker image directly will need to provision their own PostgreSQL instance (version 17 or later recommended).
Configuration
The following environment variables must be passed to the Reference Implementation to configure the database connection:
| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
RI_POSTGRES_HOST | Yes | Database hostname | — |
RI_POSTGRES_PORT | No | Database port | 5432 |
RI_POSTGRES_USER | No | Database user | postgres |
RI_POSTGRES_PASSWORD | No | Database password | postgres |
RI_POSTGRES_DB | No | Database name | ri |
Migrations and Seeding
On startup, the Reference Implementation automatically applies database migrations and seeds system default records. See Startup for the full sequence, what gets seeded, and how to control each step.
Local Development
For local development, the Prisma CLI provides useful tools:
cd packages/reference-implementation
# Visual database editor
pnpm prisma studio
# Create and apply a new migration
pnpm prisma migrate dev