So what is Airtable ?

Airtable is a low-code platform for building collaborative apps. It works like a part spreadsheet & part database.

How are we going to turn any database into Airtable like spreadsheet ?

Using NocoDB

Ok, What is NocoDB ?

• NocoDB is a free & open source Airtable alternative - that turns your existing MySQL/Postgres databases into a smart and beautiful spreadsheets.

Now, show me the code!

(async () => {
    const server = require('express')();
    const {Noco} = require("nocodb");
    server.use(await Noco.init({}));
    console.log(`Visit : localhost:${process.env.PORT}/dashboard`)    
    server.listen(process.env.PORT);
})()

Let's break down the 7 lines.

(async () => {
    // require express 
    const server = require('express')();

    // require nocodb
    const {Noco} = require("nocodb");

    // mount nocodb as a middleware
    server.use(await Noco.init({}));

    // print 
    console.log(`Visit : localhost:${process.env.PORT}/dashboard`)    

    // listen to a port 
    server.listen(process.env.PORT);
})()

Yes, that is it - simple, minimalistic & boring. Like the way it should be while trying something new.

How does it work internally ?

• NocoDB depends on a database to store metadata about projects or spreadsheets. This can be specified using NC_DB environment variable. If NC_DB is absent then NocoDB defaults to SQLite storing this metadata. - NocoDB Projects can be created in two ways - First, on NC_DB database itself. Second, by connecting to external database.

So how to try this quickly ?

You can get started with just one command.

npx create-nocodb-app

or

docker run -d --name nocodb -p 8080:8080 nocodb/nocodb:latest

Where can I find more about the project ?

Please find our github below -> you can fork it / star it / twist it / turn it

docker run -d --name noco 
           -v "$(pwd)"/nocodb:/usr/app/data/ 
           -p 8080:8080 
           nocodb/nocodb:latest

docker run -d --name noco 
           -v "$(pwd)"/nocodb:/usr/app/data/ 
           -p 8080:8080 
            # replace with your pg connection string
           -e NC_DB="pg://host.docker.internal:5432?u=root&p=password&d=d1" 
           # replace with a random secret
           -e NC_AUTH_JWT_SECRET="569a1821-0a93-45e8-87ab-eb857f20a010"  
           nocodb/nocodb:latest

bash <(curl -sSL http://install.nocodb.com/noco.sh) <(mktemp)

Excellent, so how to join NocoDB community ?

📣 Github : https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb
📣 Discord : https://discord.gg/5RgZmkW
📣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/nocodb

Also, do you have a video demo ?

We do!

Using npx

Using docker

Now, just happy hacking!