1 · Install and open

Pick one way to install. Then run foxschema: it starts FoxSchema and opens http://localhost:3210 in your browser.

npm (recommended)

npm install -g foxschema
foxschema                 # starts FoxSchema and opens http://localhost:3210

This needs Node.js 22.5 or newer. On Windows, install Node first with winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS.

Docker (shared or team server)

docker run -d --name foxschema \
  -p 3210:3210 \
  -v foxschema_data:/data \
  5nickels/foxschema:latest

Open http://localhost:3210. Your connections and history live on the foxschema_data volume, so keep it.

Homebrew (macOS)

The Homebrew commands are on the Install page.

2 · Sign in for the first time

Every install asks you to sign in.

• The first time, FoxSchema shows Create your account. The first account on an install is its administrator, and after that only an administrator can add people.
• If you opened FoxSchema from the command line on your own machine, it can let you straight in and show a banner asking you to create your account. You have 7 days before FoxSchema asks for it.
• FoxSchema emails a code to confirm your address. Enter it in the Verify your email banner, or choose Send a new code.
• On a brand-new install you may see an optional Get product updates screen before the account page. Choose Skip for now if you prefer; it appears once.
• After you sign in, three quick questions (What best describes you?, Which database do you use most? and What would you like to do first?) tailor your first screen. Choose Skip — take me to the app to go straight in.

You land on Home. The left rail takes you to Compare, Editor, Utils, Access, Workflow, Snapshots, and Creds and Applies at the bottom. Press ⌘K or Ctrl+K to search them.

3 · Build a sample playground

No database handy? Create two schemas that differ on purpose, then watch FoxSchema find every difference. Run both scripts on PostgreSQL or MySQL; they work on either.

Schema A: the “source”

CREATE SCHEMA demo_a;

CREATE TABLE demo_a.customers (
  id            INT PRIMARY KEY,
  email         VARCHAR(200) NOT NULL,
  full_name     VARCHAR(120),
  signup_date   DATE,
  last_login_at TIMESTAMP          -- only in A
);

CREATE TABLE demo_a.orders (
  id          INT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT NOT NULL,
  total       DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
  status      VARCHAR(20)
);

CREATE INDEX idx_customers_email ON demo_a.customers (email);
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_customer ON demo_a.orders (customer_id);

INSERT INTO demo_a.customers (id, email, full_name, signup_date) VALUES
  (1, 'ada@example.com',   'Ada Lovelace',   '2024-01-15'),
  (2, 'linus@example.com', 'Linus Torvalds', '2024-02-02'),
  (3, 'grace@example.com', 'Grace Hopper',   '2024-03-30');

INSERT INTO demo_a.orders (id, customer_id, total, status) VALUES
  (1, 1,  99.00, 'paid'),
  (2, 2, 149.50, 'paid'),
  (3, 3,  20.00, 'refunded');

Schema B: the “target” (drifted)

CREATE SCHEMA demo_b;

CREATE TABLE demo_b.customers (
  id          INT PRIMARY KEY,
  email       VARCHAR(200) NOT NULL,
  full_name   VARCHAR(80),           -- narrower than A
  signup_date DATE,
  legacy_flag INT                    -- only in B
);

CREATE TABLE demo_b.orders (
  id          INT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT NOT NULL,
  total       DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
  status      VARCHAR(20)
);

CREATE TABLE demo_b.audit_log (      -- only in B
  id        INT PRIMARY KEY,
  action    VARCHAR(50),
  logged_at TIMESTAMP
);

-- no indexes here: A has idx_customers_email and idx_orders_customer

INSERT INTO demo_b.customers (id, email, full_name, signup_date) VALUES
  (1, 'ada@example.com',   'Ada Lovelace',  '2024-01-15'),
  (2, 'linus@example.com', 'Linus T.',      '2024-02-02');

4 · Connect your databases

1. Click Creds on the left rail.
2. Pick the database type. Saved connections are grouped by type, and you can search them by name.
3. Enter the host, port, database, username and password, and a schema if you want one. SQLite and DuckDB use a file path instead: choose it with Browse….
4. Click Load Schema to check the connection, then Save Credential. Give it a name you will recognise.

Save one connection for each side you want to compare. For the sample, save two connections to the same server, one pointing at demo_a and one at demo_b, and call them “Sample A” and “Sample B”.

5 · Compare and migrate

1. Open Compare on the left rail.
2. Choose Original Server (Sample A) and Target (Sample B), then click Compare.
3. Read the diff. Each object is marked Added, Modified, Removed or Unchanged. Click any object to see the exact column, index and key changes.
4. Open Migration SQL to see the runnable script for the Target’s dialect. Nothing has been applied yet.
5. When you are happy with it, tick the objects to deploy (Deploy to Target), click Execute Sync Script, tick the acknowledgement if the plan drops anything, and confirm. FoxSchema takes a snapshot first.

What you should see with the sample

To make Sample B match Sample A, FoxSchema would:

• drop the table audit_log, which exists only in B;
• add the column last_login_at to customers, and drop legacy_flag;
• widen full_name from VARCHAR(80) to VARCHAR(120);
• create the indexes idx_customers_email and idx_orders_customer.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Tell us what you did and the error you saw on the Contact page.

Where to next

The Feature Guide walks through every feature, step by step.