DBRelay

DBRelay turns a MySQL database into an instant REST API.

Run two commands:

dbrelay init
dbrelay serve

DBRelay inspects your schema, detects tables and relationships, generates CRUD endpoints, and serves them through a lightweight PHP runtime.

Why DBRelay?

Because building CRUD APIs is repetitive.

Every project starts with the same:

• authentication
• database setup
• CRUD endpoints

DBRelay reads your MySQL schema and automatically generates:

1. Routes
2. Controllers
3. Query handlers
4. Relationship mappings

Features

• Instant REST API from MySQL
• Automatic schema detection
• Relationship support (?include=)
• Pagination & filtering
• Zero configuration setup
• Built-in CLI server
• OpenAPI JSON generation
• Swagger UI dashboard
• Schema inspection command

Usage

Install dependencies:

composer install

1. dbrelay init
2. dbrelay serve
3. Open http://localhost:8000

Example:

php apps/dbrelay-cli/bin/dbrelay init
php apps/dbrelay-cli/bin/dbrelay inspect
php apps/dbrelay-cli/bin/dbrelay serve

Open the API dashboard:

http://localhost:8000/docs

With the included demo:

cd examples/mysql-demo
docker compose up -d
cd ../..

php apps/dbrelay-cli/bin/dbrelay init \
  --no-interaction \
  --host=127.0.0.1 \
  --port=3306 \
  --database=shop_db \
  --username=dbrelay \
  --password=dbrelay

php apps/dbrelay-cli/bin/dbrelay serve

How it works

DBRelay reads your MySQL schema and automatically generates:

1. Routes
2. Controllers
3. Query handlers
4. Relationship mappings

Runtime flow:

HTTP Request
  -> ZeroCore Kernel
  -> Generated route
  -> CRUD controller
  -> DB engine query builder
  -> JSON response

Commands

dbrelay init       # Create .dbrelay/config.php
dbrelay inspect    # Print tables and relationships
dbrelay serve      # Start the generated API
dbrelay generate   # Generate OpenAPI docs and route cache

Docker And Scripts

Build the CLI image:

docker build -f docker/Dockerfile -t dbrelay .
docker run --rm dbrelay --help

Run DBRelay with the MySQL demo through Docker Compose:

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --build

This starts MySQL, loads the sample schema, initializes DBRelay inside the app container, and serves the generated API on http://localhost:8000.

Local setup helper:

scripts/install.sh

Start the local development server after running dbrelay init:

scripts/dev-server.sh

Documentation

• Installation
• Demo walkthrough
• Troubleshooting
• API examples
• Architecture

Monorepo Layout

• apps/dbrelay-cli: user-facing CLI app
• packages/zerocore: minimal PHP HTTP kernel
• packages/db-engine: MySQL schema, relation, query, and endpoint engine
• packages/openapi: OpenAPI documentation generator
• examples/mysql-demo: runnable MySQL demo database
• docs: architecture and project docs

Roadmap

• MySQL support: v0.1
• PostgreSQL support
• JWT authentication
• OpenAPI dashboard
• Published Docker image
• Plugin system