fastmonkeys/stellar
Stellar
Stellar is a command-line utility designed to manage local PostgreSQL database states by capturing and restoring snapshots. It functions as a development tool that enables rapid environment provisioning and state switching, allowing users to maintain consistent database configurations during iterative testing and debugging cycles.
The tool operates by interacting directly with the underlying filesystem rather than relying on traditional database dump and restore processes. It utilizes low-level mechanisms such as atomic pointer swapping, binary manipulation, and zero-copy cloning to create point-in-time snapshots. By managing these snapshots through a metadata-driven registry, the system allows for near-instantaneous transitions between different database versions.
This approach provides a workflow for versioning local database environments and resetting them to known clean states. The utility is distributed as a command-line interface for integration into local development environments.
Features
- Local Database Development Tools - Provides a developer-focused utility for managing local database snapshots to enable rapid state switching.
- Filesystem Pointer Swaps - Provides near-instantaneous database state switching by updating filesystem pointers to different data versions.
- PostgreSQL Snapshot Utilities - Captures and restores local PostgreSQL database states by manipulating internal files to accelerate development workflows.
- Database Provisioning - Resets local database environments to a known clean state instantly without slow export and import processes.
- Database State Restoration - Reverts database states by renaming internal files for faster recovery than traditional dump methods.
- Database Versioning - Enables versioning of local development databases to easily revert changes or switch between configurations.
- Database Snapshots - Creates internal copies of local database files to save the current state for rapid retrieval.
- Zero-Copy Cloning - Utilizes operating system features to duplicate file references without physically copying underlying data blocks.
- Filesystem-Level Database Cloning - Performs low-level filesystem copies of data directories to create point-in-time database snapshots.
- Database Storage Manipulators - Bypasses traditional SQL dump overhead by manipulating database storage files directly at the byte level.
