Open source under MIT, and yours to self-host

MIT licensed, as of v3.0.0-beta9

Pilotbase is now released under the MIT License. You can use it, change it, self-host it and redistribute it, including commercially, as long as the copyright and license notice stay with it. This replaces the earlier Limited Use License. Contributions are covered by a CLA, which is now a non-exclusive grant.

The full source is public at github.com/icedsg/pilotbase: the FastAPI backend, the React UI, the desktop wrapper and the docs. The hosted Pilotbase.pro service adds features on top under separate terms; the open-source edition is complete for self-hosting.

Running it with Docker

You need Docker 24+ and Docker Compose v2+. Clone the repo, copy api/.env.example to api/.env, set a SECRET_KEY and a Fernet ENCRYPTION_KEY, then run docker compose up --build. The first build compiles the frontend and installs dependencies, which takes about 2–3 minutes. Later starts are near-instant. Pilotbase is then at http://localhost:8000.

One key, kept stable

Treat ENCRYPTION_KEY carefully. Every stored connection password is encrypted with it, so set it before you create any connections and never change it. If it changes, Pilotbase can't decrypt the saved credentials and you'll have to re-enter every one. Keep it in a secrets manager or an .env file that survives redeploys.

That's all you need to connect databases and start querying. The AI agent, backup location, migrations and the generated API are optional, and you can set them up whenever you need them.

Prefer not to run Docker?

The same app ships as a native desktop installer for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no Docker or Postgres to manage. See Pilotbase is now a native desktop app.