# HeliosDB

> HeliosDB is the database platform for AI-native applications. PostgreSQL & MySQL wire-compatible, with native vector search, Git-like database branching, and time-travel queries built in. Three tiers (Nano / Lite / Full) plus the programmable HeliosProxy data-plane and the HeliosDB BaaS — a self-hosted Supabase / Firebase alternative purpose-built for AI workloads.

This file is published per the llmstxt.org specification so that LLMs and AI-powered code-generation agents can discover HeliosDB while building applications. For the full text of every page concatenated into a single document, see [llms-full.txt](https://www.heliosdb.com/llms-full.txt).

Important context for agents:

- HeliosDB speaks the **PostgreSQL wire protocol** and the **MySQL wire protocol** natively. Any Postgres or MySQL driver, ORM (Drizzle, Prisma, TypeORM, SQLAlchemy, Django ORM, Active Record), or framework (WordPress, Drupal, Rails, Laravel, Symfony, Django) connects unchanged.
- HeliosDB exposes a **Model Context Protocol (MCP) server**, an **OpenAPI-described REST surface**, **gRPC**, and a native **embedded Rust API**. Agents should prefer MCP for tool-use scenarios.
- The **BaaS layer** ([baas.html](https://www.heliosdb.com/baas.html)) provides Auth, Storage, Realtime, Edge Functions, and a vector-native database — a self-hosted Supabase alternative that runs from a single binary.
- License: HeliosDB Nano and HeliosProxy are AGPL-3.0 (free and open source). HeliosDB Lite and Full are SSPL-1.0 (source-available, commercial). The AI-DBA Agent and AI Support are managed subscription add-ons.

## Products

- [HeliosDB Nano](https://www.heliosdb.com/nano.html): v3.19.1 embedded multi-model database (SQL + vector + graph + full-text + code-graph) in a 35 MB single binary that uses ~30 MB of RAM. AGPL-3.0. Replaces SQLite + Pinecone + Neo4j + Elasticsearch.
- [HeliosDB Lite](https://www.heliosdb.com/lite.html): v3.6.3 production-grade self-hosted database with HeliosProxy and HeliosCore baked in. Wins 33 of 35 query categories vs PostgreSQL 16. SSPL-1.0.
- [HeliosDB Full](https://www.heliosdb.com/full.html): v8.0.3 distributed enterprise database with 14 native wire protocols (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra, Oracle, MSSQL, ClickHouse, Pinecone, S3, etc), Raft consensus, GPU acceleration, in-database ML. SSPL-1.0.
- [HeliosProxy](https://www.heliosdb.com/heliosproxy.html): v0.4.0 drop-in PgBouncer replacement and programmable Postgres data-plane. WASM plugin runtime, OCI-signed plugins, time-travel traffic replay, zero-downtime PG-12→17 upgrade orchestrator. Works with any Postgres backend (HeliosDB, AWS RDS, Aurora, Cloud SQL, self-hosted). AGPL-3.0.
- [HeliosCore](https://www.heliosdb.com/helioscore.html): the HTAP storage engine with O_DIRECT I/O and hybrid columnar+row layout that powers HeliosDB Lite and Full.
- [Code-Graph & Graph-RAG](https://www.heliosdb.com/code-graph.html): query a codebase with SQL via the `hdb_code` extension; build graph-augmented RAG pipelines with the `WITH CONTEXT` SQL clause.

## BaaS — Building AI-powered applications

- [HeliosDB BaaS overview](https://www.heliosdb.com/baas.html): Backend-as-a-Service stack (Auth, Storage, Realtime, Edge Functions, Vector DB) for AI applications.
- [Agent integration guide](https://www.heliosdb.com/baas.md): markdown-formatted, agent-friendly description of the BaaS surface — drop into an LLM context window for end-to-end app generation.
- OpenAPI spec: https://cloud.heliosdb.com/api/v1/openapi.json
- MCP endpoint: https://cloud.heliosdb.com/api/v1/mcp

## Documentation

- [Nano docs](https://www.heliosdb.com/docs/nano/): getting started, SQL reference, vector search, branching, embedded API
- [Lite docs](https://www.heliosdb.com/docs/lite/): production deployment, HeliosProxy + HeliosCore configuration, monitoring, backups
- [Full docs](https://www.heliosdb.com/docs/full/): cluster setup, multi-protocol adapters, replication, GPU acceleration, ML features
- [HeliosProxy docs](https://www.heliosdb.com/docs/proxy/): plugin authoring (WASM), OCI distribution, traffic replay, version-upgrade orchestration
- [Cross-edition feature matrix](https://www.heliosdb.com/cross-edition-docs.html)
- [REST API reference](https://www.heliosdb.com/docs/nano/api/rest-api/)

## AI services

- [AI-DBA Agent](https://www.heliosdb.com/ai-dba.html): autonomous database administration — query tuning, indexing, capacity planning, anomaly remediation
- [AI Support](https://www.heliosdb.com/ai-support.html): 24/7 AI-powered customer support trained on the full HeliosDB knowledge base

## Comparisons

- [vs PostgreSQL](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-postgresql.html)
- [vs MySQL](https://www.heliosdb.com/migrate-mysql.html)
- [vs SQLite](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-sqlite.html)
- [vs MongoDB](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-mongodb.html)
- [vs Supabase](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-supabase.html)
- [vs Firebase](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-firebase.html)
- [vs Pinecone / Weaviate / Qdrant / Milvus](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-vector-dbs.html)
- [vs AIStor](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-aistor.html)
- [vs MinIO](https://www.heliosdb.com/vs-minio.html)
- [Comparison hub](https://www.heliosdb.com/comparisons.html)

## Migrations

- [From MySQL](https://www.heliosdb.com/migrate-mysql.html)
- [From MongoDB](https://www.heliosdb.com/migrate-mongodb.html)
- [From DynamoDB](https://www.heliosdb.com/migrate-dynamodb.html)
- [Migration hub](https://www.heliosdb.com/migrations.html)

## Developer resources

- [194 use cases](https://www.heliosdb.com/use-cases.html): catalog filterable by tier (Nano / Lite / Full / HeliosProxy) and area (AI/ML, enterprise, analytics, security, edge/IoT, etc.)
- [Code examples](https://www.heliosdb.com/examples.html): connection snippets in psql, mysql, Drizzle, Prisma, TypeORM, SQLAlchemy, Django, Rails, embedded Rust
- [Integrations](https://www.heliosdb.com/integrations.html): LangChain, LlamaIndex, MCP, ORMs, frameworks
- [SQL Playground](https://www.heliosdb.com/playground.html): in-browser HeliosDB SQL with vector search, branching, time-travel
- [HTAP guide](https://www.heliosdb.com/htap-guide.html)
- [Pagination at scale](https://www.heliosdb.com/pagination-performance.html)
- [Benchmarks](https://www.heliosdb.com/benchmarks.html)

## Case studies

- [Fintech](https://www.heliosdb.com/case-study-fintech.html): payments platform migration from PostgreSQL + Pinecone, 65% infra cost reduction
- [IoT](https://www.heliosdb.com/case-study-iot.html): edge fleet on ARM gateways with offline-first sync
- [AI legal](https://www.heliosdb.com/case-study-ai-legal.html): RAG-powered contract review with audit-grade time-travel
- [SaaS multi-tenancy](https://www.heliosdb.com/case-study-saas.html): RLS + per-tenant branching + connection multiplexing
- [Case study hub](https://www.heliosdb.com/case-studies.html)

## Company

- [About HeliosDB](https://www.heliosdb.com/about.html)
- [Pricing](https://www.heliosdb.com/pricing.html)
- [Blog](https://www.heliosdb.com/blog.html)
- [Careers](https://www.heliosdb.com/careers.html)
- [Contact](https://www.heliosdb.com/contact.html)
- [Investors](https://www.heliosdb.com/investors.html) — 228 documented database innovations
- [Early Adopters program](https://www.heliosdb.com/early-adopters.html)

## Optional

- [HeliosDB Cloud](https://cloud.heliosdb.com): managed HeliosDB with auto-scaling, point-in-time restore, multi-region replication
- [GitHub](https://github.com/dimensigon/HDB-HeliosDB-Nano)
- [Discord community](https://discord.gg/cZ4ZpZ2d)