Create a project

Scaffold a project

Start by opening your terminal to create a new folder for the project, then create a docker-compose.yml file within it:

mkdir my-first-cube-project
cd my-first-cube-project
touch docker-compose.yml

Open the docker-compose.yml file and add the following content:

services:
  cube:
    image: cubejs/cube:latest
    ports:
      - 4000:4000
      - 15432:15432
    environment:
      - CUBEJS_DEV_MODE=true
    volumes:
      - .:/cube/conf

Note that we’re setting the CUBEJS_DEV_MODE environment variable to true to enable development mode. This is handy for local development but not suitable for production.

Development mode is an authentication bypass. Cube is in development mode when CUBEJS_DEV_MODE=true, and also under cubejs dev-server, the cubejs-dev-server bin or the devServer option, which turn it on with the variable unset. It switches off JWT verification on the REST (JSON) and GraphQL APIs: they then accept requests with no token at all.Development mode also mounts Playground and its supporting endpoints with no authentication whatsoever. Anyone who can reach the instance is handed a ready-to-use API token, and can mint further ones carrying any security context signed with your API secret — and so query every data API as any user, bypassing member-level access control and row-level security. The same endpoints read your data model files and the table schema of every connected data source, and overwrite your data model and your .env. With CUBEJS_DEV_MODE=true and no CUBEJS_SQL_PASSWORD set, the SQL API accepts any credentials as well, allowing arbitrary SQL against connected data sources.This is intentional. Development mode is designed to run on a developer’s local machine for ease of use and debugging. Never run it where anyone else can reach it, never expose it to the internet, and never use it in production. Using development mode in the Cube cloud platform is highly discouraged — it bypasses the platform’s security model.To keep it off, set CUBEJS_DEV_MODE=false. Leaving it unset is not enough on its own: cubejs dev-server and the cubejs-dev-server bin turn development mode on for themselves exactly when the variable is unset, and code that embeds @cubejs-backend/server-core directly can do the same with the devServer option it passes to CubejsServerCore. An explicit false overrides the two commands; for an embedder, leave devServer unset as well. NODE_ENV has no effect either way.

If you’re using Linux as the Docker host OS, you’ll also need to add network_mode: 'host' to your docker-compose.yml.

Start the development server

From the newly-created project directory, run the following command to start Cube:

docker compose up -d

Using Windows? Remember to use PowerShell or WSL2 to run the command below.

Connect a data source

Head to http://localhost:4000 to open the Developer Playground. The Playground has a database connection wizard that loads when Cube is first started up and no .env file is found. After database credentials have been set up, an .env file will automatically be created and populated with credentials.

Want to use a sample database instead? Select PostgreSQL and use the credentials below:

Field	Value
Host	`demo-db.cube.dev`
Port	`5432`
Database	`ecom`
Username	`cube`
Password	`12345`

After selecting the data source, enter valid credentials for it and click Apply. Check the Connecting to Databases page for more details on specific data sources.

You should see tables available to you from the configured database; select the orders table. After selecting the table, click Generate Data Model and pick either YAML (recommended) or JavaScript format:

Finally, click Build in the dialog, which should take you to the Build page. You’re now ready for the next step, querying the data.

Getting Started

Deployment

Scaffold a project

Start the development server

Connect a data source

​Scaffold a project

​Start the development server

​Connect a data source

Scaffold a project

Start the development server

Connect a data source