explaingit

dolthub/dolt

Analysis updated 2026-06-21

22,549GoAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A SQL database with Git-style version control built in, branch, commit, merge, and roll back your data just like code, while connecting with any standard MySQL client.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Dolt))
    What it does
      SQL plus version control
      Branch and merge data
      Full change history
    Key Features
      Git-like CLI
      MySQL-compatible
      DoltHub hosting
    Use Cases
      Audit trails
      Safe schema migrations
      Team data collaboration
    Tech Stack
      Go
      SQL
      MySQL protocol
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Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Add a full audit trail to your database so you can see exactly what changed and when, and roll back mistakes.

USE CASE 2

Create a branch of your database to safely test schema migrations before merging them to main.

USE CASE 3

Collaborate with a teammate on a shared dataset on separate branches, then merge without losing work.

USE CASE 4

Host a public dataset on DoltHub so others can fork it, contribute data, and submit pull requests.

What is it built with?

GoSQLMySQL

How does it compare?

dolthub/doltjandedobbeleer/oh-my-poshmicro/go-micro
Stars22,54922,45422,747
LanguageGoGoGo
Setup difficultyeasyeasyhard
Complexity3/52/54/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Download the single binary and connect with any MySQL client, no extra infrastructure needed.

Apache 2.0, use freely for any purpose including commercial, keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Dolt is a SQL database that works like Git. If you have used Git to track changes to code, creating branches, committing saves, merging work from teammates, or reverting to an earlier state, Dolt brings all of those same concepts to database tables. The practical benefit: with a regular database, when data changes, the old version is gone. With Dolt, every change is recorded in a history. You can look at what the data looked like last Tuesday, create an experimental branch to try out changes without affecting the main database, merge two people's edits together, or push your database to a remote server for others to pull. The command-line interface mirrors Git so closely that if you know Git commands, you already know most of how to use Dolt. You connect to it just like a MySQL database using standard SQL queries, so existing tools and applications that work with MySQL will work with Dolt too. Version control features are also accessible from within SQL itself using special built-in functions and tables. The team behind Dolt also runs DoltHub, a public hosting platform for shared databases, similar in spirit to what GitHub is for code. You would use Dolt when your data needs a full audit trail, when teams collaborate on datasets and need to manage conflicts, or when you want to experiment with database changes safely on a branch before committing them. It is written in Go.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to create a branch in Dolt, make schema changes, and merge them back to main using SQL commands.
Prompt 2
How do I roll back my Dolt database to the state it was in last Tuesday using the command line?
Prompt 3
Write the SQL query to see a diff of what changed in a Dolt table between two commits.
Prompt 4
Set up Dolt as a MySQL-compatible database and connect it to my Node.js app using the mysql2 package.
Prompt 5
How do I push a Dolt database to DoltHub so a teammate can clone and pull my latest changes?

Frequently asked questions

What is dolt?

A SQL database with Git-style version control built in, branch, commit, merge, and roll back your data just like code, while connecting with any standard MySQL client.

What language is dolt written in?

Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go, SQL, MySQL.

What license does dolt use?

Apache 2.0, use freely for any purpose including commercial, keep the copyright notice.

How hard is dolt to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is dolt for?

Mainly developer.

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