pRESTd

pREST (PostgreSQL REST) is a production-ready API that delivers instant REST and Model Context Protocol (MCP) APIs on your existing or new SQL database — CRUD, custom SQL routes, auth, ACL, and a read-only MCP endpoint — without hand-writing a backend.

PostgreSQL 9.5+ is the default engine. MySQL 8.0.19+ is a separate native dialect from v2.5.0. Read-only MCP on MySQL is v2.5.1. Set engine = "mysql" to select it. An unset engine stays PostgreSQL. MariaDB, TiDB, and Aurora MySQL stay on the roadmap.

PostgreSQL 9.5+ (default). MySQL 8.0.19+ with engine = "mysql".

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Documentation

Full documentation lives at docs.prestd.com.

Topic	Link
Get pREST (Docker, Homebrew, Go)	Get pREST
Configuration	Configuring pREST
API reference	API Reference
MCP over HTTP	MCP over HTTP
Multi-database	Multi-database
Databases & roadmap	Databases · Roadmap
MySQL 8	MySQL · v2.5.1
AI clients (Cursor, Claude, …)	AI and MCP

Quick start

Install and run options (Docker, Homebrew, or Go) are documented in Get pREST. Point pREST at Postgres (PREST_PG_URL or pg.* / DATABASE_URL), then call:

GET /{database}/{schema}/{table}

MySQL 8.0.19+ uses the same path. {schema} is the MySQL database. Set the engine and a mysql:// URL. The port defaults to 3306 when unset. PREST_DB_* is read first, then the legacy PREST_PG_* names:

engine = "mysql"

[pg]
url = "mysql://user:pass@localhost:3306/mydb"

export PREST_ENGINE=mysql
export PREST_DB_URL='mysql://user:pass@localhost:3306/mydb'

A missing user or database fails startup. Postgres defaults (user postgres, database prest, port 5432) are not copied onto a MySQL engine. Guide: MySQL.

See Configuring pREST for auth, ACL, custom queries, and MCP.

Serving several databases

pREST can serve multiple databases in two modes:

Registry mode

Define a [[databases]] registry in prest.toml or use environment variables (DATABASE_ALIAS_<n> / DATABASE_URL_<n>). Aliases may differ from database names, and entries can be on the same host or different hosts:

[[databases]]
alias = "main"
url = "postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/prest_main?sslmode=disable"

[[databases]]
alias = "tenant-1"
url = "postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/tenant_1?sslmode=disable"

[[databases]]
alias = "reporting"
url = "mysql://user:pass@127.0.0.1:3306/reports?tls=false"

Or via environment: