Introduction
Understand what BaseBuddy is, what it changes, and what it deliberately leaves alone.
What BaseBuddy is
BaseBuddy is a self-hosted content editor for your existing Postgres or Supabase database. Instead of migrating your content into a separate CMS, you point BaseBuddy at your tables and start editing.
You install it, connect your database, create a project, and define a mapping that tells BaseBuddy where your content lives. The setup path is covered in Installation and First-run setup, while the project-level mapping work starts in Projects and mappings. From that point on, all reads and writes go through the saved mapping.
What it doesn't do
BaseBuddy won't rename your tables, reshape your columns, or install its own content schema. Your database stays your database, the same one your application already uses.
This is a deliberate choice. BaseBuddy saves setup state in its own app-data backend, but it never silently modifies your existing posts, authors, categories, tags, media, or file tables.
The product model
One install can manage many projects. Each project maps one content schema. The saved mapping is what drives everything at runtime. It controls which tables appear, which fields are editable, which are read-only, and how changes get written back.
How BaseBuddy works follows that model through the runtime: setup data, project state, field specs, editor controls, dirty-field saves, and explicit workflow actions.
Who these docs are for
You're probably a developer, founder, technical editor, or someone maintaining a Supabase app. You don't need to be a database expert, but you should know your schema well enough to identify which tables hold your posts, authors, taxonomy, media, files, and workflow status.
The safest way to start
Start with a non-production database (or a copy of your production schema). Create one project, map one posts table, open one post, save one harmless field, and confirm only that field changed.
Once you're confident, layer in relations, media, files, permissions, and production hosting one step at a time. The practical checklist for that first write is How to safely edit your first post, and the production gate is Production readiness.