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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Litestream Has a Free SQLite Replication API That Eliminates Database Servers

#litestream #sqlite #database #devops

Litestream continuously replicates SQLite to S3, making it a production database. No PostgreSQL server needed — just SQLite with automatic backups and point-in-time recovery.

Setup 

# Install
curl -sSf https://install.litestream.io | sh

# Create config
cat > /etc/litestream.yml << EOF
dbs:
  - path: /data/myapp.db
    replicas:
      - url: s3://my-bucket/myapp
        access-key-id: AKIA...
        secret-access-key: secret...
EOF
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Replicate Continuously 

# Start replication (runs alongside your app)
litestream replicate

# Or replicate a specific database
litestream replicate /data/myapp.db s3://my-bucket/myapp
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Restore from Backup 

# Restore latest
litestream restore -o /data/myapp.db s3://my-bucket/myapp

# Restore to specific point in time
litestream restore -o /data/myapp.db -timestamp "2026-03-29T10:00:00Z" s3://my-bucket/myapp
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Docker Integration 

FROM node:20-slim

# Install Litestream
ADD https://github.com/benbjohnson/litestream/releases/download/v0.3.13/litestream-v0.3.13-linux-amd64.tar.gz /tmp/
RUN tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzf /tmp/litestream-*.tar.gz

COPY litestream.yml /etc/litestream.yml
COPY . /app
WORKDIR /app

# Restore DB on start, then run app with replication
CMD litestream restore -if-db-not-exists /data/myapp.db s3://my-bucket/myapp &&     litestream replicate -exec "node server.js"
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Use with Your App 

import Database from 'better-sqlite3';

// Just use SQLite normally — Litestream handles replication
const db = new Database('/data/myapp.db', {
  // WAL mode required for Litestream
  pragma: { journal_mode: 'WAL' }
});

db.exec(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT,
  email TEXT UNIQUE
)`);

const insert = db.prepare('INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?)');
insert.run('Alice', 'alice@example.com');
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Why This Matters

  • No database server: SQLite is your production database
  • Continuous replication: Changes replicated to S3 in seconds
  • Point-in-time recovery: Restore to any second
  • Simple deployment: One file database, one process for replication
  • Cost: S3 storage is pennies/month vs $15+/month for managed Postgres

Need custom database backup tools or deployment automation? I build developer tools. Check out my web scraping actors on Apify or reach out at spinov001@gmail.com for custom solutions.

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