Charles-Olivier Demers

Posted on Apr 21

Stop Setting Up Databases for Things That Just Need to Remember Stuff

#database #productivity #tooling #webdev

You're 45 minutes into building something fun with Cursor or Claude. The app is taking shape. Then your data needs to exist somewhere between page refreshes.

And your brain immediately goes: do I really have to set up a database for this?

You don't.

The infrastructure trap

Setting up persistence used to mean one of these:

Spin up a Postgres instance
Configure a Firebase project
Set up S3 or Blob storage
Pay for a managed DB you'll forget about next month

For a quick prototype, a weekend hack, or an AI-generated app you're not even sure you'll keep, this is too much. The context switch alone kills the flow.

There's a better option for cases like these.

Just store the JSON

myJson is a REST API that does one thing: stores your JSON and gives you an ID back.

# Store something
curl -X POST https://api.myjson.online/v2/records \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-collection-access-token: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"collectionId": "your-collection-id", "data": {"user": "alice", "score": 42}}'

# Returns: { "id": "123e4567-...", "data": {...}, "version": 1 }

# Retrieve it later
curl https://api.myjson.online/v2/records/123e4567-... \
  -H "x-collection-access-token: YOUR_API_KEY"

That's it. No schema. No migrations. No config files. No dashboard to set up at midnight.

What it's actually good for

Vibe coding projects where you just need state to exist somewhere. Let your AI tools focus on logic, not infrastructure setup.

Prototypes and demos where you need real persistence but a real database is premature.

Config storage for small apps, browser extensions, or scripts that need to remember something.

IoT and sensor data when you just want to dump readings somewhere and query them later.

It also versions your data

Every time you update a record, myJson keeps the previous version automatically. Up to 10 versions, rollback anytime.

# Update
curl -X PUT https://api.myjson.online/v2/records/123e4567-... \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-collection-access-token: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"data": {"user": "alice", "score": 99}}'

# Returns: { "id": "123e4567-...", "data": {...}, "version": 2 }

Useful when you're iterating fast and want a safety net.

Pricing

500 free credits on signup, no credit card required. 1 credit = 1 API request. After that, pay-as-you-go starting at $9 for 25k requests.

For a prototype or side project, the free tier will last you a while.

The point

Not every app needs a database. Sometimes you need a place to put your JSON while you figure out if the thing is even worth building.

myjson.online: try the quick storage right on the homepage, no account needed.

DEV Community