ctrodb: A Client-Side Database for TypeScript — Zero Dependencies

#typescript #database #opensource #webdev

I've been working on ctrodb — a client-side database for TypeScript that runs in the browser (IndexedDB) and Node.js (in-memory). Zero runtime dependencies.

It started as a personal project to stop rewriting IndexedDB wrappers. Every new client-side app needed the same boilerplate: open a connection, create object stores, handle version upgrades, write CRUD helpers. After the sixth time, I wrote it once and got it right.

What it does

ctrodb gives you MongoDB-like CRUD with schema validation at write time:

import { Database } from "ctrodb"

const db = new Database({
  name: "my-app",
  schema: {
    version: 1,
    collections: {
      notes: {
        fields: {
          title: { type: "string", required: true },
          body: { type: "string" },
          pinned: { type: "boolean", default: false },
          tags: { type: "array", items: { type: "string" } },
          createdAt: { type: "string", default: () => new Date().toISOString() },
        },
        indexes: [{ field: "createdAt" }],
      },
    },
  },
})

await db.connect()
const notes = db.collection("notes")

const note = await notes.create({ title: "Hello", body: "World" })
const results = await notes.query()
  .where("pinned", true)
  .sort({ createdAt: "desc" })
  .limit(10)
  .fetch()

Every record is a Model — a Proxy wrapper with typed field access. note.title works. note.update() handles writes. Direct property assignment logs a warning telling you to use .update() instead.

What's included

The core package ships with three plugins:

Full-text search — inverted index, stop word removal, auto-indexed on create/update/delete
Relations — has_many, belongs_to, has_one with lazy accessors built into every Model and eager loading via .with()
Custom validation — extendable rules beyond the built-in validators (email, URL, regex)

Plus React hooks (separate import, same package):

import { DatabaseProvider, useQuery, useMutation } from "ctrodb/react"

Signal-based reactivity. When data changes, useQuery re-fetches and your UI updates. No Redux, no Zustand, no manual subscriptions.

Why zero dependencies

The library ships as ESM, CJS, and IIFE. Works with any bundler, any framework, or directly in a <script> tag. The entire source is 2,400 lines — readable, debuggable, and easy to contribute to.