FoxByte is PostgreSQL on servers you control. Its Blackbox records who changed what, and from which tool, in a tamper-evident hash chain, and with signed anchors kept off the machine (Enterprise) not even your own admins can rewrite it unnoticed. People and AI work on instant copies, so main stays exactly as you left it.
$ curl -fsSL https://get.thefoxbyte.com/install.sh | shOn macOS and Windows the engine runs in a small Linux VM that the first start downloads: a few minutes, once.
A terminal creates a copy of main for an AI agent, records an ALTER TABLE in the Blackbox, blocks a DROP TABLE by policy, and verifies the Blackbox hash chain, while main stays untouched.
Every change to a table, view, function or privilege is written down as it happens: who made it, person or agent, on which branch, and the tool the client reported. Clients log in as their own Postgres role, so the login on the record cannot be forged.
Inside is the PostgreSQL you already trust, untouched: the same storage engine, the same planner, on your own disk. FoxByte builds the suit around it, and every capability Postgres was missing locks into place.
Four things every team running Postgres wishes it had. FoxByte gives you all four, on hardware you control.
Give every developer, test run, pull request or AI agent its own complete copy of the database. Copies share storage until they change, sleep when idle, and never touch main.
Every change to a table, view, function or privilege is written down the moment it happens, with the login that made it and the tool it reported. Entries are hash-chained, so an edit shows, and any entry is a way back to main as it was just before.
Subscribe to inserts, updates and deletes the moment they commit, straight from your own database. No third-party cloud in the middle. Drop off, reconnect, and the feed replays what you missed.
Dropping a table needs an admin. An agent’s DELETE or UPDATE without a WHERE is refused. In the next release, an agent that tries to change more than 100 rows is stopped at row 101, and nothing is lost.
Leaving another database shouldn’t be a project. FoxByte imports from the systems you already run, and turns raw tables into clean ones with pipelines you can trust.
Point FoxByte at PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB or MongoDB, or hand it a .sql, .csv, .json or .ndjson file. Every import lands in its own branch, so you can check it before anything depends on it. For live systems, keep it in sync and cut over when you’re ready.
$ fox import --from mysql://…/shop --as shop $ fox import --from postgres://… --continuous --as live $ fox import-cutover live
Write transformations as plain SQL models and add data-quality tests in one JSON spec. Every run lands in a fresh branch first, so bad data fails a test instead of reaching your reports. Pipelines are experimental today.
$ fox pipeline run revenue.json
stg_orders ✓ not_null(order_id)
fct_revenue ✓ unique(day)The Blackbox, backups and guardrails are in every edition. Enterprise adds the live feed, pipelines and controls growing teams ask for next.
Freeopen source, AGPL-3.0
Using FoxByte doesn’t make your app AGPL. The SDKs are Apache-2.0.
Let’s talklicensed per machine
Upgrade in place with one command. Your data, accounts and keys stay put.
No. FoxByte is a full PostgreSQL platform for people first: a copy for every developer and test, the Blackbox, backups, time travel and migrations. Working safely with AI is one more thing it does well.
No. FoxByte runs on your own laptop or server, and so do Realtime, the Blackbox and the console. Backups only leave the machine if you send them to a bucket you choose.
No. It’s PostgreSQL 18, unmodified. Your drivers, ORM and SQL work as they do today. You change one connection string.
One command. fox import brings in PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB or files, each into its own branch. For a live system, keep it in sync and cut over when you’re ready.
They work on their own copy, never on main. Destructive commands are blocked and deletes without a WHERE are refused; in the next release, anything past 100 rows of a table is stopped too. An agent can propose changes, but only a person can approve them.
No. Your app talks to FoxByte over the standard Postgres protocol, and the client SDKs are Apache-2.0. The AGPL applies only if you modify FoxByte itself and offer it as a service.
Install FoxByte in a few minutes. Bring your database over with one command.
$ curl -fsSL https://get.thefoxbyte.com/install.sh | sh