MantisBase | Lightning fast BaaS in C++

Features

Everything you need for a full backend

One binary, portable and embeddable. Perfect for embedded devices, desktop apps, or standalone servers.

Auto-generated REST APIs

Create database tables and get instant CRUD endpoints. Every entity gets list, get, add, update, and delete.

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JWT authentication

Built-in auth with access control rules. Public, auth-only, or custom expressions per operation.

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Realtime (SSE)

Subscribe to live database changes over Server-Sent Events. Works with SQLite and PostgreSQL.

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Admin dashboard

Web UI at /mb for managing data, schemas, and access rules. No code needed for CRUD and config.

Try demo

File uploads

Handle file storage and serving with multipart/form-data. Attach files to records and serve them via URL.

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Embeddable

Use as a library in your C++ applications. Link MantisBase and run your backend inside your process.

Embedding guide

Quick Start

Up and running in seconds

Pick a topic below and follow the steps.

Download & setup

Get the binary, run Docker, or build from source. Default port is 7070.

Pre-built binary

# Download from GitHub Releases, extract, then:
./mantisbase serve

Download from GitHub Releases.

Docker

docker run -p 7070:80 allankoech/mantisbase

Check it out on Docker Hub.

Build from source

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/allankoechke/mantisbase.git
cd mantisbase
cmake -B build && cmake --build build
./build/mantisbase serve

Server: http://localhost:7070 · API: /api/v1/ · Dashboard: /mb

Quick API

Create a schema (e.g. posts) via the dashboard or API, then use the endpoints below.

# List records
curl http://localhost:7070/api/v1/entities/posts

# Create (with auth header when required)
curl -X POST http://localhost:7070/api/v1/entities/posts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "Hello", "content": "World!"}'

# Get one, PATCH, DELETE: /api/v1/entities/posts/{id}

Full API reference

Embedding in C++

Add MantisBase as a submodule and link it in your CMake project.

#include <mantisbase/mantisbase.hpp>

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
  auto& app = mb::MantisBase::create(argc, argv);
  return app.run();
}

Embedding guide

Admin dashboard

Manage data, schemas, and access rules in the browser at /mb. Create an admin user first:

./mantisbase admins add admin@example.com your_secure_password

Then open demo.mantisbase.com or http://localhost:7070/mb and sign in.

Realtime (SSE)

Subscribe to live database changes over Server-Sent Events. Works with SQLite and PostgreSQL.

# Open SSE connection (comma-separated entity topics)
GET /api/v1/realtime?topics=posts,users

# Or update topics for existing session
POST /api/v1/realtime
{"client_id": "...", "topics": ["posts", "users"]}

Realtime API docs

Auth & access rules

Login returns a JWT. Use it in the Authorization: Bearer header. Per-entity rules: public, auth, or custom expressions.

# Login
curl -X POST http://localhost:7070/api/v1/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"entity": "users", "identity": "user@example.com", "password": "..."}'
# Response: {"token": "...", "user": {...}}

# Use token
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT" http://localhost:7070/api/v1/entities/posts

Auth & rules docs

Lightning fast BaaS in C++ — Open Source, Single Binary, Full Backend, Anywhere.

Everything you need for a full backend

Auto-generated REST APIs

JWT authentication

Realtime (SSE)

Admin dashboard

File uploads

Embeddable

What is MantisBase?

Ready to try it? Get started in minutes

Up and running in seconds

Download & setup

Quick API

Embedding in C++

Admin dashboard

Realtime (SSE)

Auth & access rules

Get involved

Get help