dbdock copydb

npx dbdock copydb <source-url> <target-url> [options]

copydb is the “I just need to move this database” command. No config file. No intermediate backup file. Just paste two URLs and go.

Quick example

npx dbdock copydb \
  "postgresql://user:pass@prod.example.com:5432/myapp" \
  "postgresql://user:pass@staging.example.com:5432/myapp"

What it does

Tests both connections
Shows source database size and table count
Warns if the target has existing data
Asks for confirmation
Streams pg_dump directly into pg_restore — no temp files, no waiting

Options

Option	Description
`--schema-only`	Copy tables, indexes, constraints — no data
`--data-only`	Copy data only (schema must already exist on target)
`--verbose`	Show detailed pg_dump/pg_restore output
`--driver`	Use direct PostgreSQL driver instead of `pg_dump`. Required for serverless/modified Postgres (Neon, Supabase pooler, PlanetScale Postgres, etc.)

Common use cases

Refresh staging from production

npx dbdock copydb "$PROD_URL" "$STAGING_URL"

Promote staging to production

npx dbdock copydb "$STAGING_URL" "$PROD_URL"

Pull production down to local for debugging

npx dbdock copydb "$PROD_URL" "postgresql://postgres:pass@localhost:5432/myapp"

Align schema across environments

npx dbdock copydb --schema-only "$PROD_URL" "$STAGING_URL"

The `--driver` flag

Some serverless Postgres services (Neon, Supabase pooler, and others that use modified Postgres) reject pg_dump because it requires specific superuser operations or exact version matches. If you hit errors like:

pg_dump: error: server version: 15.3; pg_dump version: 14.9

pg_dump: error: could not connect to server

…use the --driver flag to use DBDock’s direct Postgres client instead:

npx dbdock copydb --driver "$NEON_URL" "$LOCAL_URL"

The driver mode does not support all pg_dump features (e.g., function/procedure bodies for non-PL/pgSQL languages). Use pg_dump mode when possible.

Safety

copydb refuses to proceed silently when the target database has data. You’ll see a confirmation prompt listing target size and table count before anything writes. If you’re scripting this in CI, wrap it with an explicit empty target:

psql "$TARGET_URL" -c "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS myapp; CREATE DATABASE myapp;"
npx dbdock copydb "$SOURCE_URL" "$TARGET_URL"

Staging refresh guide

End-to-end workflow for syncing environments.

Cross-database migration

Moving between MongoDB and Postgres.

CLI

Cloud Sync (CLI)

Storage Providers

Migration

Alerts & Automation

Quick example

What it does

Options

Common use cases

Refresh staging from production

Promote staging to production

Pull production down to local for debugging

Align schema across environments

The `--driver` flag

Safety

See also

Staging refresh guide

Cross-database migration

​Quick example

​What it does

​Options

​Common use cases

​Refresh staging from production

​Promote staging to production

​Pull production down to local for debugging

​Align schema across environments

​The --driver flag

​Safety

​See also

Staging refresh guide

Cross-database migration

Quick example

What it does

Options

Common use cases

Refresh staging from production

Promote staging to production

Pull production down to local for debugging

Align schema across environments

The `--driver` flag

Safety

See also