> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dbdock.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CLI Quickstart

> Go from zero to your first backup with the DBDock CLI in under 5 minutes — install, initialize, back up, and restore from your terminal.

This guide takes you through setup, your first backup, and your first restore with the DBDock CLI. Total time: about 5 minutes.

<Note>
  Prefer a dashboard? Follow the [Cloud Quickstart](/get-started/quickstart-cloud) instead. Want both? Do this, then [link the CLI to the cloud](/cloud-sync/overview).
</Note>

<Note>
  Haven't installed DBDock yet? See the [installation guide](/get-started/installation).
</Note>

## 1. Initialize

Run `init` once in your project directory. It walks you through everything interactively.

```bash theme={null}
npx dbdock init
```

It will ask for:

* Database connection (host, port, user, database name)
* Storage provider (local disk, S3, R2, or Cloudinary)
* Encryption (recommended for cloud storage)
* Alerts (optional — Slack and email)

<Tip>
  **Security-first by default.** Non-sensitive config goes to `dbdock.config.json` (safe for git). Secrets go to `.env`, and `.gitignore` is updated automatically.
</Tip>

## 2. Create your first backup

```bash theme={null}
npx dbdock backup
```

You'll see real-time progress:

```
████████████████████ | 100% | 45.23/100 MB | Speed: 12.50 MB/s | ETA: 0s | Uploading to S3
✔ Backup completed successfully
```

The backup is encrypted (if enabled), compressed, and streamed directly to your configured storage.

## 3. Restore a backup

```bash theme={null}
npx dbdock restore
```

DBDock shows a list of backups and lets you pick one:

```
Progress:
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ✔ Downloading backup
  ✔ Decrypting data
  ✔ Decompressing data
  ⟳ Restoring to database...
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
✔ All steps completed in 8.42s
```

<Tip>
  You can also restore into a **different** database. Pick "New Database Instance (Migrate)" when prompted and provide the target connection details — great for refreshing staging from production.
</Tip>

## 4. Verify everything works

Before trusting DBDock in production, run the self-test:

```bash theme={null}
npx dbdock test
```

This checks:

* Database connection
* Storage provider access
* Alert configuration (if enabled)

## Environment-only setup (no config file)

Prefer not to commit a config file? Run DBDock entirely from environment variables:

```bash theme={null}
# .env
DBDOCK_DB_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database
STORAGE_PROVIDER=s3
STORAGE_BUCKET=my-backups
DBDOCK_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY=your-key
DBDOCK_STORAGE_SECRET_KEY=your-secret
DBDOCK_ENCRYPTION_SECRET=your-64-char-hex-key
```

Then:

```bash theme={null}
npx dbdock backup
```

See the [configuration reference](/core/configuration) for all available variables.

## What to do next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Explore commands" icon="terminal" href="/cli/overview">
    Every command, every flag, with examples.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Choose storage" icon="cloud" href="/storage/overview">
    S3, R2, Cloudinary, or local disk.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up alerts" icon="bell" href="/alerts/overview">
    Slack, email, or custom webhooks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Schedule backups" icon="clock" href="/alerts/scheduling">
    Automated cron-based backups.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>