Create your first Appwrite database and add your first row_

An Appwrite database stores your app's data and serves it straight to your users, with permissions that decide who sees what. You set it up in the Console, and your app reads and writes it through the Appwrite SDK.

In this guide, you create a TablesDB database with a tasks table, set it up so each user keeps their own tasks, and add and list tasks from your app. Everything here works on the Free plan.

You need an Appwrite project. If you don't have one yet, create one in the Console.

Step 1: Create a TablesDB database

Appwrite offers five database types. TablesDB fits most apps, so this guide uses it.

TablesDB runs on Serverless compute on every plan, with no compute fee. The other four run on dedicated compute on the Pro and Enterprise plans, from $10 a month per database, and Pro includes $10 a month in database compute credits.

1. Open your project in the Console, go to Databases, and click Create database.
2. Choose TablesDB and enter a Name, such as Main.
3. Under Database ID, click Auto-generated and enter main. Your code uses this ID.
4. Keep the Serverless specification and click Create database.

Step 2: Create a table

A table holds rows of one shape, and its columns define that shape. This guide uses a tasks table with three columns:

1. Open your database and click Create table. Enter the Name Tasks, click Auto-generated under Table ID and enter tasks, then click Create.
2. In the Columns tab, click Create column. Enter the Key, pick the Type, fill in the settings from the table above, and click Create Column. Repeat for each column.
3. In the Indexes tab, click Create index. Enter the Index Key done_index, select the done column, and click Create Index. Your app filters on done, and the index keeps that fast.

Step 3: Choose who can read and write

Permissions decide what your users can do with a table. In a task list, each user adds their own tasks and sees only those.

1. Open the table's Security tab.
2. Under Permissions, click Add role, choose All users, tick Create, and click Update.
3. Turn on Row level security (RLS) and click Update in that section.

Now any signed-in user can add tasks. Each task belongs to the user who created it, and only that user can read, update, or delete it.

Step 4: Add a test row

In the table's Rows tab, click Create row. Enter a title, leave done as it is, and click Create row.

The row appears in the Rows tab with its own $id, and done is false from the column default. Rows you add in the Console are handy for testing, and in the next step your app adds rows that belong to each signed-in user.

Step 5: Read and write rows from your app

Your app works with the table as a signed-in user. If it doesn't have sign-in yet, add it with Appwrite Auth.

Add your app under Apps in your project, with the hostname it runs on, such as localhost. Then install the SDK with npm install appwrite, and copy the API Endpoint and Project ID from your project's Settings.

This adds a task for the signed-in user, then lists their open tasks, newest first:

import { Client, TablesDB, ID, Query } from 'appwrite';

const client = new Client()
  .setEndpoint('https://<REGION>.cloud.appwrite.io/v1') // API Endpoint
  .setProject('<PROJECT_ID>'); // Project ID

const tablesDB = new TablesDB(client);

await tablesDB.createRow({
  databaseId: 'main',
  tableId: 'tasks',
  rowId: ID.unique(),
  data: { title: 'Ship my first feature' }
});

const { rows } = await tablesDB.listRows({
  databaseId: 'main',
  tableId: 'tasks',
  queries: [
    Query.equal('done', [false]),
    Query.orderDesc('$createdAt')
  ]
});

rows holds the task you just added. Each user gets back only their own tasks.

Keep building

Your app now has a table it can write and query, with permissions set for your users. Next, put your own code next to that data: deploy your first Appwrite function and site.