Sign in
  1. Home
  2. Docs
  3. Quickstart
DOCS

Quickstart.

Six short steps: sign in, connect a database, pick tables, add a destination, name the pipeline, and change a row. Five minutes if your database already has logical replication on; a few more if it needs a setting first.

  1. Sign in

    Go to app.waltail.com/get-started and enter your email. You will get a six-digit code; type it in. There is no password and no credit card. A workspace is created for you the first time you sign in.

  2. Connect your database

    Paste a connection string, for example postgres://waltail:[email protected]:5432/app, and press Test.

    Waltail runs six checks: can it reach the host, do the credentials work, is the version 12 or newer, is wal_level set to logical, may the user replicate, and is a replication slot free. Each check shows a pass or a fail.

    If a check fails, the console shows what to change — including the SQL to run — and you press Test again. If your database needs a setting turned on first, follow the guide for your host: RDS and Aurora, Supabase, Neon, Cloud SQL, Azure, Railway or your own server.

  3. Pick tables

    Tick the tables you want to stream. A table needs a primary key — or REPLICA IDENTITY FULL or an index identity — for updates and deletes to replicate. The console marks any table that does not qualify and tells you why. You can change the set later.

  4. Add a destination

    Choose one of the 19 destinations and fill in its fields — a queue URL, a broker address, a webhook URL, and so on. Press Test: Waltail checks it can actually reach and write to the destination before anything is saved.

    You can add more than one destination to the same pipeline. Each has its own batch size and rate limit, which you can leave at the defaults.

  5. Name the pipeline and create it

    Give the pipeline a name. Waltail now creates a publication for your tables and a logical replication slot on your database — both named pgcdc_<pipeline-name> — and starts streaming. Nothing else is created on your side.

  6. Change a row

    Insert or update a row in one of the tables you picked. The console's first-event screen shows it being captured and then delivered. From here on, every committed change follows within about a second.

Next

Start streaming in minutes.