Database guides

Supabase

Updated 2026-08-11 · 2 min read

Supabase is a managed PostgreSQL with an API layer on top. AddisDB talks straight to the database with its Postgres driver — full catalog, full toolset.

Supabase gives you a real PostgreSQL database plus generated REST and realtime APIs, authentication and object storage around it. AddisDB ignores the API layer entirely and connects to the Postgres underneath, which is stock Postgres with a complete catalog.

Who it is for

Supabase suits application teams who want Postgres and a usable API over it without building the API. Because it is genuinely Postgres, nothing you learn there is wasted — row-level security, triggers, extensions and pg_stat views all behave the way the Postgres documentation says.

The thing to get right is which port you connect on, because Supabase offers two and they behave differently. A direct connection on 5432 is a normal Postgres session. The pooler, Supavisor, listens on 6543 and in transaction mode does not support prepared statements — which the app relies on. Use the direct connection.

Set up the project

  1. In the Supabase dashboard open Project Settings → Database.
  2. Copy the host from the Connection info panel. It looks like db.abcdefghijklm.supabase.co.
  3. Use port 5432, the direct connection, not the 6543 pooler.
  4. The username is postgres and the database is postgres.
  5. If you have lost the database password, reset it on that same page — it is shown once at creation and not again.

Connect from AddisDB

  1. New Connection → Supabase. Port prefills to 5432, database and username to postgres.
  2. Paste the db.*.supabase.co host and the database password.
  3. Set SSL mode to require — Supabase enforces TLS.
  4. Test, then Save.

What AddisDB gives you

The full PostgreSQL toolset. Schema tree, in-grid editing, structured create and alter table, database-user management, mock data, statement profiling through pg_stat_statements, and the complete EXPLAIN option list.

The Live Monitor is real: Supabase exposes pg_stat_activity, so live sessions and table sizes are genuine, and you can cancel or terminate a backend.

Test clones are the one feature switched off here. Supabase is a single-database platform — a cloned database would be created and then unreachable, because the platform only routes to the primary one. Use a Supabase branch instead if you need a throwaway copy.