Drift — MySQL & MariaDB Schema and Data Sync

See the diff. Fix the drift.

Drift is an open-source desktop app and CLI for comparing and synchronizing MySQL and MariaDB databases. It detects schema drift (missing tables, columns, indexes, views, routines, triggers) and data drift (changed, added, or deleted rows) between any two database servers — and applies the fix with a single click.

Connect via direct TCP, SSH tunnel, Kubernetes port-forward, or Docker — no VPN, no agent, no cloud account required.

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Features

Schema sync	Tables, columns, indexes, views, stored procedures, functions, triggers
Data sync	Row-level diff via primary keys — generates precise INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE
Connection types	Direct TCP · SSH tunnel · Kubernetes port-forward · Docker container
Encrypted vault	AES-256-GCM + scrypt credential store — no plaintext passwords on disk
Table filters	Include / exclude tables by glob; ignore specific columns in data diff
Dry-run mode	Preview every SQL statement before touching the target
Cross-version	MySQL 8 ↔ MariaDB 11 — normalizes type and default differences automatically
Desktop GUI	Electron + Vue 3 · macOS, Windows, Linux
CLI	Full feature parity via db-mirror command
SQL dump	Export any database as a .sql file

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Download

Get the latest installer from the Releases page:

Platform	Installer
macOS	DB-Mirror-x.x.x.dmg
Windows	DB-Mirror Setup x.x.x.exe
Linux	DB-Mirror-x.x.x.AppImage · DB-Mirror_x.x.x_amd64.deb

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How it works

1. Add connections — save source and target database credentials to the encrypted vault
2. Diff — Drift introspects both servers and computes the exact SQL needed to bring target in line with source
3. Review — inspect every schema and data statement before applying
4. Apply — execute the plan; errors are reported per-statement with continueOnError support

The diff is fully serializable — you can save a plan as JSON, review it, and apply it later or on a different machine.

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Connection types

Direct TCP

Standard host / port / user / password. Optionally with TLS.

SSH tunnel

Drift opens a local port-forward through an SSH jump host automatically. No VPN needed.

SSH host:  bastion.example.com
SSH user:  deploy
SSH key:   ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
DB host:   10.0.0.5   (reachable from bastion)
DB port:   3306

Kubernetes

Drift calls kubectl port-forward internally. Credentials can be resolved from a Kubernetes Secret automatically — no copy-paste from kubectl get secret.

Context:    prod-cluster
Namespace:  default
Target:     service/mysql   or   pod/mysql-0
Port:       3306
User from:  secret/mysql-secret → MYSQL_USER
Pass from:  secret/mysql-secret → MYSQL_PASSWORD

Docker

Connects to a running MySQL / MariaDB container on the local Docker daemon — no published port needed.

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CLI quick start

# Prerequisites: Node.js ≥ 20, pnpm
git clone https://github.com/your-org/drift.git
cd drift && pnpm install && pnpm -r build

# Create a vault and add two profiles
node packages/cli/bin/db-mirror.js vault init
node packages/cli/bin/db-mirror.js vault add-profile \
  --name prod --host db.prod.example.com --user app --password '***' --database myapp
node packages/cli/bin/db-mirror.js vault add-profile \
  --name staging --host 127.0.0.1 --port 3307 --user root --password '***' --database myapp

# Preview schema + data diff
node packages/cli/bin/db-mirror.js diff prod staging --schema --data --dry-run

# Apply
node packages/cli/bin/db-mirror.js mirror prod staging --schema --data

Vault passphrase is read from the DB_MIRROR_PASSPHRASE environment variable, --passphrase-file, or an interactive prompt.

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Desktop app (development)

pnpm install
pnpm --filter @db-mirror/desktop dev      # Vite dev server + Electron
pnpm --filter @db-mirror/desktop build    # production build
pnpm --filter @db-mirror/desktop package  # build installer

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Architecture

drift/
├── packages/
│   ├── core/            Pure ESM library — no Electron dependency
│   │   ├── schema-diff/ introspect + structural diff (tables/views/routines/triggers)
│   │   ├── data-diff/   row-level diff via primary key hashing
│   │   ├── sync-plan/   serialisable SyncPlan (schema + data statements)
│   │   ├── vault/       AES-256-GCM encrypted credential store
│   │   ├── connection/  mysql2 pool factory — direct / SSH / K8s / Docker
│   │   ├── dump/        mysqldump subprocess wrapper
│   │   ├── filters/     glob include/exclude via micromatch
│   │   ├── k8s/         @kubernetes/client-node port-forward
│   │   └── ssh/         ssh2 tunnel
│   ├── cli/             Commander-based CLI (db-mirror)
│   └── desktop/         Electron main + Vue 3 renderer

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Supported databases

• MySQL 5.7, 8.0, 8.4
• MariaDB 10.6, 10.11, 11.x

Cross-version sync (MySQL 8 → MariaDB 11 and vice versa) is fully supported. Drift normalizes integer display widths, json / longtext type aliases, NULL default encoding, and string default quoting differences automatically.

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Security

• Credentials are stored in an AES-256-GCM encrypted vault (~/.config/db-mirror/vault.db-mirror)
• The vault key is derived from your passphrase using scrypt — never stored anywhere
• SSH connections use your existing keys; passwords are optional
• Kubernetes port-forwards bind to 127.0.0.1 with a random local port and are torn down after use
• Destructive applies require typing the target profile name as confirmation

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Releasing

Push a semver tag — GitHub Actions builds macOS, Windows, and Linux installers and publishes a release automatically:

git tag v1.2.3
git push origin v1.2.3

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License

MIT © zebra group GmbH

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