ScalixNova

Serverless PostgreSQL with instant branching, point-in-time recovery, scale-to-zero, and a query firewall

Overview

ScalixNova is a serverless PostgreSQL engine built from the ground up. It separates compute from storage, enabling instant branching, point-in-time recovery, scale-to-zero, and zero-downtime scaling. It's wire-compatible with PostgreSQL, so you connect with the driver and tools you already use.

Isolation & tenancy

Every ScalixNova database is isolated per tenant. There are two tiers:

Tier	Isolation	Best for	Availability
Shared (default)	Each database gets its own PostgreSQL role (`NOSUPERUSER`), its own database, SCRAM authentication, a SQL firewall, and TLS — running on shared compute.	Most workloads — highest density, lowest cost.	Generally available
Dedicated	The database runs in its own hardware-isolated microVM (dedicated kernel, isolated CPU/memory/network). Hardware-level isolation.	Regulated data, noisy-neighbour-sensitive, and sovereign-cloud workloads.	On the roadmap — contact the team for early access

A "sandbox" is not a database tier. In Scalix, a sandbox is a compute microVM for running code. Databases are Shared or Dedicated — never "sandboxes".

Quick Start

Query your database via the CLI:

bash

scalix-cloud db query "SELECT NOW()"
scalix-cloud db tables

Or via the SDK (available today):

typescript

import { executeSql } from "@scalix-world/sdk";
 
const opts = {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SCALIX_API_KEY}` },
};
 
const { data, error } = await executeSql({
  ...opts,
  body: { query: "SELECT NOW()" },
});

Connect with any Postgres client

ScalixNova speaks the native PostgreSQL wire protocol — connect with psql, node-postgres, psycopg, Prisma, Drizzle, or any standard driver using the connection string from your console or the API. TLS is required; there's no proprietary driver to install.

See Connecting for connection strings and per-driver examples.

Features

Instant Branching

Create a full copy of your database in under 100ms using copy-on-write:

bash

curl -X POST https://api.scalix.world/api/v1/tenants/$TENANT_ID/timelines/$TIMELINE_ID/branch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SCALIX_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Branches share base pages and only diverge when data is written. Use branches for:

Feature development with production data
CI/CD test isolation
Schema migration testing

Point-in-Time Recovery

Restore to any point in the last 7 days (configurable). Restore by timestamp (or to the latest recoverable point) with the PITR restore endpoint, or branch the timeline at a specific LSN for isolated recovery — both via the API.

Scale to Zero

Compute suspends when your database is idle — you pay nothing while it sleeps — and resumes in milliseconds on the next query. No replicas to keep warm, no idle bill.

Query Firewall

The query firewall inspects and controls SQL execution:

Block DDL operations for read-only keys
Enforce query timeouts
Restrict table access per API key

Connection Pooling

Built-in connection pooling at the gateway layer. No need for PgBouncer or external poolers.

Architecture

ScalixNova separates compute from durable storage. Because storage is decoupled from the database engine, you get instant copy-on-write branching, point-in-time recovery, and zero-downtime scaling — without managing replicas, snapshots, or backup jobs yourself.