🔌Connecting Flowise to PostgreSQL (Internal & External) with Docker Compose

Flowise is a powerful no-code tool to build and run LLM flows. By default, it uses SQLite for storage, but for production or team-based use, PostgreSQL is a more robust option.

In this post, you’ll learn how to connect Flowise to both internal and external PostgreSQL databases using Docker Compose — and how to verify that the database is actually being populated.

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🔸 Option 1: Using an Internal PostgreSQL Container

This is perfect for local development or when you want everything containerized.

✅ Docker Compose Setup

version: "3.9"

services:
  flowise:
    image: flowiseai/flowise:latest
    container_name: flowiseai
    ports:
      - "5023:5023"
    volumes:
      - ./flowiseai:/root/.flowise
    environment:
      PORT: 5023
      FLOWISE_USERNAME: admin
      FLOWISE_PASSWORD: changeme
      DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      DATABASE_HOST: flowise-db
      DATABASE_PORT: 5432
      DATABASE_NAME: flowisedb
      DATABASE_USER: flowiseuser
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: flowisepass
    depends_on:
      flowise-db:
        condition: service_healthy
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--no-verbose", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:5023"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    entrypoint: /bin/sh -c "sleep 3; flowise start"

  flowise-db:
    image: postgres:15
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: flowisedb
      POSTGRES_USER: flowiseuser
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: flowisepass
    volumes:
      - flowise-db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U flowiseuser"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  flowise-db-data:
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

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🔸 Option 2: Connecting to an External PostgreSQL Server

For production environments or when using a managed PostgreSQL host, you’ll want to connect Flowise to an external database.

✅ .env File Example

PORT=5023

FLOWISE_USERNAME=userName
FLOWISE_PASSWORD=userPassword

POSTGRES_DB=flowisedb
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=dbPassword

💡 Make sure this .env file is in the same directory as your docker-compose.yml and not committed to version control.

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✅ docker-compose.yml (for external DB)

version: "3.9"

services:
  flowise:
    image: flowiseai/flowise:latest
    container_name: flowiseai
    ports:
      - "5023:${PORT}"
    volumes:
      - ./flowiseai:/root/.flowise
    environment:
      PORT: ${PORT}
      FLOWISE_USERNAME: ${FLOWISE_USERNAME}
      FLOWISE_PASSWORD: ${FLOWISE_PASSWORD}
      DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      DATABASE_HOST: 192.168.1.215
      DATABASE_PORT: 5432
      DATABASE_NAME: ${POSTGRES_DB}
      DATABASE_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    restart: on-failure:5
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--no-verbose", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:5023"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    entrypoint: /bin/sh -c "sleep 3; flowise start"
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

✅ No need to define flowise-db service here, since the DB is external.

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🔐 PostgreSQL Server Checklist (External DB)

🛠️ Make Sure to:

Before starting the Flowise container, make sure the external PostgreSQL server is correctly set up.

✅ Create the database

sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE flowisedb;"

✅ (Optional) Create a dedicated user

CREATE USER flowiseuser WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'flowisepass';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE flowisedb TO flowiseuser;

🔐 This allows Flowise to use a dedicated DB user instead of the default postgres superuser.

2. Allow remote access
   In pg_hba.conf:

host    flowisedb    postgres    192.168.1.0/24    md5

In postgresql.conf:

listen_addresses = '*'
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Restart PostgreSQL:

sudo systemctl restart postgresql

3. Open port 5432 in your firewall

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🧪 How to Check If Flowise Populated the Database

1. Login to the database:

sudo -u postgres psql -d flowisedb

2. List tables:

\dt

You should see tables like:

public | flows
public | users
public | agents
Code language: PHP (php)

3. Check for data:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM flows;

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✅ Conclusion

Whether you’re deploying Flowise in a containerized dev setup or connecting to an external production-grade database, PostgreSQL is a reliable and scalable option.

• Use internal PostgreSQL for quick setup and testing.
• Use external PostgreSQL for high-availability, shared deployments.

Don’t forget to secure your database and confirm that Flowise is actually writing to it.

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💬 Need help connecting Flowise to your custom DB setup? Drop a comment below or reach out!

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