How does GDPR erasure work if events are hash-chained?

Personal data in reference payloads is erased with one request; the hash chain stays valid and an audit trail is written.

Can I upgrade from GenesisDB 1.x?

Yes, 2.0 is a drop-in replacement: data directories migrate on first start and 1.x routes keep answering with the same status and body. A full backup beforehand is mandatory because the migration is one-way.

Is the source code available?

Yes. The server, every SDK and the VS Code extension are published on GitHub under the MIT license, with release artifacts and checksums.

GenesisDB — The open source, GDPR-ready event sourcing database

GenesisDB is an open source, GDPR-ready event sourcing database. Version 2.0 dropped the old Community/Enterprise split and is now fully MIT licensed — server, SDKs and VS Code extension all live on GitHub with no license keys, event limits or subscriptions. It stores every event as a CloudEvents 1.0 record in a hierarchical subject tree, chains each event with SHA-256 so the whole store can be audited in one request, and supports one-request GDPR erasure that keeps the hash chain valid while writing an audit trail. It ships as a single static Go binary (also a multi-arch Docker image) with GDBQL querying, SSE live subscriptions, atomic precondition-guarded commits, Prometheus/OpenTelemetry metrics, and official SDKs for eight languages. It's a drop-in replacement for 1.x, with data directories migrating automatically on first start.

Key Features

CloudEvents-native event storage

Every event is stored as a CloudEvents 1.0 record in a hierarchical subject tree, committed and fetched over a simple HTTP API (commit and fetch endpoints).

Atomic batch commits with preconditions

Batch commits are guarded by isSubjectNew, isSubjectExisting and isQueryResultTrue preconditions so multi-event writes succeed or fail atomically.

GDBQL query language

Query events with filters, ordering, grouping, aggregates, projections and subqueries.

Live subscriptions over Server-Sent Events

Subscribe to existing history plus new events as they arrive, streamed over SSE.

SHA-256 hash chain and one-request audit

Every event is hash-chained to its predecessor with SHA-256, and the integrity of the whole store can be audited with a single request.

GDPR-compliant erasure

Personal data in reference payloads can be erased with one request while the hash chain stays valid and an audit trail is written.

Production operations built in

Logical backup and restore, index rebuild, Prometheus and OpenTelemetry metrics, separate read and write tokens, and TLS support.

Single static binary, embeddable in Go

Written in Go with only the standard library in the engines — no runtime dependencies — and can run inside your own Go program via store.Open(dir).

How It Works

1. Run the server

Start one static binary or container. The only required setting is an auth token with at least 32 bytes.

2. Pick a client

Use curl, any HTTP client, or one of the official SDKs for eight languages.

3. Model your events

Work with subjects, event types, preconditions and queries — the docs walk through every concept.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Fully MIT licensed: no license keys, no event limits, no subscriptions, and a single edition that includes every feature
Deploys as one static Go binary with no runtime dependencies, or as a multi-arch Docker image (amd64/arm64)
GDPR erasure works while keeping the hash chain valid and writing an audit trail — an unusual combination for an append-only event store
Whole store integrity can be audited with one request thanks to the SHA-256 hash chain
Drop-in upgrade from 1.x with same-behavior legacy routes and SDKs for eight languages

Cons

Who It's For

Best for

Development teams building event-sourced systems who want full ownership of their event store's source code and roadmap
Applications with GDPR erasure requirements that also need a verifiable, immutable audit trail
Go-centric teams who want to embed the database directly in their service or deploy a single static binary
Polyglot teams (TypeScript, Python, Rust, Java, Swift, PHP, .NET, Go) that want an official SDK

Not ideal for

Teams that need a fully managed, hosted database service — the page only documents self-hosting via Docker or binaries

Pricing

GenesisDB is MIT-licensed and completely free, including commercial use. There are no license keys, no signup, no event limits and no subscriptions — the single open source edition includes every feature, with optional paid support not offered on the page.

GenesisDB 2.0 (MIT)

Free

Full open source edition: server, all SDKs and the VS Code extension on GitHub. Use commercially, modify, embed, redistribute. No license key, no event limit.

FAQ

Is GenesisDB really free for commercial use?

Yes. GenesisDB 2.0 is MIT licensed, so you can use it commercially, modify it, embed it and redistribute it. There are no license keys, event limits or subscriptions.

What kind of database is GenesisDB?

It's an event sourcing database: every event is stored as a CloudEvents 1.0 record in a hierarchical subject tree, and you commit and fetch events over an HTTP API (e.g. /api/v2/commit and /api/v2/fetch).

How do I install and run it?

Run the multi-arch Docker image (linux/amd64, linux/arm64) from Docker Hub or GitHub Packages, or use a static binary for Linux or macOS, `go install`, or build from source. The only required setting is an auth token of at least 32 bytes.

Which client libraries are available?

GenesisDB