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+Document: WM-095                                                 P. Webb
+Category: Project                                             2026-06-16
+
+                           I made a database
+
+Abstract
+
+   Technically it's a big fancy wrapper around Postgres but that
+   still counts!
+
+Body
+
+   In December of last year the developers of my favorite database, Gel,
+   announced[1] they were quitting the project to work for Vercel on
+   building "the best Python cloud in the world." Six years was a good
+   run but it wasn't enough for them to figure out how to turn a profit
+   after VC money ran out. Alas.
+
+   My previous favorite database was RethinkDB[2], though I discovered
+   it about a year after its creators closed shop. Gel is now in the
+   hands of the community and while there is a "blessed fork[3]," said
+   fork hasn't seen much activity aside from refactored tests.
+
+   Having experienced working with a "dead database" before, I had no
+   interest in revisiting the pain that comes with eventually needing to
+   grow beyond it. What drew me to RethinkDB and Gel was the built-in
+   interface they both come with. I'm not a database whiz and I have
+   zero interest in learning SQL; otherwise I'd use many of the popular
+   ones. I'm a designer turned developer turned whomever I need to be to
+   achieve a goal.
+
+   With that in mind, I set out to see if I could build the database I
+   want to use forever.
+
+   📸[Disc][IMG1]
+
+   ## Why?
+
+   > Why waste the tokens building your own thing when you could
+   > contribute to the existing project? Do you understand the deep
+   > inner workings of Postgres and complex database logic? To what end?
+   > What feature necessitates TypeScript over Python? If you're
+   > consuming the database it doesn't matter what language the database
+   > itself is in.
+
+   I don't understand Python, but I understand TypeScript well enough to
+   be productive with it. Deno has proven itself to be more than capable
+   as a runtime to build upon and create cross-platform executables.
+   Postgres is the industry standard for databases; you don't need to be
+   an expert to know that. You don't need to understand the language a
+   database is written in if you're using an ORM. When your database IS
+   the ORM however, it'd make sense to understand that.
+
+   These questions were posed to me when I presented my intent to the
+   Gel community on Discord. Which…fair, but I'm not swayed by cynics
+   (especially when I have a fantastic domain name, `disc.sh`
+   is insane).
+
+   I regularly used the chatbot in the Gel documentation for
+   clarification on how to shape my esoteric queries in a way the
+   database understands. When that stopped working I knew I had to begin
+   work on Disc.
+
+   ## How?
+
+   The first order of business was going through Gel's backlog of Github
+   issues and processing them against Disc's roadmap. To automate this,
+   I made a script that uses Github's API to batch process all 800+
+   issues. I then got Claude to analyze them; I won't share the full
+   matrix because it's a LOT but here's the high-level stats from the
+   analysis I ran in April.
+
+   The category breakdown:
+
+   - `database-core`: 1514 issues
+   - `query-language`: 852 issues
+   - `migrations`: 405 issues
+   - `devtools`: 359 issues
+   - `documentation`: 292 issues
+   - `performance`: 200 issues
+   - `auth`: 157 issues
+   - `cli-tooling`: 132 issues
+   - `cloud-hosting`: 103 issues
+   - `sdk-client`: 63 issues
+   - `storage`: 29 issues
+   - `unrelated`: 24 issues
+   - `compiler`: 7 issues
+   - `code-quality`: 1 issue
+   - `sql`: 1 issue
+
+   Of these, 231 issues were deemed of high relevance, 789 issues were
+   medium relevance, and 1,676 issues were low relevance.
+
+   ## What?
+
+   Merely having feature parity wasn't worth a new implementation, I
+   wanted ease of use. I know I'm using a database but I don't have to
+   fight against it.
+
+   Here are the original Disc features that I'm super excited about.
+
+   1. Codegen-free TypeScript query builder
+
+      Gel's TypeScript client requires running
+      `npx @gel/generate edgeql-js` after **every** schema change to
+      regenerate a typed query builder that must be checked in and kept
+      in sync. Disc's query builder is a runtime module; it reads a
+      schema declaration and returns a structurally-typed builder which
+      allows schema changes  to flow through with no rebuild step.
+
+   2. Schema-derived REST surface (auto-generated)
+
+      Gel exposes EdgeQL over HTTP and GraphQL via `ext::graphql`, but
+      generates no conventional REST surface. REST is the default for
+      many integrations (locked-down mobile clients, anything that wants
+      OpenAPI, &c). Disc auto-generates a REST surface from the schema,
+      runs it through the same access-policy and auth pipeline as EdgeQL
+      queries, and emits a matching OpenAPI 3.1 spec.
+
+   3. Admin UI features
+
+      The diff tool watches `.disc` files in real time and shows the
+      unsaved-but-edited schema next to the currently applied schema as
+      a visual diff (added types in green, removed in red, modified with
+      side-by-side property lists). An "apply" button generates and runs
+      the migration in-line.
+
+      The watcher's events are streamed over SSE at
+      `/admin/schema-watch`; `POST /admin/schema-apply` runs through the
+      standard `MigrationEngine`, so the lock-timeout pragma,
+      advisory-lock serialization, and unsafe/ambiguous-op gate all
+      compose for free.
+
+      Gel's UI shows applied schema only; you switch to your editor and
+      CLI to make changes.
+
+      The visual query builder works by picking a root type, checking
+      the fields and links to include, adding filter rows (field +
+      operator + value, auto-typed by the field's SDL scalar), and
+      setting order / limit / offset.
+
+      The synthesized EdgeQL renders live in a side pane; The "run"
+      button sends it through the same `/query` endpoint as the
+      text editor.
+
+      Gel's UI has a text editor with autocomplete and no
+      visual builder.
+
+      The most exciting thing about the Disc UI to me is that it's
+      written in Svelte. I've been sick of the chokehold React has over
+      the developer community for at least a decade. Disc, coupled with
+      my recent GraphiQL UI[4] and GraphQL server[5] releases, means I'm
+      finally React-free! (Ask your doctor if Svelte is right for you)
+
+   4. Single-binary distribution
+
+      Self-hosting Gel is an exercise in frustration. It's always felt
+      like I was juggling the Gel server, Postgres, and the UI.
+
+      Disc ships **one binary** that contains the Disc server, Postgres,
+      and the UI. That's it. I'm a huge fan of Caddy's single binary
+      existence and the ease with which I can spin up a new site. Happy
+      to finally have a database with the same experience.
+
+      If you hate UI, you can use Disc without it! Please look at my
+      pretty pixels though.
+
+   5. Deno-permission-aware access policies
+
+      Because Disc runs on Deno, every running piece of code has a
+      runtime permission set that access policies can reference. Disc's
+      extensions share the server's permission set so all checks are
+      deployment-time gates.
+
+      Gel has application-level identity only; its Python/Rust runtime
+      has no structured permission model to check against.
+
+   ## Future?
+
+   There's lots left to do! The documentation needs to live on its own
+   site and I need to figure out Homebrew deployment. If you're skittish
+   about using a new database for RealWorld™ Deployment, fret not, I'm
+   insane and am building a new product using Disc as its backing store
+   (I actually paused development on said product to get Disc across the
+   finish line). Disc works well in development but the production story
+   has yet to be tested.
+
+   Follow me on Mastodon[6] or join the Disc board[7] on my forum to
+   stay up to date. 🕸️
+
+References
+
+   [1] <https://www.geldata.com/blog/gel-joins-vercel>
+   [2] <https://rethinkdb.com>
+   [3] <https://github.com/gelstable/gel>
+   [4] <https://code.webb.page/eol/graphiql.git/about/>
+   [5] <https://code.webb.page/eol/gq.git/about/>
+   [6] <https://social.coop/@netopwibby>
+   [7] <https://www.webb.page/index.php?board=6.0>
+   [IMG1] <https://cdn.webb.page/blog/2026/wm-095-a.png>
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
index f34e8f8..2cd1919 100644
--- a/version.txt
+++ b/version.txt
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-2026.06.05
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+2026.06.16
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