Installation

This guide walks you through installing GORM Studio and all required dependencies. The entire setup takes just a few commands.

The current stable release is v1.0.1. See the changelog on GitHub for details.

Prerequisites

Before installing GORM Studio, make sure you have:

• Go 1.21 or later — GORM Studio uses generics and other modern Go features that require Go 1.21+. Check your version with:

go version

• An initialized Go module — If you do not already have a go.mod file, create one:

go mod init your-module-name

Install GORM Studio

Install the GORM Studio package using go get:

go get github.com/MUKE-coder/gorm-studio/studio

This pulls in the studio package, which contains the route handlers, the embedded frontend assets, and all the logic for schema introspection, CRUD operations, and data import/export.

Install Required Dependencies

GORM Studio is built on top of Gin (HTTP router) and GORM (ORM). You need both of these in your project:

go get github.com/gin-gonic/gin
go get gorm.io/gorm

Install a Database Driver

You need at least one database driver. Install the one that matches your database:

SQLite

SQLite is the easiest option for local development and testing. It requires no external database server — everything is stored in a single file.

go get github.com/glebarez/sqlite

Usage in code:

import "github.com/glebarez/sqlite"
 
db, err := gorm.Open(sqlite.Open("app.db"), &gorm.Config{})

:::tip SQLite is a great choice for getting started quickly. You can always switch to PostgreSQL or MySQL later without changing your GORM models. :::

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is the recommended choice for production deployments. It offers advanced features like JSONB columns, full-text search, and robust concurrent access.

go get gorm.io/driver/postgres

Usage in code:

import "gorm.io/driver/postgres"
 
dsn := "host=localhost user=postgres password=secret dbname=myapp port=5432 sslmode=disable"
db, err := gorm.Open(postgres.Open(dsn), &gorm.Config{})

MySQL

MySQL (and MariaDB) are fully supported. Use this driver if your infrastructure is built around MySQL.

go get gorm.io/driver/mysql

Usage in code:

import "gorm.io/driver/mysql"
 
dsn := "user:password@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/myapp?charset=utf8mb4&parseTime=True&loc=Local"
db, err := gorm.Open(mysql.Open(dsn), &gorm.Config{})

All-in-One Installation

If you want to install everything at once, run all commands together:

# Core dependencies
go get github.com/MUKE-coder/gorm-studio/studio
go get github.com/gin-gonic/gin
go get gorm.io/gorm
 
# Pick your database driver (install one or more)
go get github.com/glebarez/sqlite       # SQLite
go get gorm.io/driver/postgres           # PostgreSQL
go get gorm.io/driver/mysql              # MySQL

After running these commands, tidy up your module to remove any unused indirect dependencies:

go mod tidy

Verify the Installation

Create a minimal Go file to confirm everything compiles correctly:

package main
 
import (
    "fmt"
 
    _ "github.com/MUKE-coder/gorm-studio/studio"
    _ "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
    _ "gorm.io/gorm"
    _ "github.com/glebarez/sqlite"
)
 
func main() {
    fmt.Println("All dependencies installed successfully!")
}

Run it:

go run main.go

If you see All dependencies installed successfully! with no compilation errors, you are ready to proceed.

Project Structure

A typical project using GORM Studio looks like this:

myapp/
├── go.mod
├── go.sum
├── main.go          # Application entry point, mounts GORM Studio
├── models/
│   ├── user.go      # GORM model definitions
│   ├── post.go
│   └── category.go
└── app.db           # SQLite database file (if using SQLite)

GORM Studio does not impose any specific project layout. It only needs a *gorm.DB connection and a *gin.Engine router to work.

Troubleshooting

"go: module not found" errors

Make sure you are running go get from within a directory that has a go.mod file. If you have not initialized your module yet, run go mod init your-module-name first.

CGO errors with SQLite

The github.com/glebarez/sqlite driver is a pure-Go implementation that does not require CGO. If you are using a different SQLite driver like gorm.io/driver/sqlite (which wraps mattn/go-sqlite3), you will need a C compiler installed. We recommend using the pure-Go driver listed above to avoid this issue entirely.

Version conflicts

If you encounter dependency version conflicts, run:

go mod tidy

This resolves version requirements and removes unused dependencies. If conflicts persist, check that your go.mod specifies go 1.21 or later in the go directive.

Next Steps

With everything installed, head to the Quick Start guide to mount GORM Studio in your application and start browsing your data.