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Quick Start

DoubleDino is a single binary that runs inside your infrastructure.

To start DoubleDino, configure the operating mode, source connection, and security keys, then run the binary.

A single DoubleDino instance connects to one data source and runs one workflow.

1. Choose a mode​

DoubleDino supports two modes:

Proxy mode​

Provides read-only access to a data source through a secure HTTP API.

Developers can query production data using the native query language of the underlying database while DoubleDino transforms sensitive information before returning results.

export DD_MODE=proxy

Clone mode​

Creates a transformed copy of an existing data source.

DoubleDino reads from the source, applies deterministic redaction, writes to the destination, then exits.

export DD_MODE=clone

2. Configure the source​

Set the connection string for the data source.

Example PostgreSQL:

export DD_SOURCE_URL=postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/database

The connection format depends on the selected data source.

See Connection Strings for supported formats.

3. Configure security keys​

DoubleDino uses two keys:

Secret key​

Used for deterministic transformation of sensitive values.

The same secret key always produces the same transformed output, allowing relationships between records to remain consistent.

export DD_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key

Authentication key​

Used to authenticate requests to the DoubleDino HTTP API.

Requests must provide this value using the x-api-key header.

export DD_AUTH_KEY=your-api-key

4. Start DoubleDino​

Run:

./doubledino

DoubleDino will:

  1. Detect the data source type.
  2. Initialise the required connector.
  3. Load the transformation engine.
  4. Start the selected workflow.

Startup normally completes within seconds.

Clone mode example​

Clone mode requires a destination connection.

export DD_MODE=clone

export DD_SOURCE_URL=postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/production

export DD_DEST_URL=postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/development

export DD_SECRET_KEY=my-secret-key

./doubledino

DoubleDino will:

  • Read from the source database.
  • Transform sensitive values.
  • Preserve relationships and formats.
  • Write the transformed data to the destination.
  • Exit when complete.

The source and destination must be the same database type.

Examples:

Supported:

PostgreSQL → PostgreSQL
MySQL → MySQL
MongoDB → MongoDB

Not supported:

PostgreSQL → MySQL
MongoDB → PostgreSQL

Proxy mode example​

Proxy mode starts a read-only API.

export DD_MODE=proxy

export DD_SOURCE_URL=postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/production

export DD_SECRET_KEY=my-secret-key

export DD_AUTH_KEY=my-api-key

./doubledino

DoubleDino will connect to the source and start listening for requests.

Developers can then query through the HTTP API.

Example:

curl -G "http://localhost:8080/meta" \
  -H "x-api-key: my-api-key"

Response:

{
  "status": "online",
  "type": "postgres"
}

Running in production​

DoubleDino does not require a special runtime environment.

It can run:

  • As a standalone process.
  • Behind an existing HTTP proxy.
  • As part of an automated workflow.
  • Started and stopped on demand.

DoubleDino uses standard output and error streams for logging, allowing your infrastructure tooling to collect and manage logs however you prefer.

Common deployment options include:

  • systemd
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • ECS
  • VM-based deployments

Next steps​

Continue with:

  • Configuration for all available environment variables.
  • Proxy Mode for developer access.
  • Clone Mode for creating transformed database copies.