☁️ Storage · mesahub

Move your data to the cloud. Stop managing volumes.

mesahub replaces your local Docker volume with a managed cloud SQLite database. One connection string change — zero volume management, zero backups to configure, accessible from anywhere.

connection string
Before — local volume
mh://local/emailflare

After — mesahub cloud
mh://shs_key@api.mesahub.app/slug
Why cloud storage

No volumes. No backups. No data loss.

Local Docker volumes are fragile — one docker compose down -v and your templates, API keys, and logs are gone. mesahub gives your EmailFlare data a permanent home.

Survive restarts and redeployments

Local volumes disappear when containers are recreated. mesahub persists your database in the cloud — restart, redeploy, or migrate servers without losing anything.

No backup configuration needed

mesahub handles backups automatically. You don't need to configure cron jobs, S3 bucket policies, or volume snapshot schedules. Your data is safe by default.

One connection string change

Switch from local to cloud storage by updating a single environment variable. No schema changes, no data migration tools — just update DATABASE_URL in your .env.local.

Access your data from anywhere

With a local volume, your EmailFlare database is locked to one machine. mesahub lets you read your data from any environment — staging, production, CI pipelines.

Multi-instance friendly

Running multiple EmailFlare instances behind a load balancer? A shared mesahub database means consistent templates, keys, and domain state across all your containers.

Works with Railway and Fly.io

Platform restarts on Railway and Fly ephemeral storage make local volumes impractical. mesahub is the natural persistent storage layer for these PaaS deployments.

Comparison

Embedded volume vs. mesahub cloud

Both options work with EmailFlare. Choose embedded for local development and simple single-server deploys; choose mesahub for everything else.

Local volume

Docker volume / local file

SQLite file lives on disk, mounted as a Docker volume. Simple for development and single-server setups.

  • Zero setup — works out of the box
  • No external dependencies
  • Fast for local development
  • Lost if volume is deleted
  • Manual backup configuration required
  • Not accessible across multiple servers
  • Problematic on ephemeral PaaS platforms
mesahub cloud

mh://shs_key@api.mesahub.app/slug

Managed SQLite in the cloud. One connection string replaces your local volume with persistent cloud storage.

  • Persists across container restarts and redeployments
  • Automatic backups — nothing to configure
  • Accessible from multiple instances
  • Works on Railway, Fly.io, and any PaaS
  • One environment variable change to migrate
  • Readable from staging, CI, and production
  • No volume management or backup scripts
Setup guide

Four steps to cloud storage.

Switch from a local Docker volume to mesahub cloud storage in minutes. Your data, templates, and API keys migrate automatically.

1

Create a mesahub account

Sign up at mesahub.app. Create a new database — call it emailflare or anything you like.

mesahub is free to start. No credit card required. Create a database and you'll have a connection string ready in under a minute.
2

Copy your connection string

After creating the database, mesahub shows you a connection string in the format below. Copy it — you'll use it in the next step.

mh://shs_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@api.mesahub.app/your-database-slug
3

Update DATABASE_URL in .env.local

Replace the local database path with your mesahub connection string. Stop your existing EmailFlare container first so the migration can run cleanly on the next start.

# Before (local volume) DATABASE_URL=mh://local/emailflare   # After (mesahub cloud) DATABASE_URL=mh://shs_xxx@api.mesahub.app/your-slug
4

Restart EmailFlare

Bring the container back up. EmailFlare will run database migrations against your mesahub database automatically on startup.

docker compose up -d

Open the admin UI — your templates, domains, and keys should be intact if you migrated an existing deployment, or ready to configure if starting fresh.

That's it. Your EmailFlare database now lives in the cloud. Restarts, redeployments, and server migrations will no longer put your data at risk.

Continue with EmailFlare

Resources to get your deploy fully configured.