What is Ardent
Ardent is a database branching platform that creates isolated, full copies of any Postgres database in under 6 seconds. It uses copy-on-write technology to share storage between branches, so you only pay for changes made. This allows coding agents to test, clean, and migrate data on isolated branches with zero risk to production.
How to use Ardent
- Connect your Postgres database (supports Supabase, AWS RDS, and standard Postgres instances).
- Create a branch of your production database. This creates an isolated copy in under 6 seconds.
- Let coding agents work on the branch—run migrations, clean data, backfill records, or test queries.
- Once verified, merge the changes back to production or discard the branch.
Features of Ardent
- Fast cloning: Create copies of any Postgres database in under 6 seconds, regardless of size.
- Copy-on-write storage: Branches share storage with the parent and only store changes, saving storage costs.
- Isolation: Each branch is isolated at both compute and storage level, ensuring zero risk to production.
- Autoscaling compute: Compute scales to zero when idle and scales up with agent workloads.
- Unlimited branches: Create as many branches as needed, unlike traditional replicas which are limited.
- Provider support: Works with Supabase, AWS RDS, and Planetscale.
Use Cases of Ardent
- Data cleaning: Let agents clean, deduplicate, and standardize data on an exact copy of production.
- Migration testing: Test database migrations on a 1:1 copy before applying to production.
- Backfills: Run backfill operations on isolated branches without affecting production.
- Verify changes: Validate code changes against real data before deployment.
Pricing
Ardent offers a free tier (price: $0) and custom plans for teams. For detailed pricing, visit the pricing page on their website.
FAQ
What is database branching? Database branching creates isolated, full copies of your production database that you can modify without affecting the original. Like git branches for code, but for your data infrastructure. Ardent uses copy-on-write technology so branches are created in under 6 seconds regardless of database size, and only store the changes you make.
How does Ardent create database copies so fast? Ardent uses copy-on-write branching at the storage level. Instead of duplicating the entire database, a branch shares the underlying storage with the parent and only stores the deltas (changes made). This means a 1TB database branches in under 6 seconds and uses 0 MB of additional storage until you start making changes.
Is it safe to let AI agents modify database branches? Yes. Each Ardent branch is fully isolated at both the compute and storage level. Changes made on a branch never affect production or other branches. This makes it safe for coding agents to run migrations, clean data, backfill records, and test queries on a 1:1 copy of production without any risk.
How does Ardent compare to traditional database replicas? Traditional replicas take hours to days to create, duplicate the full database storage for each copy, and require always-on compute. Ardent creates branches in under 6 seconds, shares storage via copy-on-write (you only pay for changes), and compute autoscales to zero when idle. You can create unlimited branches vs. the 15-20 replica limit of traditional approaches.
What databases does Ardent support? Ardent currently supports PostgreSQL databases including Supabase, AWS RDS, and standard Postgres instances. Support for additional databases is on the roadmap.
