If you’ve ever built an internal tool or dashboard, you know it takes time to create an admin panel from scratch. You need to set up routes, build forms, and handle basic actions like create, update, and delete.
In this article, we’ll show how to generate an instant admin panel for your app using Kottster, our open-source devtool. All you need to do is to connect your database, and it creates admin pages for you in minutes.
There is no need to write code or set up everything manually. You get a free, ready-to-use, self-hosted admin panel in minutes.
It only takes three steps to get started:
Before you start, make sure you have Node.js (version 20 or higher) and npm installed on your machine.
To begin, run the following command in your terminal:
npx @kottster/cli@latest new
This will guide you through a few simple questions and create a ready-to-use Node.js project on your machine. The admin panel is self-hosted and comes with everything you need to get started, including all required packages.
If you prefer Docker, you can also use our Quickstart with Docker guide.
After the project is created, start the app with:
npm run dev
Then open your browser and go to http://localhost:5480.
You’ll see an authentication screen. Create a new account here and and initializes your app.
Once done, you’ll see a Getting Started screen where you can connect your database.
After creating your project and starting the app, you’ll see a Getting Started screen in your browser. The first step here is to connect your database.
Kottster supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and SQLite. Just pick your database type and enter your connection details.
You can fill in the form directly or choose to edit the config file manually if you prefer.
After you click Connect, Kottster will install the necessary packages, connect to your database, and scan your tables to get everything ready for the next step: generating admin pages.
Once your database is connected, you can start creating admin pages. Just click the Add Page button, pick any table from your database, and Kottster will instantly generate a working page for it.
Each page lets you view, add, edit, and delete records, with built-in filtering, sorting, and full-text search. You can also manage related records thanks to automatic support for one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many relationships.
If you need more control, developers can also create completely custom pages by editing the source code directly.
Kottster is free, open-source, and easy to get started with. Whether you're building an internal tool or need a quick way to manage your data, it helps you skip the boilerplate and focus on what matters.
You can start in minutes with just a database connection.
Check out the documentation, try the live demo, or star us on GitHub if you like the project.