syntaxis/docs/databases/surrealdb/readme-surrealdb.md

SurrealDB Integration Documentation

Complete analysis and implementation guide for migrating syntaxis from SQLite to SurrealDB.

Quick Answer

Q: What happens if we want to use SurrealDB instead of SQLite?

A:

• ✅ Possible - Excellent code separation (single persistence module)
• 📊 Effort - Medium (40-50 hours, 1 developer-month)
• 🎯 Approach - Trait-based abstraction (supports both systems)
• ✨ Benefits - Graph queries, real-time updates, built-in versioning

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Documentation Files

1. 📋 SURREALDB_QUICK_REFERENCE.md (START HERE)

Best for: Quick overview, executive summary

• TL;DR answer
• Architecture diagram
• Key benefits
• 5-week implementation roadmap
• Risk assessment
• Read time: 5 minutes

2. 📚 SURREALDB_MIGRATION.md (DETAILED GUIDE)

Best for: Comprehensive planning and implementation

• Current architecture analysis
• Migration strategy (4 phases)
• Database schema mapping
• Configuration examples
• Risk mitigation
• Detailed code references
• Read time: 30 minutes

3. 💻 SURREALDB_EXAMPLE.rs (WORKING CODE)

Best for: Understanding implementation details

• Complete Database trait definition
• SQLite implementation (adapter pattern)
• SurrealDB implementation (adapter pattern)
• Runtime selection pattern
• Usage examples
• Read time: 20 minutes (code review)

4. ⚖️ SURREALDB_COMPARISON.md (FEATURE ANALYSIS)

Best for: Understanding pros/cons of each database

• Feature comparison table
• Real-world query examples (6 scenarios)
• Performance comparison
• Cost analysis
• When to use each system
• Migration path options
• Read time: 25 minutes

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Quick Summary

Current System (SQLite)

✅ Strengths:
  - Single file, zero configuration
  - Embedded in application
  - No server overhead
  - Perfect for CLI tools

❌ Limitations:
  - No real-time updates (polling only)
  - Poor graph query support (complex JOINs)
  - Manual audit trails
  - Not suitable for distributed systems

Proposed System (SurrealDB)

✅ Strengths:
  - Graph-native (perfect for phases/tasks/dependencies)
  - Real-time WebSocket subscriptions
  - Built-in versioning and audit trails
  - Multi-model (document + graph + SQL)
  - Cloud-ready and distributed
  - JSON-native documents

⚠️ Trade-offs:
  - Requires server process
  - Minimal configuration needed
  - New query language to learn (SurrealQL)
  - Slightly higher operational overhead

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Why SurrealDB Fits syntaxis

1. Graph Relationships (Natural Fit)

Syntaxis:

Project → Phase 1 → Phase 2 → Phase 3 → Complete
  │         │         │         │
  ├─→ Checklist Items
  ├─→ Tasks/Dependencies
  └─→ Security Assessments

SurrealDB handles this naturally with graph edges (RELATE).

2. Real-time Dashboard Updates

• SQLite: Poll every 5 seconds (inefficient)
• SurrealDB: WebSocket push (instant, real-time)

3. Flexible Tool Configurations

• SQLite: JSON strings to parse
• SurrealDB: Native document storage with type checking

4. Audit Trail Tracking

• SQLite: Manual activity_logs table
• SurrealDB: Built-in versioning and time-travel queries

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Implementation Approach (Zero Breaking Changes)

Strategy: Trait-Based Abstraction

Database Trait (abstract interface)
    ↓
    ├─→ SqliteDatabase (current implementation)
    └─→ SurrealDatabase (new implementation)

Result:
- Both backends implement same interface
- Application code unchanged
- Configuration-driven backend selection
- Can coexist during migration

Why This Works

1. No breaking changes - Existing code uses trait, not specific implementation
2. Gradual migration - Deploy with SQLite, optionally switch to SurrealDB
3. Testable - Create mock implementations for tests
4. Future-proof - Easy to add PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc. later

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5-Week Implementation Plan

Week	Phase	Tasks	Effort
1	Design	Define Database trait, write tests	Low
1-2	Refactor	Move SQLite to adapter pattern	Medium
2-3	Implementation	Build SurrealDB adapter	High
4	Integration	Update CLI, TUI, API, Dashboard	Medium
5	Testing	E2E tests, performance benchmarks	Medium

Total: 40-50 hours, 1 developer-week per phase

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Current Code Status

Persistence Layer (syntaxis-core/src/persistence.rs)

• Size: 1492 lines
• Coupling: ✅ Good - single module, no leakage
• Abstraction: ⚠️ Tightly coupled to SQLite
• Tests: ✅ Comprehensive (173 tests in syntaxis-core)

Cargo Dependencies

# Current
sqlx = { version = "0.8", features = ["sqlite", ...] }

# Add SurrealDB
surrealdb = { version = "2.0", features = ["ws"] }

Configuration (TOML-based)

[database]
engine = "sqlite"  # Current
sqlite_path = "workspace.db"

# Or in future:
# engine = "surrealdb"
# [database.surrealdb]
# url = "ws://localhost:8000"

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Decision Matrix

Choose SQLite if:

• ✅ Single-user deployment (CLI tool)
• ✅ Minimal operational overhead needed
• ✅ Budget and resources constrained
• ✅ Simple relational data is sufficient
• ✅ No real-time updates required

Choose SurrealDB if:

• ✅ Multi-user/team collaboration needed
• ✅ Real-time dashboard updates required
• ✅ Complex graph relationships important
• ✅ Cloud deployment planned
• ✅ Distributed architecture needed
• ✅ Audit trail and versioning critical

Recommendation for syntaxis

✅ Implement Both (Trait Pattern)

• Keep SQLite as simple default
• Add SurrealDB as advanced option
• Configuration-driven selection
• Users choose what fits their needs
• Zero breaking changes

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Next Steps

1. Review Documentation

   • Start with SURREALDB_QUICK_REFERENCE.md (5 min)
   • Deep dive into SURREALDB_MIGRATION.md (30 min)
   • Study SURREALDB_EXAMPLE.rs code (20 min)
   • Compare with SURREALDB_COMPARISON.md (25 min)

2. Evaluate for Your Use Case

   • Single user or team?
   • Need real-time updates?
   • Operational overhead acceptable?
   • Budget for implementation?

3. Plan Implementation

   • Decide if pursuing SurrealDB support
   • Estimate timeline for your team
   • Create feature branch
   • Start Phase 1 (trait definition)

4. Reference Code Examples

   • See SURREALDB_EXAMPLE.rs for working code
   • Trait definitions
   • SQLite adapter implementation
   • SurrealDB adapter implementation
   • Runtime selection pattern

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Key Files Delivered

File	Purpose	Size	Read Time
SURREALDB_QUICK_REFERENCE.md	Executive summary	7 KB	5 min
SURREALDB_MIGRATION.md	Technical guide	14 KB	30 min
SURREALDB_EXAMPLE.rs	Working code	15 KB	20 min
SURREALDB_COMPARISON.md	Feature analysis	12 KB	25 min

Total: 48 KB, ~80 minutes to fully understand

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Questions to Consider

For Development Team

1. Scope: Just syntaxis-cli, or all binaries (TUI, API, Dashboard)?
2. Timeline: Next quarter (soon), or future?
3. Resources: How many developers can dedicate time?
4. Users: Single developers or teams with multiple users?

For Architecture

1. Complexity: Worth adding server dependency?
2. Deployment: Docker/Kubernetes, or just binaries?
3. Scaling: Is distributed database ever needed?
4. Data: Do we need graph queries or real-time updates?

For Operations

1. Support: Can we support two backends?
2. Migration: Data migration strategy needed?
3. Testing: Test coverage for both backends?
4. Fallback: Easy to rollback if SurrealDB doesn't work out?

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Contacts & Resources

Documentation

• SurrealDB Official: https://surrealdb.com/docs
• SurrealDB Rust Client: https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb.rs
• SQLx Rust Async SQL: https://github.com/launchbadge/sqlx

Key References

• Graph Database Patterns: https://surrealdb.com/docs/surrealql/statements/relate
• Time-Travel Queries: https://surrealdb.com/docs/surrealql/statements/select#versioning
• Live Subscriptions: https://surrealdb.com/docs/surrealql/statements/live

Example Code

See SURREALDB_EXAMPLE.rs for:

• Database trait definition
• SQLite adapter implementation
• SurrealDB adapter implementation
• Runtime selection pattern

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Summary

Can we use SurrealDB instead of SQLite?

✅ YES

• Clean code separation exists
• Trait-based design enables both backends
• Medium effort (40-50 hours)
• Zero breaking changes
• Significant benefits for multi-user/real-time use cases

Recommended Approach:

1. Keep SQLite as default (current behavior)
2. Add SurrealDB support incrementally
3. Configuration-driven selection
4. Let users choose what fits their needs

Timeline: 5 weeks with dedicated team

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Document created: November 15, 2025 Status: Complete analysis and implementation guide ready for review