https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite
The compliance-first database for industries where data integrity is non-negotiable.
https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite
audit compliance data-structures database event-sourcing finance government healthcare legal
Last synced: about 2 months ago
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The compliance-first database for industries where data integrity is non-negotiable.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite
- Owner: kimberlitedb
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2026-01-18T22:09:07.000Z (5 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-02T22:42:14.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-05-02T23:32:52.684Z (about 2 months ago)
- Topics: audit, compliance, data-structures, database, event-sourcing, finance, government, healthcare, legal
- Language: Rust
- Homepage: https://www.kimberlite.dev
- Size: 63.8 MB
- Stars: 7
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 12
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- Security: .github/SECURITY.md
- Support: .github/SUPPORT.md
- Roadmap: ROADMAP.md
- Notice: NOTICE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Kimberlite
[](https://crates.io/crates/kimberlite)
[](https://crates.io/crates/kimberlite)
[](https://docs.rs/kimberlite)
[](https://www.rust-lang.org)
[](https://doc.rust-lang.org/edition-guide/)
[](LICENSE)
[](https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](docs/internals/testing/overview.md)
[](https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite/actions/workflows/fuzz.yml)
[](docs/concepts/formal-verification.md)
[](https://discord.gg/QPChWYjD)
**A compliance-first database for regulated industries.**
Built for healthcare, finance, legal, and government—where data integrity is non-negotiable.
🔬 **Developer Preview** - Explore deterministic database concepts through production-quality code
Kimberlite is a verifiable, durable database engine designed for environments where data integrity, auditability, and trust are non-negotiable. Built around a single principle:
> **All data is an immutable, ordered log. All state is a derived view.**
## Why Kimberlite?
**The compliance tax is real.** In regulated industries, you're forced to build:
- Immutable audit trails for every change
- Cryptographic proof of data integrity
- Per-tenant encryption and isolation
- Point-in-time reconstruction
Most teams bolt these onto existing databases. **Kimberlite builds them in.**
**Key approach:**
- **Immutable audit trail** - Hash-chained append-only log means every action is recorded
- **Time-travel queries** - Reconstruct any point-in-time state via MVCC (`AT OFFSET n` and `AS OF TIMESTAMP '...'` both shipped)
- **Multi-tenant isolation** - Cryptographic boundaries prevent cross-tenant access
- **Multi-layer verification** - TLA+ protocol specs, Coq crypto proofs, Alloy structural models, Ivy Byzantine invariants, Kani bounded model checking, MIRI UB detection ([details](docs/concepts/formal-verification.md))
**Target industries (designed for):** Healthcare (HIPAA-ready), Finance (SOC 2-ready), Legal (chain-of-custody), Government (FedRAMP patterns)
## Who Should Explore This
- 🏥 **Healthcare developers** - Build HIPAA-ready EHR systems with built-in audit trails
- 💰 **Finance engineers** - Create SOC 2-ready applications with cryptographic guarantees
- ⚖️ **Legal tech builders** - Implement chain-of-custody with tamper-evident storage
- 🔬 **Database researchers** - Study formally specified consensus and immutable log architectures
**Perfect for learning.** Not yet recommended for production deployments (see [Status](#status) below).
## Quick Start
**5-minute quickstart:** See [Getting Started](docs/start/quick-start.md) for a complete tutorial with explanations.
**TL;DR:**
```bash
# Install (see docs/start/installation.md for all options)
curl -fsSL https://kimberlite.dev/install.sh | sh
# Initialize (or: kimberlite init for interactive wizard)
kimberlite init myproject
kimberlite dev
# Studio: http://localhost:5555, DB: 127.0.0.1:5432
```
Try time-travel queries:
```sql
CREATE TABLE patients (id INTEGER, name TEXT);
INSERT INTO patients VALUES (1, 'Alice'), (2, 'Bob');
-- View current state
SELECT * FROM patients;
-- View state as of a specific log offset (MVCC time-travel)
SELECT * FROM patients AT OFFSET 0;
-- Or as of a wall-clock timestamp (resolved via the audit-log index)
SELECT * FROM patients AS OF TIMESTAMP '2026-01-15T00:00:00Z';
```
## Documentation
- [Quick Start](https://kimberlite.dev/docs/quick-start) - Get running in 90 seconds
- [CLI Reference](https://kimberlite.dev/docs/reference/cli) - All commands
- [SQL Reference](https://kimberlite.dev/docs/reference/sql) - Supported SQL syntax
- [Architecture](https://kimberlite.dev/architecture) - How Kimberlite works
- [Roadmap](ROADMAP.md) - Future features and enhancements
- [Changelog](CHANGELOG.md) - Release history and completed work
- [Contributing](CONTRIBUTING.md) - How to contribute
## Building from Source
```bash
# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite.git
cd kimberlite
cargo build --release -p kimberlite-cli
# Binary is at ./target/release/kimberlite
```
### Development Commands
```bash
just build # Debug build
just build-release # Release build
just test # Run all tests
just nextest # Faster test runner
just clippy # Linting
just pre-commit # Run before committing
```
## Key Features
**What Makes Kimberlite Unique:**
- ✅ **Immutable audit trail** - Hash-chained append-only log (SHA-256 for compliance, BLAKE3 for performance)
- ✅ **Time-travel queries** - MVCC enables both `AT OFFSET n` and `AS OF TIMESTAMP '...'`
- ✅ **Deterministic core** - Functional Core / Imperative Shell pattern enables perfect replication
- ✅ **Multi-tenant isolation** - Per-tenant storage with cryptographic boundaries
- ✅ **Multi-layer verification** - TLA+ protocol specs (TLC in PR CI, TLAPS nightly), Coq crypto proofs, Alloy structural models, Ivy Byzantine invariants, Kani bounded model checking, MIRI undefined-behavior detection ([details](docs/concepts/formal-verification.md))
- ✅ **SQL interface** - SELECT with aggregates, GROUP BY/HAVING, UNION/INTERSECT/EXCEPT, all JOIN kinds, CTEs (incl. recursive), subqueries (incl. correlated), window functions, JSON operators, scalar expressions. `INSERT ... ON CONFLICT` upsert. `ALTER TABLE ADD/DROP COLUMN`. Multi-statement transactions planned post-v1.0.
- ✅ **Compliance surface** - `client.compliance.{eraseSubject, audit.query, export_subject, breach_*, consent.{grant,revoke}}` reachable from all SDKs with signed witnesses, hash-chain tamper-evidence, and GDPR Art 6 consent basis
- ✅ **Column-level masking policies** - `CREATE MASKING POLICY` DDL composes with RBAC + break-glass
- ✅ **Tamper-evidence** - CRC32 checksums + hash chains detect corruption
- ✅ **Viewstamped Replication (VSR)** - Full multi-node consensus (Normal, ViewChange, Recovery, Repair, StateTransfer, Reconfiguration)
- ✅ **RBAC/ABAC enforcement** - Per-role row/column filters; HIPAA, FedRAMP, PCI pre-built policies
- ✅ **Security hardened** - pre-launch audit completed; message signatures, replay protection, DoS limits, zero unallowed RustSec advisories
See [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md) for per-release detail; [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) for what's next.
## Use Cases
Kimberlite is designed for:
- Healthcare (EHR, clinical data, HIPAA)
- Financial services (audit trails, transaction records)
- Legal systems (chain of custody, evidence)
- Government (regulated records, compliance)
## Examples
See the [examples/](examples/) directory for:
- [quickstart/](examples/quickstart/) - Getting started
- [rust/](examples/rust/) - Rust SDK examples
- [docker/](examples/docker/) - Docker deployments
- [healthcare/](examples/healthcare/) - HIPAA-ready schema
## Architecture
```
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Kernel (pure state machine: Cmd -> State + FX) │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Append-Only Log (hash-chained, CRC32) │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Crypto (SHA-256, BLAKE3, AES-256-GCM, Ed25519) │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
See [docs/concepts/architecture.md](docs/concepts/architecture.md) for details.
## Why Kimberlite vs. Traditional Databases?
| Feature | PostgreSQL | Kimberlite |
|---------|-----------|-----------|
| **Data model** | Mutable tables | Immutable log + derived views |
| **Audit trail** | Manual triggers | Built-in (every write logged) |
| **Time-travel** | Extensions (complex) | Native SQL (`AS OF TIMESTAMP`) |
| **Integrity** | Checksums | Hash chains + CRC32 |
| **Consensus** | Streaming replication | VSR (deterministic, multi-node) |
| **Best for** | General OLTP | Compliance-heavy workloads |
**Trade-offs:** Kimberlite trades some write throughput for built-in auditability and tamper-evidence. Quantitative re-baseline against current hardware is a v0.7.0 target; see [FAQ](docs/reference/faq.md) for the qualitative comparison.
## Learning Resources
### Documentation Deep Dive
- [docs/concepts/architecture.md](docs/concepts/architecture.md) - FCIS pattern, kernel design, consensus
- [docs/internals/testing/assertions-inventory.md](docs/internals/testing/assertions-inventory.md) - Production assertion policy + paired `#[should_panic]` tests
- [docs/internals/testing/overview.md](docs/internals/testing/overview.md) - VOPR deterministic simulation testing
- [docs/concepts/pressurecraft.md](docs/concepts/pressurecraft.md) - Code quality standards
- [docs/concepts/compliance.md](docs/concepts/compliance.md) - HIPAA-ready, SOC 2-ready, GDPR-ready patterns
## Community
- 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/QPChWYjD) - Join for real-time support, design discussions, and community
- 📖 [Documentation](docs/) - Comprehensive architecture and usage guides
- 🐛 [Issues](https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite/issues) - Bug reports and feature requests
- 💡 [Discussions](https://github.com/kimberlitedb/kimberlite/discussions) - Questions, ideas, and design conversations
- ❓ [FAQ](docs/reference/faq.md) - Frequently asked questions
## Status
> **v0.x — Developer Preview.** Stable enough for prototypes, learning,
> internal tools, and compliance research. Not yet battle-tested at scale.
>
> - ✅ **Core is solid:** 3,000+ tests, deterministic simulation, production-grade crypto.
> - ✅ **Architecture is stable:** FCIS pattern, immutable log, full multi-node VSR consensus.
> - ✅ **Security hardened:** pre-launch audit closed, zero unallowed RustSec advisories, supply-chain pins.
> - ✅ **SDKs are production-grade:** Rust, TypeScript, and Python SDKs ship full data-plane + compliance + admin surface, with connection pooling and real-time subscriptions. See [SDK parity matrix](docs/reference/sdk/parity.md).
> - ⚠️ **Wire protocol may still evolve** between minor versions. See [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md) for the current version and any breaking changes.
>
> **Use for:** internal tools, prototypes, learning database internals, compliance research.
>
> **Wait for v1.0 if you need:** API stability guarantees, large-scale production deployment, commercial support, or third-party SOC 2 / HIPAA / GDPR attestations. v1.0 is checklist-gated with no fixed date — see [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md#v10--checklist-gated) for the gates.
>
> **Post-v1.0:** a managed cloud service (Kimberlite Cloud) is planned alongside the OSS core. The core stays OSS; the cloud adds ops, scaling, and compliance-ready shared-responsibility — similar to CockroachDB Serverless on top of CockroachDB OSS.
## SDKs
Kimberlite provides idiomatic client libraries for multiple languages:
| Language | Status | Package | Install |
|------------|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------------|
| Rust | ✅ Ready | `kimberlite-client` | `cargo add kimberlite-client` |
| TypeScript | ✅ Ready (Node 18/20/22/24, prebuilt napi) | `@kimberlitedb/client` | `npm install @kimberlitedb/client` |
| Python | ✅ Ready | `kimberlite` | `pip install kimberlite` |
| Go | 📋 Planned (v0.7.0) | — | See [ROADMAP](ROADMAP.md) |
| Java | 📋 Planned (v1.0 gate) | `com.kimberlite:kimberlite-client` | Maven / Gradle |
| C++ | 📋 Planned (v1.0 gate, via FFI) | `kimberlite-cpp` | Coming soon |
See [docs/reference/sdk/overview.md](docs/reference/sdk/overview.md) for architecture and [docs/reference/protocol.md](docs/reference/protocol.md) for wire protocol specification.
## License
Apache 2.0
## Contributing
- Read [CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md) for development guidelines
- Review [docs/concepts/pressurecraft.md](docs/concepts/pressurecraft.md) for coding standards
- Open issues for design discussions