dopbase client connect

dopbase client connect selects the server used by later client commands.

When no server has been selected, Dopbase uses the local default automatically:

http://localhost:8840

You can therefore start a default local server and sign in without running connect first:

dopbase server start # complete the printed setup link on fresh storage
dopbase login

Connect to another server

Select a self-hosted or Cloud endpoint:

dopbase client connect https://dopbase.example.com
dopbase client connect http://dopbase.internal.example
dopbase client connect 192.168.1.20:8840

The command normalizes the URL and verifies that it is a compatible Dopbase server before changing machine-global state. If validation fails, the previous server and credential remain active.

Domain names must include http:// or https://. A bare domain such as dopbase.example.com is rejected with an example of the required format. Bare IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are accepted and use HTTP by default. Add the scheme when an IP address uses HTTPS.

The CLI prints a warning before contacting any server over HTTP because login credentials and secrets are not protected by transport encryption. Use HTTPS whenever possible. The client does not follow redirects, so the configured endpoint must be the final Dopbase URL.

Invalid hosts, malformed IP addresses, unsupported schemes, and ports outside 1 to 65535 are rejected before a network request. Each validation error shows a valid example. A valid address that cannot be reached reports a connection error instead, while a reachable non-Dopbase endpoint reports a compatibility error.

An actual server change requires a yes/no confirmation. The warning identifies the current and destination endpoints and explains that Dopbase will stop the current managed background server when present, delete the encrypted local CLI session, and clear the saved default environment. There is no non-interactive bypass.

If a foreground dopbase server start process is using the same data directory, stop it with Ctrl+C before switching. A dopbase server start --background process representing the current endpoint is stopped automatically after confirmation. Remote servers, unrelated local servers, and browser sessions are never stopped or revoked.

Connecting does not authenticate. Sign in separately after switching:

dopbase login

Return to the local server

Use the local alias:

dopbase client connect local
dopbase login

After validating http://localhost:8840, Dopbase removes the configured server override and returns to the implicit local default.

DOPBASE_URL must be unset before changing the saved endpoint. Otherwise, its environment override would remain active instead of the newly selected server.

Cloud uses the same command

dopbase client connect <dopbase-cloud-url>
dopbase login

The Cloud URL has not been published. Dopbase Cloud is planned to use the same client and REST model as a self-hosted server.

Machine-global state

The selected endpoint is stored in the user's global Dopbase configuration, not in an application repository. Login credentials are stored separately in the encrypted local session file. An optional dopbase run default is saved as an immutable environment ID scoped to this server.

Use dopbase client status to inspect the effective endpoint and authentication status without displaying token contents. Read client configuration for the file format, precedence rules, and multi-instance behavior.

Safety behavior

Once a remote endpoint is configured, an outage causes client commands to fail. Dopbase does not silently switch to localhost, another self-hosted server, or Cloud. The implicit local default applies only when no server is configured or overridden.