Local data

What this accomplishes

A data source stores form submissions and other project data — either locally, in SQLite, or against a hosted endpoint you configure yourself.

This page is the local data source. The form builder, which writes to a data source, is in form builder; the canvas builder, which binds components to a data source, is in canvas builder.

Current availability

This page documents behaviour verified in Miton development builds. Miton is still pre-release and is not publicly downloadable; invited beta users will receive a signed desktop build with automatic updates.

Before you start

• A Miton development build, an active project and Canvas open.
• A connected model and permission to write project files when the task changes the app.

The schema

A data source’s schema is a list of fields, each with a name and one of five types: text, number, boolean, date, or json. A field can be marked required and given a default value.

Local vs hosted

• Local — backed by a SQLite file inside the project. This is what a Form component writes to by default, and what most projects use.
• Hosted — backed by an endpoint and an auth reference you configure. Attempting to use a hosted data source before it’s configured in Settings surfaces a clear error rather than failing silently.

Working with the data

Both kinds support the same operations: list rows (with limit, offset, and ordering), get one row, insert, update, delete, and query with simple filters (equals, not-equals, greater-than, less-than, “in a set”) on a single field.

The Database component

Drag a Database component onto a Canvas page and bind it to a data source in the properties panel. Right now the canvas preview shows a placeholder (“Data will render here at preview time.”) rather than rendering live rows inline in the editor — there’s no gallery, table, chart, or count display picker yet. A Form component’s own binding, by contrast, is functional today: submissions it collects are written to the bound data source through the same CRUD path.

What the local data does not cover

• Live data rendering in the Canvas preview — the Database component is a bound placeholder for now; it doesn’t yet show the rows it’s connected to inside the editor.
• CSV or other export — there’s no built-in export from a data source today.
• Schema migration — changing a schema doesn’t migrate existing rows to match it.
• Real-time multi-user collaboration on the data — a data source isn’t a collaborative document.

What success looks like

A form (or the agent, or your own code) writes typed rows into a data source, and you can list, filter, and edit them through the same CRUD path regardless of whether the source is local SQLite or a hosted endpoint.

Common failures and recovery

• A hosted data source error usually means it isn’t configured yet in Settings.
• Confirm Canvas is editing the intended project and page.
• Check the selected breakpoint, project permissions and model connection.

Related next action

Return to the Canvas overview to choose the next part of the project.