Pennybase: A Minimalist Go BaaS Under 1000 Lines

2025-07-04
Pennybase: A Minimalist Go BaaS Under 1000 Lines

Pennybase is a lightweight Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution implemented in under 1000 lines of Go code, offering a simplified alternative to Firebase, Supabase, and Pocketbase. It relies solely on the Go standard library, requiring no external dependencies. Core features include file storage (versioned CSV), a REST API (JSON responses), session cookie and Basic Auth authentication, RBAC & ownership-based permissions, real-time updates via SSE, schema validation, and Go template rendering. Data is stored in human-readable CSVs, with updates creating new record versions. A clever in-memory index allows for fast lookups and updates. Permission control uses a simple RBAC model, and custom functionality is possible via hook functions.

Development minimalist backend