Some days ago I wrote about Gnoke-Database — a self-hosted Firebase alternative that runs on any PHP host with SQLite. The response was more than I expected, so I wanted to follow up with what actually exists now, not just the idea.

What shipped

v3 is a street-beta. That means the core engine is frozen and deployed on a real server. Not a demo. Not a prototype. A working backend that a courier company is currently running on.

The file layout settled into something clean:

/api        ← PHP + SQLite backend (frozen)
/scripts    ← Frontend engine modules (frozen)
/app        ← Your app lives here
/tools      ← Configurator + setup helpers

Two files to edit per deployment. Everything else is frozen.

The thing I'm most proud of

The data layer genuinely works offline-first. You write a record — it lands in localStorage instantly. No waiting for a network response. When the connection returns, the sync engine pushes the queue silently. When a teammate saves something on their device, the pull leg brings it down and your UI re-renders. Nobody coordinated that. The engine did.

The developer contract is simple enough to write on a napkin:

GnokeStore.define('ledger', { scope: 'user' });
GnokeStore.onChange('ledger', render);
GnokeStore.save('ledger', { title: 'Rice', amount: 5000 });

That's it. Local write, automatic sync, reactive UI.

What I intentionally left out

No OAuth. No file uploads. No real-time WebSockets. No admin dashboard for business users.

Those aren't gaps — they're the point. Gnoke is not trying to be Supabase. It's trying to be the thing that works on a ₦7,000/month shared host when your team is 50 people and you need data to sync reliably between field devices.

The auth is PIN-based. Staff register with a phone number or email, set a PIN, and the engine handles the rest. If someone loses their device or forgets their PIN, an admin generates a one-time recovery code. Simple. No SMS API required.

What's still in progress

• gnoke-secure.js and gnoke-restore.js — the built-in login UI helpers — are being simplified. The current version has some rough edges around how the client builds the device identity hash. I'm ironing that out.
• The admin panel is intentionally minimal right now — staff list and OTP generator only. It's a developer tool, not a business dashboard.
• Documentation is thin. The README is honest about this: the code is the truth for now.

To the person who asked about WordPress

You can run Gnoke-Database on the same server as WordPress. They share the same PHP host, same file system. Your WordPress site and your Gnoke-powered app are just two separate folders. No conflict. They plug into the same wall outlet — they don't have to merge.

The repo

Still early.. The README has the full context..

github.com/edmundsparrow/gnoke-database

If you're building something where Firebase feels like overkill — or where the bill is becoming a problem — give it a look.

MIT License. Your own Firebase, on your own server.

If I can think, I can breathe. If I can breathe, I can win.