introduction.mdx

title	Introduction
description	urBackend is a Backend-as-a-Service that gives you instant REST APIs on your own MongoDB database — no server code required.

What is urBackend?

urBackend is an open-source Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) built on the principle of Bring Your Own Database (BYOD). You connect your own MongoDB instance, define your collections, and get a production-ready REST API in seconds — without writing a single line of server code.

Your data stays in your database. urBackend provides the API layer, authentication, file storage, and security on top of it.

Why use urBackend?

No backend boilerplate. Create a collection in the dashboard and your REST endpoint is live immediately. There is no server to provision and no routing to configure.

Dual-key security built in. Every project gets a publishable key (pk_live) for safe use in frontend code and a secret key (sk_live) for server-side operations. The two keys have different trust levels and are enforced at the API layer.

Auth is included. Sign-up, login, JWT issuance, profile management, password reset, email verification, and social login (GitHub and Google) are all available out of the box through the /api/userAuth/* endpoints.

Features

Create collections, define schemas, and read or write JSON documents through a standard REST API. Supports filtering, pagination, and sorting. Built-in user authentication with JWT tokens. Supports sign-up, login, email verification, password reset, and social login via GitHub and Google. Upload files and images and receive public CDN links automatically. Delete files by path when they are no longer needed. Receive HTTP callbacks on data events. Secured with HMAC-SHA256 signatures, with automatic retries and delivery logs. A typed JavaScript/TypeScript client that wraps the REST API. Covers auth, database reads and writes, and storage operations. Let authenticated frontend users write their own data safely using their publishable key and a user JWT — no secret key exposure required.

Your first API call

Once you have a project and a collection set up, reading data requires only your publishable key:

const response = await fetch('https://api.ub.bitbros.in/api/data/products', {
  headers: {
    'x-api-key': 'pk_live_...'
  }
});

const { data } = await response.json();
console.log(data);

The pk_live key is safe to include in frontend and mobile code — it grants read access only. Write operations require either the sk_live key (server-side) or a user JWT with Row-Level Security enabled on the collection.

Ready to build? Follow the [Quick Start](/quickstart) to go from a blank project to live read/write endpoints in under 60 seconds.