CouchDB is the only major document database with a native HTTP REST API — every operation is a plain HTTP request. COUPLE takes full advantage of that: no driver extension, no PECL install, no server configuration beyond what PHP already provides.

Drop couple.php onto any PHP 8.2+ host, open it in a browser, and enter your CouchDB connection details. From there you have a complete admin interface: document browser, Mango query builder, field editor, bulk delete, and a design document viewer — all from one file.

Schema inference means COUPLE adapts to your data rather than requiring you to define it upfront. Sample a collection and COUPLE maps its field structure, uses that to build form inputs and filter controls, and handles heterogeneous documents gracefully.

Everything you need to manage CouchDB from a single file

Reading level

Browse and search documents

Page through documents in any database, filter by field value, and search across the full collection. No query language required — COUPLE builds the Mango selector for you.

Browse your CouchDB documents the way you would a spreadsheet. Filter and search without writing any queries.

Insert, edit, and delete

Full document CRUD with a JSON-aware editor. Field types are inferred from live data — strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, and nested objects all get the right input control.

Add new documents, change existing ones, or delete records you no longer need — all from a clean browser interface.

Mango query builder

Construct and run Mango (CouchDB Query) selectors visually. Add conditions, chain operators, and inspect the generated JSON before executing against the database.

Build search queries using menus and inputs — no need to learn CouchDB's query language. COUPLE writes the query for you.

Schema inference

COUPLE samples live documents to infer the field structure of each collection. Use inferred fields as column headers, filter controls, and form labels — even when documents are heterogeneous.

CouchDB doesn't enforce a fixed structure, so COUPLE figures out what fields your documents have by looking at the data and uses that to build your interface.

Design document viewer

Inspect views, filters, and validation functions stored in CouchDB design documents. Run named views directly and page through their results without leaving the tool.

See the logic built into your CouchDB database — the views and filters that control how data is queried and validated.

No extension required

CouchDB speaks HTTP natively, so COUPLE needs nothing beyond PHP's built-in curl. No PECL extension, no Composer package, no server-level setup. Drop one file and go.

Unlike MongoDB tools, COUPLE works on any standard PHP host. If PHP can make HTTP requests — and it always can — COUPLE works.

Up in under a minute

Download

Grab couple.php from the link above.

Upload

Drop it anywhere on a PHP 8.2+ server. No install, no dependencies.

Connect

Open it in a browser, enter your CouchDB host and credentials, and go.

When to reach for COUPLE

Document Inspection & Data Seeding

Browse any database, open individual documents, and inspect raw JSON without leaving your browser. COUPLE’s built-in editor lets you create or modify documents directly — paste seed data for a fresh environment, correct a malformed record in production, or verify that your application is writing the shape you expect.

Mango Query Exploration

Build and iterate on Mango selectors through a visual interface instead of hand-authoring JSON and firing raw HTTP requests. Select fields, choose operators, stack conditions, and execute the query against live data immediately. Results display inline so you can refine your selector until it returns exactly what your application will receive.

Sharing Database Access With Non-Developers

Drop COUPLE on a PHP host, point it at your CouchDB instance, and hand a URL to a QA engineer, product manager, or data analyst. They get a navigable interface with no CouchDB credentials in a terminal and no REST client to configure — just a login prompt and a browser.

Design Document & View Inspection

Open any design document to review its map/reduce functions, indexes, and update handlers in one place. COUPLE renders the full design document alongside its constituent views so you can audit replication targets, verify index coverage, or troubleshoot unexpected query results without switching between multiple API calls.

How it compares

COUPLE occupies a specific niche — here’s how it differs from the tools developers already reach for.

Fauxton (built-in CouchDB UI)

Fauxton ships with CouchDB and covers a wide surface area, but it requires direct access to the CouchDB host and port — typically not exposed on production servers. COUPLE runs on any PHP host with outbound HTTP access, so it fits behind existing web infrastructure and access controls. It also adds schema inference and bulk delete workflows that Fauxton doesn’t surface as first-class features.

CouchDB-nano / PouchDB dev tools

nano and PouchDB are libraries, not interfaces — they require a Node environment, a running application, and code to exercise them. COUPLE is a single deployable file with a UI, so there’s nothing to import or configure beyond dropping it on a server. It’s suited for database administration tasks that don’t belong inside application code.

Generic REST clients (Postman, Insomnia)

Postman and Insomnia are powerful for API exploration but treat every request as a blank slate — you construct endpoints by hand, parse raw JSON responses, and manage authentication state yourself. COUPLE is CouchDB-aware: it knows the document model, renders JSON in a structured editor, and builds Mango queries through a UI rather than requiring you to remember selector syntax.

Frequently asked questions

COUPLE targets CouchDB 3.x, which introduced the Mango query engine as a stable, first-class interface and made per-database access control standard. The document browser and CRUD operations will work against CouchDB 2.x instances as well, but the Mango query builder depends on the _find endpoint, which requires at minimum CouchDB 2.0. CouchDB 1.x is not supported.
Yes. Cloudant is wire-compatible with CouchDB’s HTTP API and exposes the same _find, _all_docs, and design document endpoints that COUPLE relies on. Point COUPLE at your Cloudant service URL, provide your API key credentials, and the full interface — document browser, Mango builder, design document viewer — works as it would against a self-hosted CouchDB instance.
COUPLE supports both HTTP Basic Auth and CouchDB’s cookie-based session authentication. On the login screen you enter a username and password; COUPLE posts them to CouchDB’s /_session endpoint and stores the returned cookie for the duration of your browser session. Basic Auth credentials can also be embedded directly in the configured server URL for non-interactive or single-user deployments.
No. Schema inference in COUPLE is additive — it samples live documents and unions every field it encounters across the sample set. Heterogeneous collections produce a merged field list rather than an error. Fields that appear in only some documents are still listed; their presence or absence in any individual document is reflected in the editor when you open that document directly.
COUPLE is released under the Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2). You may use, modify, and deploy it freely for internal purposes — including on client infrastructure you manage — as long as you don’t offer it as a hosted service to third parties or remove the license notice. The full license text is included in the distribution file.
COUPLE displays attachment metadata — filename, content type, and size — when attachments are present on a document. Downloading attachments is supported via a direct link to the CouchDB attachment URL. Uploading new attachments or replacing existing ones through the COUPLE interface is not currently supported; those operations should be performed through your application or a direct API call.

CouchDB admin in a single PHP file