# VNDB Development

This file was synced from https://vndb.org/d8 on 2026/03/21

## 1. The Source

VNDB is open source. The full source code of the site is available as a [git repository](https://code.blicky.net/yorhel/vndb). You can use it to track changes to the code, run your own instance of VNDB and contribute to issues or pull requests. Check the README in the git repository for instructions.

VNDB is built on the following technologies:

- [Perl](https://www.perl.org/) for all backend code
- [FU](https://dev.yorhel.nl/fu) as backend framework
- [PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org/) for all things database
- [Mithril.js](https://mithril.js.org/) for various front-end parts

## 2. Contributing

Code contributions are more than welcome! For small bug fixes or minor and undisputed improvements, feel free to send a patch or pull request without prior discussion. If you have an idea for a new feature, I strongly recommend opening a thread on the forums to get some feedback before you start coding. Otherwise you may be wasting your time on features that aren't even welcomed in the community or could have been better integrated with other parts of the site.

If you are stuck, don't hesitate to ask for help on [the forums](https://vndb.org/t/db).

## 3. Development Database

**File:** [vndb-dev-latest.tar.gz](./vndb-dev-latest.tar.gz) ([more files](https://dl.vndb.org/dump/)).

**Updated:** Sporadically.

When working on the VNDB code, it helps to have a local development database with some realistic data. This database dump includes a small subset of the production database to play around with. Usage instructions can be found in the README in the git repository.

The dump includes:

- The complete tags and traits database
- All 'doc' pages
- All threads made on the 'announcement' board
- A small selection of popular visual novel entries
- All releases, producers, characters and staff related to these visual novels
- All images related to the above database entries
- The full edit history of these entries
- An admin user and a few test users (their password is 'hunter2' if the crypt_salt configuration option is the same as the example file).

## 4. Wishlist

VNDB can be improved in an infinite number of ways. Here's a very incomplete list of a few features we'd like to have at some point, in no particular order.

- More modern, mobile-friendly design (without sacrificing performance and functionality, of course).
- User-contributed "similar visual novels".
- Character relations ([t3314.1994](https://vndb.org/t3314.1994) & [t15655](https://vndb.org/t15655))