Setting Up a Local CockroachDB Cluster

Guides you through downloading, installing, and starting a local CockroachDB cluster for development. Uses the official binary -- no Docker or external runtime dependencies required.

When to Use This Skill

• Developer asks to "set up CockroachDB" or "start a local database"
• No CockroachDB cluster is reachable
• Developer wants to build an app with CockroachDB from scratch
• Setting up a new development environment

Prerequisites

• macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon), Linux (Intel or ARM), or Windows (Intel)
• curl or wget available for downloading the binary
• ~500 MB disk space per node
• Ports 26257-26259 (SQL), 26357-26359 (RPC), and 8080-8082 (DB Console) available for a 3-node cluster

Step 1: Detect Platform and Download