Run Monstarillo

Now for the exciting part - running Monstarillo to generate our database documentation! This final step connects to your database and transforms the schema into markdown files.

📋 Prerequisites Checklist

Before running Monstarillo, ensure you have:

• ✅ Monstarillo installed (see Install guide)
• ✅ Templates configured (see Configure guide)
• ✅ Database running (Chinook PostgreSQL sample database)
• ✅ Database credentials ready

🔗 Database Connection Information

You'll need these six pieces of information to connect:

Parameter	Value	Description
Database Type	postgres	Database engine (postgres, mysql, oracle)
Templates File	/path/to/templates.json	Location of your configuration file
Username	postgres	Database username
Password	your_password	Database password
Database Name	chinook-db	Name of the database
Host	localhost	Database server (localhost for Docker)
Schema	public	Database schema name

🚀 Run Monstarillo

Basic Command Structure

monstarillo [database_type] \
  --t [templates.json_path] \
  --u [username] \
  --p [password] \
  --db [database_name] \
  --host [host] \
  --schema [schema_name]

Example with Chinook Database

monstarillo postgres \
  --t /path/to/monstarillo-templates/tutorial-database-documenter/templates.json \
  --u postgres \
  --p your_password_here \
  --db "chinook-db" \
  --host "localhost" \
  --schema "public"

Update Paths

Replace /path/to/monstarillo-templates with your actual template directory path from the configuration step.

Command Options Reference

Option	Long Form	Description	Example
postgres	N/A	Database type	postgres, mysql, oracle
--t	--templates	Path to templates.json	--t ./templates.json
--u	--username	Database username	--u postgres
--p	--password	Database password	--p mypassword
--db	--database	Database name	--db "chinook-db"
--host	--host	Database host/IP	--host localhost
--schema	--schema	Database schema	--schema public

📤 Expected Output

When you run the command, you should see output similar to:

postgres is in the building
Processing table: Artist
Processing table: Album  
Processing table: Employee
Processing table: Customer
Processing table: Invoice
Processing table: InvoiceLine
Processing table: Track
Processing table: Playlist
Processing table: PlaylistTrack
Processing table: Genre
Processing table: MediaType
Processing template: /path/to/templates/tutorial-database-documenter/table.tmpl
Generation complete!

📁 View Generated Files

Check your output directory for the generated documentation:

# Navigate to your output directory
cd /path/to/your/output/directory

# List generated files
ls -la tables/

# Example output:
# Album.md
# Artist.md  
# Customer.md
# Employee.md
# Genre.md
# Invoice.md
# InvoiceLine.md
# MediaType.md
# Playlist.md
# PlaylistTrack.md
# Track.md

Each .md file contains detailed documentation for that database table, including:

• Table name and description
• Column names and data types
• Primary keys and constraints
• Relationships to other tables

🎉 Success!

You've successfully generated database documentation using Monstarillo!

What You Accomplished

• Connected to a PostgreSQL database
• Extracted metadata from 11 database tables
• Generated 11 markdown documentation files
• Learned the basic Monstarillo workflow

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🚀 Next Steps

Now that you understand the basics, explore more advanced use cases:

Additional Tutorials →

💡 Ideas for Your Next Project

• Generate REST APIs for Go, Java, or Node.js
• Create database models for your favorite ORM
• Build API documentation (OpenAPI/Swagger specs)
• Generate test files with realistic sample data

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🆘 Troubleshooting

Connection refused? - Ensure your database is running - Check if the port is correct (default PostgreSQL: 5432) - Verify your host/credentials

Template not found? - Double-check your --t path points to templates.json - Ensure TemplateRoot in your config is correct

Permission denied? - Verify database user has read permissions - Check that output directory is writable

Empty files generated? - Ensure your database has tables with data - Check the minimumGeneratedFileLength setting