---
advisory: kitematic
description: Tutorial demonstrating the setup of an RethinkDB database for development
keywords: docker, documentation, about, technology, kitematic, gui, rethink, tutorial
title: 'Kitematic tutorial: Create a local RethinkDB database for development'
---

In this tutorial, you will:

- Create a RethinkDB Container for Development
- (Advanced) Clone a small Node.js application and write data into RethinkDB.

### Set up RethinkDB in Kitematic

First, if you haven't yet done so, [download and start
Kitematic](index.md). Once open, the app should look like
this:

![Rethink create button](images/rethink-create.png)

Click on the _Create_ button of the `rethinkdb` image listing in the recommended
list as shown above. This will download & run a RethinkDB container within a few
minutes. Once it's done, you'll have a local RethinkDB database up and running.

![Rethink container](images/rethink-container.png)

Let's start using it to develop a node.js app. For now, let's figure out which
IP address and port RethinkDB is listening on. To find out, click the `Settings`
tab and then the `Ports` section:

![Rethink create button](images/rethink-ports.png)

You can see there that for RethinkDB port `28015`, the container is listening on
host `localhost` and port `32783` (in this example - ports may be different
for you). This means you can now reach RethinkDB via a client driver at
`127.0.0.1:32783`. Again, this IP address may be different for you.

### (Advanced) Save Data into RethinkDB with a local Node.js App

Now, you'll create the RethinkDB example chat application running on your local
macOS system to test drive your new containerized database.

First, if you don't have it yet, [download and install
Node.js](http://nodejs.org/).

> **Note**: This example needs Xcode installed. We'll replace it with something
> with fewer dependencies soon.

In your terminal, type:

     $ export RDB_HOST=127.0.0.1 # replace with IP from above step
     $ export RDB_PORT=32783 # replace with Port from above step
     $ git clone https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb-example-nodejs-chat
     $ cd rethinkdb-example-nodejs-chat
     $ npm install
     $ npm start

Now, point your browser to `http://localhost:8000`. Congratulations, you've
successfully used a RethinkDB container in Kitematic to build a real-time chat
app. Happy coding!

![Rethink app preview](images/rethinkdb-preview.png)
