---
title: "Self-host NocoDB in France over MCP, with while.sh"
url: https://while.sh/en/guides/self-host-nocodb/
author: "Aloïs Oddon, co-founder of Nextmap"
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Self-host NocoDB in France, with its PostgreSQL database, from your AI agent

An Airtable alternative of your own, hosted in France. Connected to while over MCP, your AI agent deploys NocoDB, with your tables in a PostgreSQL database backed up every day.

## Prerequisites

- A new NocoDB instance, or your exported tables.
- Your AI agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Gemini CLI.

## Step 1: Ask your agent for NocoDB

> You, to your agent: Connect to while with my account (while.sh/agents), then deploy NocoDB with its PostgreSQL database.

Your agent adds while's MCP server itself. If it asks you to, restart it. On the first call to while, a page opens in your browser. In Claude Code, if it doesn't open, type /mcp, choose while, then Authenticate. On that page, choose "A new app", then click Authorize.

## Step 2: Create your NocoDB account

Your agent gives you the address of your NocoDB, for example `https://nocodb.while.cloud`. Open it right away: the first account created becomes NocoDB's administrator. You then create your tables there.

## What your agent does

It deploys the official NocoDB image as it is, without a Dockerfile, with this while.yaml:

```yaml titre="while.yaml"
apiVersion: while/v1
project: nocodb
services:
  - name: web
    image: docker.io/nocodb/nocodb:latest
    port: 8080
    health:
      path: /api/v1/health
    env:
      NC_TOOL_DIR: /tmp/nocodb/
    resources:
      memory: 1Gi
databases:
  - name: main
```

NocoDB reads its database from `DATABASE_URL`, which while gives it, and stores your tables and their data there (source 1). Two settings let it run without administrator rights: `NC_TOOL_DIR` gives it a working folder where it can write, and `memory: 1Gi` leaves it the memory it needs to start. The `/api/v1/health` route tells while that NocoDB is ready.

## Restrict NocoDB to your colleagues

> You, to your agent: Restrict NocoDB to people in the company.

Your agent adds two lines to the service:

```yaml titre="while.yaml"
    access: internal
    email_domains: [acme.com]
```

Once your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is linked to while, on the Pro plan, your colleagues go through their usual account, then through NocoDB's sign-in.

## Move to your own domain

> You, to your agent: Put NocoDB on tables.acme.com.

Your agent declares the domain, you add the DNS records it gives you, and the HTTPS certificate follows.

## Upgrade to the latest version of NocoDB

> You, to your agent: Upgrade NocoDB to the latest version.

Your agent deploys the latest NocoDB image. If the new version disappoints, it rolls back to the previous one.

## Put NocoDB back the way it was yesterday

> You, to your agent: Restore NocoDB's database to yesterday at 6 pm.

Your agent prepares the restore, and you approve it: a safety backup is taken first, then the database goes back to the moment you asked for.

## Next steps

- [Restore your database to a precise moment](/en/guides/restore-postgresql/)
- [Deploy a Docker container](/en/guides/deploy-docker-container/)

## Sources

1. [NocoDB, environment variables](https://nocodb.com/docs/self-hosting/environment-variables), 2026-11-02
2. [NocoDB, installing with Docker](https://nocodb.com/docs/self-hosting/installation/quickstart), 2026-11-02

## Questions

### Are my tables backed up?

Yes: NocoDB keeps its tables and their data in the PostgreSQL database, which is backed up every day and can go back to a precise moment (source 1).

### Where do attached files go?

NocoDB keeps them in its working folder, which starts from scratch at every restart: keep your attachments elsewhere, or import them again after an update.

### Can my colleagues sign in with the company account?

Yes, with the Pro plan: they go through their usual account, then through NocoDB's sign-in.

### Where is my NocoDB hosted?

In France, by Nextmap, a French company.