An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Parse Server works with the Express web application framework. It can be added to existing web applications, or run by itself.
The full documentation for Parse Server is available in the wiki. The Parse Server guide is a good place to get started. An API reference and Cloud Code guide are also available. If you're interested in developing for Parse Server, the Development guide will help you get set up.
A big thank you 🙏 to our sponsors and backers who support the development of Parse Platform!
Bronze Sponsors
Flavors & Branches
Long Term Support
Getting Started
Running Parse Server
Compatibility
Node.js
MongoDB
PostgreSQL
Locally
Docker Container
Saving and Querying Objects
Connect an SDK
Running Parse Server elsewhere
Sample Application
Parse Server + Express
Parse Server Health
Status Values
Configuration
Basic Options
Client Key Options
Access Scopes
Route Allow List
Covered Routes
Email Verification and Password Reset
Password and Account Policy
Custom Routes
Example
Reserved Paths
Parameters
Custom Pages
Using Environment Variables
Available Adapters
Configuring File Adapters
Restricting File URL Domains
Idempotency Enforcement
Installations
Options
duplicateDeviceTokenActionEnforceAuth
duplicateDeviceTokenAction
duplicateDeviceTokenMergePriority
Configuration example
Localization
Pages
Localization with Directory Structure
Localization with JSON Resource
Dynamic placeholders
Reserved Keys
Parameters
Multi-Tenancy
Logging
Deprecations
Live Query
GraphQL
Running
Using the CLI
Using Docker
Using Express.js
Checking the API health
Creating your first class
Using automatically generated operations
Customizing your GraphQL Schema
Learning more
Contributing
Contributors
Sponsors
Backers
Flavors & Branches
Parse Server is available in different flavors on different branches:
The main branches are release and alpha. See the changelog overview for details.
The long-term-support (LTS) branches are named release-<version>.x.x, for example release-5.x.x. LTS branches do not have pre-release branches.
Long Term Support
Long-Term-Support (LTS) is provided for the previous Parse Server major version. For example, Parse Server 5.x will receive security updates until Parse Server 6.x is superseded by Parse Server 7.x and becomes the new LTS version. While the current major version is published on branch release, a LTS version is published on branch release-#.x.x, for example release-5.x.x for the Parse Server 5.x LTS branch.
⚠️ LTS versions are provided to help you transition as soon as possible to the current major version. While we aim to fix security vulnerabilities in the LTS version, our main focus is on developing the current major version and preparing the next major release. Therefore we may leave certain vulnerabilities up to the community to fix. Search for pull requests with the specific LTS base branch to see the current open vulnerabilities for that LTS branch.
Getting Started
The fastest and easiest way to get started is to run MongoDB and Parse Server locally.
Running Parse Server
Before you start make sure you have installed:
NodeJS that includes npm
MongoDB or PostgreSQL(with PostGIS 2.2.0 or higher)
Optionally Docker
Compatibility
Node.js
Parse Server is continuously tested with the most recent releases of Node.js to ensure compatibility. We follow the Node.js Long Term Support plan and only test against versions that are officially supported and have not reached their end-of-life date.
Version
Minimum Version
End-of-Life
Parse Server Support
Node.js 18
18.20.4
April 2025
<= 8.x (2025)
Node.js 20
20.19.0
April 2026
<= 9.x (2026)
Node.js 22
22.12.0
April 2027
<= 10.x (2027)
Node.js 24
24.11.0
April 2028
<= 11.x (2028)
MongoDB
Parse Server is continuously tested with the most recent releases of MongoDB to ensure compatibility. We follow the MongoDB support schedule and MongoDB lifecycle schedule and only test against versions that are officially supported and have not reached their end-of-life date. MongoDB "rapid releases" are ignored as these are considered pre-releases of the next major version.
Version
Minimum Version
End-of-Life
Parse Server Support
MongoDB 6
6.0.19
July 2025
<= 8.x (2025)
MongoDB 7
7.0.16
August 2026
<= 9.x (2026)
MongoDB 8
8.0.4
TDB
<= 10.x (2027)
PostgreSQL
Parse Server is continuously tested with the most recent releases of PostgreSQL and PostGIS to ensure compatibility, using PostGIS docker images. We follow the PostgreSQL support schedule and PostGIS support schedule and only test against versions that are officially supported and have not reached their end-of-life date. Due to the extensive PostgreSQL support duration of 5 years, Parse Server drops support about 2 years before the official end-of-life date.
Version
PostGIS Version
End-of-Life
Parse Server Support
Postgres 13
3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5
November 2025
<= 6.x (2023)
Postgres 14
3.5
November 2026
<= 7.x (2024)
Postgres 15
3.3, 3.4, 3.5
November 2027
<= 8.x (2025)
Postgres 16
3.5
November 2028
<= 9.x (2026)
Postgres 17
3.5
November 2029
<= 10.x (2027)
Postgres 18
3.6
November 2030
<= 11.x (2028)
Locally
$ npm install -g parse-server mongodb-runner
$ mongodb-runner start
$ parse-server --appId APPLICATION_ID --masterKey MASTER_KEY --databaseURI mongodb://localhost/test
Note: If installation with -g fails due to permission problems (npm ERR! code 'EACCES'), please refer to this link.
Docker Container
$ git clone https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server
$ cd parse-server
$ docker build --tag parse-server .
$ docker run --name my-mongo -d mongo
Running the Parse Server Image
$ docker run --name my-parse-server -v config-vol:/parse-server/config -p 1337:1337 --link my-mongo:mongo -d parse-server --appId APPLICATION_ID --masterKey MASTER_KEY --databaseURI mongodb://mongo/test
Note: If yo
Read the full README on GitHub