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Modern BI platform for governed data modeling and dashboards
Evidence
Code‑first BI platform turning SQL and markdown into interactive dashboards
Evidence lets developers build data products by writing SQL inside markdown, generating static sites with charts, templated pages, and conditional logic—hosted on Evidence Cloud or any static host.
Overview
Overview
Evidence is a code‑first business intelligence framework that lets you author dashboards using plain markdown files enriched with SQL queries. By embedding SQL directly in markdown, you can pull data from your warehouse, render charts, and compose narrative reports without a visual editor.
Who It's For
Designed for data engineers, analysts, and developers who prefer version‑controlled, reproducible workflows, Evidence integrates with familiar tools like VSCode and supports CI/CD pipelines. The generated site is a static web app, making it easy to host on Evidence Cloud, Netlify, Vercel, or any static‑site platform.
How It Works
Write markdown with SELECT statements, add chart components that consume query results, and use templating features such as loops and conditional blocks to create dynamic pages. Deploy with a single click to the free Evidence Cloud or self‑host using Docker, CLI, or your preferred static host.
Highlights
SQL‑driven queries embedded directly in markdown
Dynamic charts and components rendered from query results
Templated pages with loops and conditional logic
Deploy to Evidence Cloud or any static site host
Pros
- Full control via code, versionable BI
- Fast iteration with live preview in VSCode
- Flexible hosting options, including free cloud tier
- Leverages familiar SQL and markdown syntax
Considerations
- Requires developer familiarity with SQL and markdown
- No native drag‑and‑drop UI for non‑technical users
- Static site output may need extra setup for authentication
- Limited built‑in data source connectors compared to some platforms
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Fit guide
Great for
- Data teams who prefer code‑first workflows
- Organizations needing reproducible, version‑controlled dashboards
- Projects that can host static sites (Netlify, Vercel, etc.)
- Developers wanting AI‑assisted report generation via Evidence Studio
Not ideal when
- Business users without coding experience
- Environments requiring real‑time streaming dashboards
- Teams needing extensive out‑of‑the‑box connector library
- Projects that must embed complex interactive widgets beyond static charts
How teams use it
Monthly sales performance report
Generate a templated site that updates automatically each month with SQL‑driven charts and narrative markdown.
Internal KPI monitoring dashboard
Provide stakeholders with a self‑hosted dashboard that pulls from the data warehouse and refreshes on each deploy.
Ad‑hoc exploratory analysis
Create quick markdown pages with SQL queries and visualizations, iterating rapidly in VSCode.
AI‑augmented report generation
Use Evidence Studio to draft markdown content and charts from natural language prompts, then publish via Evidence Cloud.
Tech snapshot
JavaScript52%
Svelte40%
TypeScript7%
CSS1%
HTML1%
Frequently asked questions
How do I connect to my database?
Define a connection in the project’s config file using a supported driver (e.g., DuckDB, PostgreSQL); SQL statements in markdown will use that connection.
Is there a free hosting option?
Yes, Evidence Cloud offers a free tier for public projects; you can also deploy to any static site host at no cost.
Can I version my dashboards with Git?
Absolutely; because dashboards are plain markdown and code files, they work natively with Git workflows.
Do I need to install Docker to run Evidence locally?
No, you can use the VSCode extension or the CLI; Docker is optional for containerized environments.
How does Evidence differ from traditional BI tools?
Evidence treats dashboards as code, giving developers full version control, templating, and CI/CD capabilities, whereas drag‑and‑drop tools rely on proprietary UI and storage.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 5,833
- Watchers
- 5,833
- Forks
- 310
LicenseMIT
Repo age4 years old
Last commit4 weeks ago
Self-hostingSupported
Primary languageJavaScript
Last synced 49 minutes ago