Web UI overview

RisingWave offers two distinct web UIs: the built-in UI that ships with every cluster, and RisingWave Console, a separate self-hosted operations console available to paying customers.

RisingWave offers two distinct web UIs. They are separate products with different audiences, capabilities, and licensing — make sure you know which one you are looking at.

At a glance

	Built-in UI	RisingWave Console
What it is	The web UI that ships with every RisingWave cluster (also referred to as the RisingWave Dashboard in CLI flags).	A separate self-hosted operations console from RisingWave Labs.
How to get it	Included automatically — no extra setup.	Premium feature. Contact [e-mail] to obtain the image or binary.
Where it runs	Served by the meta node on port 5691 by default (e.g. http://localhost:5691).	Runs as its own service (Docker / binary) on port 8020 by default, backed by a PostgreSQL metadata database.
Scope	Read-only inspection of a single cluster.	Multi-cluster operations, with workflows that go beyond what the meta node exposes.
Primary use cases	Inspect catalog objects, view streaming fragment graphs, debug with await tree dumps and heap profiling.	Manage many clusters from one place, run risectl, automate metadata snapshots, collect diagnostics, and run SQL across environments.
Audience	Anyone running RisingWave.	DevOps / SRE teams operating production deployments.

Which one should I use?

• If you just installed RisingWave and want to look inside the cluster — open the built-in UI at http://localhost:5691. There is nothing to install.
• If you operate multiple RisingWave clusters and need centralized management, automated backups, diagnostic collection, or risectl access from a UI — request RisingWave Console from RisingWave Labs.

You can use both at the same time. RisingWave Console connects to the same meta node that serves the built-in UI; they are complementary, not alternatives.

Built-in UI

The built-in UI is part of every RisingWave deployment. The meta node serves it as a static web app on port 5691, so as long as that port is reachable you can open it in a browser without installing anything else.

From the built-in UI you can:

• Browse catalog objects: sources, tables, materialized views, indexes, internal tables, sinks, views, subscriptions, and functions.
• Visualize streaming execution with fragment graphs, including back-pressure rates.
• Inspect batch task execution.
• Debug with await tree dumps, heap profiling, and distributed plan visualization.

See Built-in UI for details on how to access and configure it.

RisingWave Console

RisingWave Console is a separate, self-hosted application designed for teams that need additional operational workflows on top of one or more RisingWave clusters.

It provides:

• Cluster lifecycle operations: connect existing clusters for day-2 operations, or create and operate managed RisingWave clusters.
• Kubernetes environment management: install supporting services with one-click workflows and manage RisingWave environments from a central UI.
• Operational tooling: run risectl commands, create metadata snapshots (manual or automated), and collect diagnostic data for troubleshooting.
• SQL Console: browse schemas, run SQL in the browser, track DDL progress, and inspect the streaming graph.
• Metrics integration: register metrics stores and use them with managed environments and clusters.

This documentation is intended for DevOps engineers, SREs, database administrators, and RisingWave users responsible for operating self-hosted or Kubernetes-based RisingWave deployments.

Getting access

RisingWave Console is not included with RisingWave. To obtain the image or binary and discuss version compatibility, contact RisingWave Labs at [e-mail].

Once you have access, continue with:

• Prerequisites
• Installation and setup
• Connect to your RisingWave clusters
• Manage and monitor clusters
• Use the SQL Console