---
title: "Schema Evolution Manager"
url: "https://docs.yugabyte.com/stable/integrations/schema-evolution-mgr/"
---

# Schema Evolution Manager

Use Schema Evolution Manager to work with distributed SQL databases in YugabyteDB.

[Schema Evolution Manager](https://github.com/mbryzek/schema-evolution-manager "Schema Evolution Manager") makes it feasible for engineers to contribute schema changes to a PostgreSQL database, managing the schema evolutions as proper source code.

Because YugabyteDB's YSQL API is wire-compatible with PostgreSQL, Schema Evolution Manager can connect to YugabyteDB just like with PostgreSQL.

## Setup

1. Start a YugabyteDB cluster. Refer to [YugabyteDB Prerequisites](/stable/integrations/tools/#yugabytedb-prerequisites "YugabyteDB Prerequisites").
2. Install Schema Evolution Manager following the [installation](https://github.com/mbryzek/schema-evolution-manager#installation "installation") instructions from the GitHub repository.
3. To connect to the YugabyteDB database, follow the [Getting Started](https://github.com/mbryzek/schema-evolution-manager#getting-started "Getting Started") steps.
   
   Replace the connection string that you use to connect to the database for a cluster created with yugabyted, as per the following configuration:
   
   ```sh
   sem-init --dir /tmp/sample
            --url postgresql://yugabyte:yugabyte@yb_tserver_ip:5433/database_name
   ```