React Native & Expo
Full SDK reference for using PowerSync in React Native clients
PowerSync SDK on NPM
This SDK is distributed via NPM [External link].
Source Code
Refer to packages/react-native in the powersync-js repo on GitHub.
API Reference
Full API reference for the PowerSync SDK [External link].
Example Projects
Gallery of example projects/demo apps built with React Native and PowerSync.
SDK Features
- Provides real-time streaming of database changes.
- Offers direct access to the SQLite database, enabling the use of SQL on both client and server sides.
- Operations are asynchronous by default, ensuring the user interface remains unblocked.
- Supports concurrent database operations, allowing one write and multiple reads simultaneously.
- Enables subscription to queries for receiving live updates.
- Eliminates the need for client-side database migrations as these are managed automatically.
Installation
See the SDK’s README for installation instructions.
PowerSync is not compatible with Expo Go.
PowerSync uses a native plugin and is therefore only compatible with Expo Dev Builds.
Some peer dependencies and polyfills are required.
Note: As of @powersync/react-native@1.9.0, polyfills are bundled in the SDK and are no longer required (Async Iterator support being the only exception).
By default this SDK connects to a PowerSync instance via WebSocket (from @powersync/react-native@1.11.0) or HTTP stream (before @powersync/react-native@1.11.0). Different polyfill configurations are required for each method.
- See the Readme for the necessary peer dependencies and polyfills.
- See the Developer Notes section below for details about connecting with either method.
- Also see this section for additional development requirements on Android and iOS.
Getting Started
Before implementing the PowerSync SDK in your project, make sure you have completed these steps:
- Signed up for a PowerSync Cloud account (here) or self-host PowerSync.
- Configured your backend database and connected it to your PowerSync instance.
- Installed the PowerSync React Native SDK.
1. Define the Schema
The first step is defining the schema for the local SQLite database.
This schema represents a “view” of the downloaded data. No migrations are required — the schema is applied directly when the PowerSync database is constructed (as we’ll show in the next step).
The types available are text
, integer
and real
. These should map directly to the values produced by the Sync Rules. If a value doesn’t match, it is cast automatically. For details on how Postgres types are mapped to the types below, see the section on Types in the Sync Rules documentation.
Example:
Note: No need to declare a primary key id
column, as PowerSync will automatically create this.
2. Instantiate the PowerSync Database
Next, you need to instantiate the PowerSync database — this is the core managed database.
Its primary functions are to record all changes in the local database, whether online or offline. In addition, it automatically uploads changes to your app backend when connected.
Example:
SDK versions lower than 1.8.0
In SDK versions lower than 1.8.0, you will need to use the deprecated RNQSPowerSyncDatabaseOpenFactory syntax to instantiate the database.
Once you’ve instantiated your PowerSync database, you will need to call the connect() method to activate it.
3. Integrate with your Backend
The PowerSync backend connector provides the connection between your application backend and the PowerSync client-slide managed SQLite database.
It is used to:
- Retrieve an auth token to connect to the PowerSync instance.
- Apply local changes on your backend application server (and from there, to Postgres)
Accordingly, the connector must implement two methods:
- PowerSyncBackendConnector.fetchCredentials - This is called every couple of minutes and is used to obtain credentials for your app backend API. -> See Authentication Setup for instructions on how the credentials should be generated.
- PowerSyncBackendConnector.uploadData - Use this to upload client-side changes to your app backend. -> See Writing Client Changes for considerations on the app backend implementation.
Example:
Using PowerSync: CRUD functions
Once the PowerSync instance is configured you can start using the SQLite DB functions.
The most commonly used CRUD functions to interact with your SQLite data are:
- PowerSyncDatabase.get - get (SELECT) a single row from a table.
- PowerSyncDatabase.getAll - get (SELECT) a set of rows from a table.
- PowerSyncDatabase.watch - execute a read query every time source tables are modified.
- PowerSyncDatabase.execute - execute a write (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE) query.
Fetching a Single Item
The get method executes a read-only (SELECT) query and returns a single result. It throws an exception if no result is found. Use getOptional to return a single optional result (returns null
if no result is found).
Querying Items (PowerSync.getAll)
The getAll method returns a set of rows from a table.
Watching Queries (PowerSync.watch)
The watch method executes a read query whenever a change to a dependent table is made. It can be used with an AsyncGenerator
, or with a callback.
Mutations (PowerSync.execute)
The execute method can be used for executing single SQLite write statements.
Additional Usage Examples
See Usage Examples for further examples of the SDK.
Developer Notes
Connecting via WebSockets or HTTP Streams
This SDK connects to a PowerSync instance and streams sync commands via WebSockets (enabled by default since @powersync/react-native@1.11.0) or HTTP streams.
The WebSocket implementation (available since version 1.4.6 of the SDK) uses reactive socket streams using the cross-platform RSocket library. This allows the client to request commands from the server after processing existing events, alleviating any back-pressure build-up of commands. Sync commands are transmitted as BSON (binary) documents.
Benefits of using the WebSocket Method
- BLOB column support will be added on top of the WebSocket implementation (the HTTP streaming method will not support this).
- If you are using Expo <v51, then you no longer need to disable the Flipper debug tools (this is required for HTTP streaming to work in debug Android builds).
- In internal testing, the WebSocket method was slightly faster than the HTTP streaming method on React Native.
Selecting Connection Method
The PowerSyncDatabase
client’s connect
method supports a connectionMethod
option. This is not required, as the WebSocket method is used by default.
Android: Flipper network plugin for HTTP Streams
Not needed when using websockets, which is the default since @powersync/react-native@1.11.0
.
If you are connecting to PowerSync using HTTP Streams, you require additional configuration on Android. React Native does not support streams out of the box, so we use the polyfills mentioned. There is currently an open issue where the Flipper network plugin does not allow Stream events to fire. This plugin needs to be disabled in order for HTTP streams to work.
If you are using Java (Expo < 50):
Uncomment the following from android/app/src/debug/java/com/<ProjectName>/ReactNativeFlipper.java
Disable the dev client network inspector android/gradle.properties
If you are using Kotlin (Expo > 50):
Comment out the following from onCreate
in android/app/src/main/java/com/<ProjectName>/example/MainApplication.kt
iOS: use_frameworks and react-native-quick-sqlite
Using use_frameworks
(for example, because you are using Google Analytics or Firebase Analytics) will silently break the compilation process of react-native-quick-sqlite on iOS and results in the PowerSync SQLite extension not loading correctly. To solve this, add this to your Podfile:
Development on iOS simulator
Testing offline mode on an iOS simulator by disabling the host machine’s entire internet connection will cause the device to remain offline even after the internet connection has been restored. This issue seems to affect all network requests in an application.
ORM Support
See JavaScript ORM Support for details.
Troubleshooting
See Troubleshooting for pointers to debug common issues.
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