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PowerSync uses SQLite views instead of standard tables, so SQLite features like foreign key constraints and cascading deletes are not available. There’s no built-in support for cascading deletes on the client, but you can achieve this in two ways:
  1. Manual deletion in a transaction - Delete all related records in a single transaction (recommended for most cases)
    Every local mutation performed against SQLite via the PowerSync SDK will be returned in uploadData. As long as you’re using .execute() for the mutation, the operation will be present in the upload queue.
  2. Triggers - Create triggers on the internal tables (more complex, but more automatic)
    You create triggers on the internal tables (not the views defined by the client schema), similar to what is done here.

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Example: Manual Transaction

This example from the React Native To-Do List demo app shows how to delete a list and all its associated todos in a single transaction: 
const deleteList = async (id: string) => {
  await system.powersync.writeTransaction(async (tx) => {
    // Delete associated todos
    await tx.execute(`DELETE FROM ${TODO_TABLE} WHERE list_id = ?`, [id]);
    // Delete list record
    await tx.execute(`DELETE FROM ${LIST_TABLE} WHERE id = ?`, [id]);
  });
};
Every mutation performed via .execute() is added to the upload queue and returned in uploadData. PowerSync will also delete local records when your backend performs cascade deletes on the source database (as long as those tables are in the publication).For example, if you delete a record from the local lists table and Supabase cascade deletes a record from the todo table, PowerSync will also delete the local todo record when online.