Types
PowerSync’s Sync Rules use the SQLite type system.
The supported client-side SQLite types are:
nullinteger: a 64-bit signed integerreal: a 64-bit floating point numbertext: An UTF-8 text stringblob: Binary data
Postgres Type Mapping
Binary data in Postgres can be accessed in Sync Rules, but cannot be synced directly to clients (it needs to be converted to hex or base64 first — see below), and cannot be used as bucket parameters.
Postgres values are mapped according to this table:
| Postgres Data Type | PowerSync / SQLite Column Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| text, varchar | text | |
| int2, int4, int8 | integer | |
| numeric / decimal | text | These types have arbitrary precision in Postgres, so can only be represented accurately as text in SQLite |
| bool | integer | 1 for true, 0 for false |
| float4, float8 | real | |
| enum | text | |
| uuid | text | |
| timestamptz | text | Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sssZ. This is compatible with ISO8601 and SQLite’s functions. Precision matches the precision used in Postgres. -infinity becomes 0000-01-01 00:00:00Z and infinity becomes 9999-12-31 23:59:59Z. |
| timestamp | text | Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss. In most cases, timestamptz should be used instead. -infinity becomes 0000-01-01 00:00:00 and infinity becomes 9999-12-31 23:59:59. |
| date, time | text | |
| json, jsonb | text | There is no dedicated JSON type — JSON functions operate directly on text values. |
| interval | text | |
| macaddr | text | |
| inet | text | |
| bytea | blob | Cannot sync directly to client — convert to hex or base64 first. See Operators & Functions. |
| geometry (PostGIS) | text | hex string of the binary data Use the ST functions to convert to other formats |
There is no dedicated boolean data type. Boolean values are represented as 1 (true) or 0 (false).
json and jsonb values are treated as text values in their serialized representation. JSON functions and operators operate directly on these text values.
MongoDB (Alpha) Type Mapping
This section is a work in progress. More details for MongoDB connections are coming soon. In the meantime, check our MongoDB guide to try out our MongoDB alpha support, and ask on our Discord server if you have any questions.
| BSON Type | PowerSync / SQLite Column Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| String | text | |
| Int, Long | integer | |
| Double | real | |
| Decimal128 | text | |
| Object | text | Converted to a JSON string |
| Array | text | Converted to a JSON string |
| ObjectId | text | Lower-case hex string |
| UUID | text | Lower-case hex string |
| Boolean | integer | 1 for true, 0 for false |
| Date | text | Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss |
| Null | null | |
| Binary | blob | Cannot sync directly to client — convert to hex or base64 first. See Operators & Functions. |
| Regular Expression | text | JSON text in the format {"pattern":"...","options":"..."} |
| Timestamp | integer | Converted to a 64-bit integer |
| Undefined | null | |
| DBPointer | text | JSON text in the format {"collection":"...","oid":"...","db":"...","fields":...} |
| JavaScript | text | JSON text in the format {"code": "...", "scope": ...} |
| Symbol | text | |
| MinKey, MaxKey | null |
- Data is converted to a flat list of columns, one column per top-level field in the MongoDB document.
- Special BSON types are converted to plain SQLite alternatives.
- For example,
ObjectId,Date,UUIDare all converted to a plainTEXTcolumn. - Nested objects and arrays are converted to JSON arrays, and JSON operators can be used to query them (in the Sync Rules and/or on the client-side).
- Binary data nested in objects or arrays is not supported.
MySQL (Alpha) Type Mapping
This section is a work in progress. More details for MySQL connections are coming soon. In the meantime, ask on our Discord server if you have any questions.
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