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pocketbase-js-sdk

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Uses the official PocketBase JavaScript SDK (npm pocketbase) from browser or Node: authStore, collection CRUD, realtime subscribe, file uploads, and pb.send for custom routes. Use when writing client apps, dashboard code, or Node scripts that call PocketBase over HTTP with async/await — not pb_hooks.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/pockethost/pockethost/blob/HEAD/.cursor/skills/pocketbase-js-sdk/SKILL.md

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PocketBase JavaScript SDK

The npm pocketbase package is an async HTTP client for PocketBase. It runs in browsers and Node — not inside the JSVM.

Official SDK: https://github.com/pocketbase/js-sdk

Not the JSVM

JS SDKJSVM (pb_hooks)
async/await, PromisesSynchronous only
new PocketBase(url)$app, routerAdd, onRecord*
Browser / NodeEmbedded in PocketBase binary

Never use async/await or new PocketBase() inside *.pb.js hook files.

Basic usage

import PocketBase from 'pocketbase'

const pb = new PocketBase('https://my-project.pockethost.io')

// Auth
await pb.collection('users').authWithPassword(email, password)
pb.authStore.isValid // true when logged in
pb.authStore.model   // auth record
pb.authStore.clear() // logout

// CRUD
const list = await pb.collection('posts').getList(1, 50, { filter: 'status = "published"' })
const one = await pb.collection('posts').getOne('RECORD_ID')
await pb.collection('posts').create({ title: 'Hello' })
await pb.collection('posts').update('RECORD_ID', { title: 'Updated' })
await pb.collection('posts').delete('RECORD_ID')

Auth patterns

// Register (auth collection)
await pb.collection('users').create({ email, password, passwordConfirm: password })

// OAuth2
await pb.collection('users').authWithOAuth2({ provider: 'google' })

// Refresh token
await pb.collection('users').authRefresh()

// Listen for auth changes
pb.authStore.onChange((token, model) => { /* ... */ })

Realtime

const unsub = await pb.collection('posts').subscribe('*', (e) => {
  console.log(e.action, e.record)
})
// later
unsub()

Always unsubscribe on component teardown to avoid leaks.

Custom routes (hooks → client)

Hooks registered with routerAdd are called from the client via pb.send():

const result = await pb.send('/test/theTestId', { method: 'POST' })

Auth headers are attached automatically when authStore is valid.

JSON body shape

Pass a plain object as body. The SDK serializes it as JSON with the correct Content-Type:

await pb.send('/api/user/trusted-ips', {
  method: 'PATCH',
  body: { trusted_ips: ['203.0.113.5/32'] },
})

On the hook side (≥ v0.23), read with e.bindBody(new DynamicModel({ trusted_ips: [] })) — not manual JSON.parse on e.request.body. See pocketbase-jsvm request-body.md.

File uploads

const formData = new FormData()
formData.append('title', 'Photo')
formData.append('image', file)
await pb.collection('photos').create(formData)

Errors

import { ClientResponseError } from 'pocketbase'

try {
  await pb.collection('posts').create(data)
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof ClientResponseError) {
    console.log(err.status, err.response)
  }
}

Architecture note

Prefer direct client → PocketBase access with API rules. Avoid proxying through SvelteKit/Next server loaders unless you have a specific reason (see pocketbase skill, antipattern doc).

For privileged operations, add a JS hook route and call it with pb.send() instead of server-side SDK calls.

This monorepo

Import SDK types and class from pockethost/common, not directly from pocketbase:

import { PocketBase, ClientResponseError, BaseAuthStore } from 'pockethost/common'

Prefer factory wrappers over raw new PocketBase() in app code. See pockethost-client.md.

SDK reference