1600W Pocketbase Backend: SQLite Backend in Go

Overview

PocketBase is a lightweight, open-source backend framework written in Go that combines a SQLite database with a built-in REST API, authentication system, and admin dashboard. It's designed for rapid development of web and mobile applications without requiring a separate backend infrastructure.

Core Architecture

1. Foundation Stack

• Language: Go (Golang)
• Database: SQLite3
• API Framework: Custom REST API with automatic CRUD operations
• Authentication: JWT-based with built-in user management
• File Storage: Local filesystem or S3-compatible storage
• Real-time: WebSocket support for live updates

2. Key Components

Database Layer

PocketBase abstracts SQLite operations through a clean Go interface:

• Automatic schema management
• Migration system for version control
• Query builder for complex operations
• Transaction support for data consistency

API Generation

• Automatic REST endpoints for each collection
• RESTful conventions (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
• Filtering, sorting, and pagination built-in
• Field-level permissions and validation

Authentication System

• User registration and login
• JWT token generation and validation
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• OAuth2 integration support

Installation & Setup

# Download PocketBase
wget https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/download/v0.20.0/pocketbase_0.20.0_linux_x86_64.zip
unzip pocketbase_0.20.0_linux_x86_64.zip

# Run the server
./pocketbase serve

The server starts on http://localhost:8090 with an admin dashboard at /admin.

Data Modeling

Collection Definition

Collections are PocketBase's equivalent of database tables. Define them via the admin UI or programmatically:

collection := &models.Collection{
    Name:       "posts",
    Type:       "base",
    ListRule:   "@request.auth.id != ''",
    ViewRule:   "@request.auth.id != ''",
    CreateRule: "@request.auth.id != ''",
    UpdateRule: "@request.auth.id = data.author",
    DeleteRule: "@request.auth.id = data.author",
}

// Fields
collection.Schema.AddField(&schema.SchemaField{
    Name:     "title",
    Type:     "text",
    Required: true,
})

collection.Schema.AddField(&schema.SchemaField{
    Name:     "content",
    Type:     "editor",
    Required: true,
})

collection.Schema.AddField(&schema.SchemaField{
    Name:     "author",
    Type:     "relation",
    Options:  &schema.RelationOptions{CollectionId: "users_id"},
})

API Usage

Authentication

# Register
curl -X POST http://localhost:8090/api/collections/users/records \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "password": "password123",
    "passwordConfirm": "password123"
  }'

# Login
curl -X POST http://localhost:8090/api/collections/users/auth-with-password \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "identity": "user@example.com",
    "password": "password123"
  }'

CRUD Operations

# Create
curl -X POST http://localhost:8090/api/collections/posts/records \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "My Post", "content": "Hello World"}'

# Read
curl http://localhost:8090/api/collections/posts/records

# Update
curl -X PATCH http://localhost:8090/api/collections/posts/records/RECORD_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
  -d '{"title": "Updated Title"}'

# Delete
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8090/api/collections/posts/records/RECORD_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN"

Advanced Features

1. Hooks & Extensions

Extend PocketBase with custom Go code:

package main

import (
    "log"
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase"
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
)

func main() {
    app := pocketbase.New()

    // Hook into record creation
    app.OnRecordBeforeCreateRequest().Add(func(e *core.RecordCreateRequest) error {
        e.Record.Set("slug", slugify(e.Record.GetString("title")))
        return nil
    })

    app.Start()
}

2. Validation Rules

Define custom validation using PocketBase's rule engine:

// Email format validation
email = @request.data.email && @request.data.email.test("^[^@]+@[^@]+\\.[^@]+$")

// Numeric range
age >= 18 && age <= 120

// Relationship validation
author = @request.auth.id

3. Real-time Subscriptions

WebSocket support for live data updates:

// JavaScript client
const pb = new PocketBase('http://localhost:8090');

pb.collection('posts').subscribe('*', function (e) {
    console.log(e.action, e.record);
});

Performance Characteristics

Strengths

• Lightweight: Single binary, minimal dependencies
• Fast: SQLite performance suitable for most applications
• Scalable: Handles thousands of concurrent connections
• Low Resource Usage: Runs on minimal hardware (Raspberry Pi compatible)

Limitations

• Single Writer: SQLite has write concurrency limitations
• Data Size: Best for datasets under 100GB
• Horizontal Scaling: Not designed for distributed deployments

Deployment Options

1. Docker

FROM golang:1.21-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
RUN wget https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/releases/download/v0.20.0/pocketbase_0.20.0_linux_amd64.zip
RUN unzip pocketbase_0.20.0_linux_amd64.zip

FROM alpine:latest
COPY --from=builder /app/pocketbase /app/
EXPOSE 8090
CMD ["/app/pocketbase", "serve", "--http=0.0.0.0:8090"]

2. Cloud Platforms

• Railway, Render, Fly.io (simple deployment)
• AWS EC2, DigitalOcean (VPS)
• Vercel Edge Functions (serverless)

3. Self-Hosted

• VPS with systemd service
• Docker Compose for multi-container setups
• Kubernetes with persistent volumes

Security Considerations

• HTTPS: Always use TLS in production
• CORS: Configure allowed origins
• Rate Limiting: Implement via reverse proxy (Nginx)
• Backups: Regular SQLite database backups
• Secrets: Use environment variables for sensitive data

Conclusion

PocketBase provides a pragmatic solution for developers needing a quick, self-contained backend. Its Go foundation ensures performance and portability, while SQLite offers simplicity without operational overhead. Ideal for MVPs, small-to-medium projects, and applications where infrastructure simplicity is valued over distributed scaling.