PowerSync SDK on pub.dev
The SDK is distributed via pub.dev
Source Code
Refer to the
powersync.dart repo on GitHubAPI Reference
Full API reference for the SDK
Example Projects
Gallery of example projects/demo apps built with Flutter and PowerSync
Changelog
Changelog for the SDK
Quickstart
Get started quickly by using the self-hosted Flutter + Supabase template 📂 GitHub Repo https://github.com/powersync-community/flutter-powersync-supabaseSDK Features
- Real-time streaming of database changes: Changes made by one user are instantly streamed to all other users with access to that data. This keeps clients automatically in sync without manual polling or refresh logic.
- Direct access to a local SQLite database: Data is stored locally, so apps can read and write instantly without network calls. This enables offline support and faster user interactions.
- Asynchronous background execution: The SDK performs database operations in the background to avoid blocking the application’s main thread. This means that apps stay responsive, even during heavy data activity.
- Query subscriptions for live updates: The SDK supports query subscriptions that automatically push real-time updates to client applications as data changes, keeping your UI reactive and up to date.
- Automatic schema management: PowerSync syncs schemaless data and applies a client-defined schema using SQLite views. This architecture means that PowerSync SDKs can handle schema changes gracefully without requiring explicit migrations on the client-side.
Web support is currently in a beta release. Refer to Flutter Web Support for more details.
Installation
Add the PowerSync pub.dev package to your project:Getting Started
Prerequisites: To sync data between your client-side app and your backend source database, you must have completed the necessary setup for PowerSync, which includes connecting your source database to the PowerSync Service and deploying Sync Streams (or legacy Sync Rules) (steps 1-4 in the Setup Guide).For this reference document, we assume that you have created a Flutter project and have the following directory structure:
1. Define the Client-Side Schema
The first step is to define the client-side schema, which refers to the schema for the managed SQLite database exposed by the PowerSync Client SDKs, that your app can read from and write to. The client-side schema is typically mainly derived from your backend source database schema and your Sync Streams (or legacy Sync Rules), but can also include other tables such as local-only tables. Note that schema migrations are not required on the SQLite database due to the schemaless nature of the PowerSync protocol: schemaless data is synced to the client-side SQLite database, and the client-side schema is then applied to that data using SQLite views to allow for structured querying of the data. The schema is applied when the local PowerSync database is constructed (as we’ll show in the next step). The types available aretext, integer and real. These should map directly to the values produced by your Sync Streams (or legacy Sync Rules). If a value doesn’t match, it is cast automatically. For details on how backend source database types are mapped to the SQLite types, see Types.
Example:
lib/models/schema.dart
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. PowerSync streams changes from your backend source database into the client-side SQLite database, based on your Sync Streams (or legacy Sync Rules). In your client-side app, you can read from and write to the local SQLite database, whether the user is online or offline. To instantiatePowerSyncDatabase, inject the Schema you defined in the previous step and a file path — it’s important to only instantiate one instance of PowerSyncDatabase per file.
Example:
lib/powersync/powersync.dart
lib/main.dart
3. Integrate with your Backend
The PowerSync backend connector provides the connection between your application backend and the PowerSync client-side managed SQLite database. It is used to:- Retrieve an auth token to connect to the PowerSync instance.
- Upload client-side writes to your backend API. Any writes that are made to the SQLite database are placed into an upload queue by the PowerSync Client SDK and automatically uploaded to your app backend (where you apply those changes to the backend source database) when the user is connected.
- PowerSyncBackendConnector.fetchCredentials - This method will be automatically invoked by the PowerSync Client SDK every couple of minutes to obtain authentication credentials. See Authentication Setup for instructions on how the credentials should be generated.
- PowerSyncBackendConnector.uploadData - This method will be automatically invoked by the PowerSync Client SDK whenever it needs to upload client-side writes to your app backend via your backend API. Therefore, in your implementation, you need to define how your backend API is called. See Writing Client Changes for considerations on the app backend implementation.
lib/powersync/my_backend_connector.dart
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.
TodoList model class that represents a List of todos.
lib/models/todolist.dart
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 (returnsnull if no result is found).
The following is an example of selecting a list item by ID:
lib/widgets/lists_widget.dart
Querying Items (PowerSync.getAll)
The getAll method returns a set of rows from a table.lib/widgets/lists_widget.dart
Watching Queries (PowerSync.watch)
The watch method executes a read query whenever a change to a dependent table is made.Mutations (PowerSync.execute)
The execute method can be used for executing single SQLite write statements.lib/widgets/todos_widget.dart