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Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

pocketbase.io

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Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#81

Post by Humphrey »

JodieBenitez wrote: post #52
Humphrey wrote: post #40

I've been trying out Pocketbase on a side project idea. I'm super impressed! Having worked for many years on Django projects, Pocketbase seems like a perfect fit for those small to medium sized projects for which you don't want to create and maintain a traditional backend for. Happy to answer any questions.

Django has great GIS integration. How does Pocketbase compare here ? Also, can Pocketbase work with PostgreSQL or is it SQLite only ?

SQLite only. I haven't come across any GIS integration. I think you should choose Pocketbase when it "not having features" and being lightweight is the feature you need.

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#82

Post by andsoitis »

phl wrote: post #79
olav wrote: post #75

I love it and use it for personal projects and internal tools. I tend to combine it with https://pocketpages.dev/ which gives me file-based routing and nice templates. Ah, and Pocketbase has automatic database migrations, so all schema modifications can go into version control. I even hacked a Gemini protocol server into it, so that I can browse my personal knowledge graph using Lagrange.

What is Lagrange? I couldn’t find any project in the context of LLM or knowledge graph.

There is a minimalist browser named Lagrange built for the Gemini protocol (a lightweight alternative to HTTP).

I’m guessing that’s what they refer to.

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#83

Post by Humphrey »

jdthedisciple wrote: post #54
Humphrey wrote: post #40

I've been trying out Pocketbase on a side project idea. I'm super impressed! Having worked for many years on Django projects, Pocketbase seems like a perfect fit for those small to medium sized projects for which you don't want to create and maintain a traditional backend for. Happy to answer any questions.

How easily can I migrate from an existing sqlite-based backend?

I haven't tried this... but Pocketbase is opinionated in how it's schema is structured - and it needs to be the tool managing your schema.

Therefore if it was me, I would use the Admin UI to create a new db with a similar data structure, and then use a third-party tool to select data and insert into the new database.

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#84

Post by foul »

phl wrote: post #79
olav wrote: post #75

I love it and use it for personal projects and internal tools. I tend to combine it with https://pocketpages.dev/ which gives me file-based routing and nice templates. Ah, and Pocketbase has automatic database migrations, so all schema modifications can go into version control. I even hacked a Gemini protocol server into it, so that I can browse my personal knowledge graph using Lagrange.

What is Lagrange? I couldn’t find any project in the context of LLM or knowledge graph.

They said they hacked a Gemini server, Lagrange is a Geminispace browser.

https://github.com/skyjake/lagrange

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#85

Post by throwaway77385 »

krzyk wrote: post #74

I would love something similar but for frontend. I like developing backends, but writing JavaScript is to tiring.

There are so, so many frameworks that it can be overwhelming to find a good fit, but give htmx or svelte a try, they often come up as great ways to simplify JS. I'd steer clear of NextJS. Maybe even React, as they have become convoluted messes over time that rarely offer much benefit, unless you are on a big team and working on a huge, complex code base. Though job prospects are better for those frameworks. If you use AI in your workflow, however, due to the huge amount of public knowledge available, React and NextJS can become easier to work with. Be wary of the sometimes extreme breaking changes introduced quite suddenly however.

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#86

Post by Humphrey »

parkersweb wrote: post #69
Humphrey wrote: post #40

I've been trying out Pocketbase on a side project idea. I'm super impressed! Having worked for many years on Django projects, Pocketbase seems like a perfect fit for those small to medium sized projects for which you don't want to create and maintain a traditional backend for. Happy to answer any questions.

I’ve been using on a personal side project - but found that LLMs seem to be permanently confused over how to interact with pocketbase - to the point where I’ve even tried creating a Claude Skill to try and reduce the confusion. Wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Not with Pocketbase - as I haven't found I've needed to look into the docs too much. But I have come across a whole bunch of areas LLM's seem to always answer incorrectly for. For example, ChatGPT has almost never corrected told me how to use the UI in Davinci Resolve.

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#87

Post by throwaway77385 »

I see Pocketbase, I upvote. Using it in a few production apps and it's been a very solid experience. Some breaking changes from time to time, but generally very solid. Also has a lot of extensibility built in. Sometimes you might hit a scenario where it doesn't provide what you need, which is when things can get a bit hairy, but nothing a skilled dev can't work around.

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#89

Post by andsoitis »

postbase wrote: post #66

Postbase uses PostgreSQL and BetterAuth. No GUI yet, but it's in the plan and will be called Admin (Panel). I had the same instinct of using SQLite, but then, after a bit of research, PostgreSQL seemed a better alternative for serious projects.

Postbase, in contrast to PocketBase, doesn’t seem ready for primetime : ” Brand new project launched 02 Nov 2025, this is boiler plate but working! Expect heavy changes coming every few hours until stable

Mostly all code is ChatGPT generated but manually tested by human.”

Re: Pocketbase – open-source realtime back end in 1 file

#90

Post by foul »

zwnow wrote: post #22
ffsm8 wrote: post #19

Is this really realtime? From looking at the description it sounds more like subscriptions to events of data changes that are dispatched close to the data operation How would realtime even work for a networked system going over tcp? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_computing

Realtime in tech is considered in timespans with short delays allowed, last time i have read about it it was like 100ms.

Are you talking about (very good) webapps?

Your average RT software has an average of 10 to 30 ms delay between operations. Performs tasks in the order of nanoseconds.

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