| name | powersync |
| description | Guided onboarding and best practices for building applications with PowerSync — Cloud and self-hosted setup, sync configuration, client SDK usage, backend integration (Supabase, custom Postgres, MongoDB, MySQL, MSSQL), and debugging. Use this skill whenever the user mentions PowerSync, offline-first sync, local-first architecture, sync rules, sync streams, uploadData, fetchCredentials, real-time data replication, or wants to add offline-capable sync to a mobile or web app — even if they don't explicitly name PowerSync. |
| license | MIT |
| compatibility | Works with any skills-compatible agent. Some references include CLI commands requiring the @powersync/cli package. |
| metadata | {"author":"powersync","version":"1.2.0","organization":"PowerSync","tags":"powersync, offline-first, local-first, sync-streams, sqlite, replication, uploadData, fetchCredentials, service-config, sync-config, cloud, cli, debugging, supabase, postgres, mongodb, mysql"} |
PowerSync Skills
Use this skill to onboard a project onto PowerSync without trial-and-error. Treat this as a guided workflow first and a reference library second.
Agents: Read AGENTS.md before proceeding. It contains the mandatory compliance rules and onboarding playbook. The Quick Rules below are a reminder, not a substitute. powersync login is PowerSync Cloud only (PAT); self-hosted does not use it.
Terminology
- Operator — the human directing this agent (whose request you are fulfilling).
- User — an end-user of the operator's PowerSync app (JWT subjects, the row a sync stream filters by, the person calling
disconnectAndClear()).
If a sentence is ambiguous, default to the operator interpretation. Full legend in AGENTS.md.
Quick Rules
- CLI-first. Use the PowerSync CLI for all operations. Do not hand-write config files. See
references/powersync-cli.md.
- Ask, don't assume. Ask the operator: Cloud vs self-hosted, and which backend (Supabase, Postgres, MongoDB, MySQL, MSSQL). Do not default to Supabase.
- Backend before frontend. Deploy sync config and verify the service before writing app code.
- Sync Streams for new projects. Sync Rules are legacy.
- Persist credentials immediately. Write all URLs and keys to
.env as soon as they are available.
- Default scope on existing projects: sync-config only. Do not edit
service.yaml or cli.yaml unless the operator explicitly authorized service/infra changes in this conversation.
- Confirm the target instance before any mutating command (
deploy, destroy, stop, link --create, pull instance). Never deploy to an instance not authorized by the operator. Treat production as off-limits unless explicitly approved.
- Use project memory. If your harness supports it, persist the CLI invocation, sync-config path, authorized instance ids + environment (dev/staging/prod), and allowed scope of changes. Verify saved values still match reality before acting on them. See
AGENTS.md § "Continuous Use & Guardrails".
What to Load for Your Task
| Task | Start with | Load on demand |
|---|
| Supabase + PowerSync | references/onboarding-supabase.md | references/supabase-auth.md, references/sync-config.md, SDK files |
| Custom backend (non-Supabase) | references/onboarding-custom.md | references/custom-backend.md, references/sync-config.md, SDK files |
| New project setup | references/powersync-cli.md + references/powersync-service.md | references/sync-config.md, SDK files |
| Self-hosting / service config | references/powersync-service.md + references/powersync-cli.md | references/sync-config.md |
| Terraform / IaC provisioning | references/terraform.md | references/sync-config.md, references/supabase-auth.md (if Supabase source) |
| Writing sync config | references/sync-config.md | — |
| Debugging sync issues | references/powersync-debug.md | — |
| Raw Tables (advanced) | references/raw-tables.md | — |
| Attachments | references/attachments.md | — |
| Architecture overview | references/powersync-overview.md | — |
| SQLite extensions (vector search, FTS5, custom tokenizers) | references/sqlite-extensions.md | — |
SDK Reference Files
JavaScript / TypeScript
Always load references/sdks/powersync-js.md for any JS/TS project, then load the applicable framework file.
| Framework | File | Load early if… |
|---|
| React / Next.js | references/sdks/powersync-js-react.md | Vite + React project — contains the required vite.config.ts setup (optimizeDeps.exclude, worker.format: 'es') needed before installing packages |
| React Native / Expo | references/sdks/powersync-js-react-native.md | |
| Vue / Nuxt | references/sdks/powersync-js-vue.md | |
| Node.js / Electron | references/sdks/powersync-js-node.md | |
| TanStack | references/sdks/powersync-js-tanstack.md | |
| Drizzle / Kysely ORM | references/sdks/powersync-js-orm.md | Project uses Drizzle or Kysely |
Other SDKs
| Platform | File |
|----------|
| Dart / Flutter | references/sdks/powersync-dart.md |
| .NET | references/sdks/powersync-dotnet.md |
| Kotlin | references/sdks/powersync-kotlin.md |
| Swift | references/sdks/powersync-swift.md |
Key Rules to Apply Without Being Asked
- Never define the
id column in a PowerSync table schema; it is created automatically.
- Use
column.integer for booleans and column.text for ISO date strings.
connect() is fire-and-forget. Use waitForFirstSync() if you need readiness.transaction.complete() is mandatory or the upload queue stalls permanently.disconnectAndClear() is required on logout or user switch when local data must be wiped.- A 4xx response from
uploadData blocks the upload queue permanently; return 2xx for validation errors.
