insforge

name	insforge
description	Use this skill when writing app code with InsForge or @insforge/sdk: database CRUD, auth, storage uploads/storage RLS, functions, AI, realtime, emails, Stripe checkout, subscriptions, customer portal flows, or pointing S3-compatible tooling (aws CLI, AWS SDKs, rclone, Terraform, boto3) at InsForge Storage. Trigger on requests like add auth, fetch data, upload files, make a bucket public, add checkout, sell subscriptions, or send email. For infrastructure, SQL migrations, CLI commands, or Stripe key/catalog setup, use insforge-cli instead.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"insforge","version":"1.3.0","organization":"InsForge","date":"April 2026"}

InsForge SDK Skill

This skill covers client-side SDK integration using @insforge/sdk. For backend infrastructure operations (creating tables, inspecting schema, deploying functions, secrets, managing storage buckets, configuring Stripe keys/catalog, website deployments, cron job and schedules, logs, etc.), use the insforge-cli skill.

Quick Setup

1. Install the SDK

npm install @insforge/sdk@latest

2. Set up environment variables

Before using the SDK, create a .env file (or .env.local for Next.js) in your project root with your InsForge URL and anon key.

How to get your URL and anon key

1. Ensure the project is linked. Check for .insforge/project.json in the project root.

   • If it doesn't exist, run npx @insforge/cli link (existing project) or npx @insforge/cli create (new project) to generate it.

2. Get the anon key via the CLI:

   npx @insforge/cli secrets get ANON_KEY
   

3. Get the URL from the oss_host field in .insforge/project.json (e.g., https://myapp.us-east.insforge.app).

4. Write both values to the .env file using the correct framework prefix (see table below).

Important: Use the anon key for SDK clients, including SSR. Use the API key only for privileged backend operations that need admin/service access; it is a full-access admin key, equivalent to a service role key on other platforms.

Use the correct environment variable prefix and access pattern for your framework:

Framework	.env file	Variables	Access Pattern
Next.js	.env.local	NEXT_PUBLIC_INSFORGE_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY	process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_*
Vite (React, Vue, Svelte)	.env	VITE_INSFORGE_URL, VITE_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY	import.meta.env.VITE_*
Astro	.env	PUBLIC_INSFORGE_URL, PUBLIC_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY	import.meta.env.PUBLIC_*
SvelteKit	.env	PUBLIC_INSFORGE_URL, PUBLIC_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY	import { env } from '$env/dynamic/public'
Create React App	.env	REACT_APP_INSFORGE_URL, REACT_APP_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY	process.env.REACT_APP_*
Node.js / Server	.env	INSFORGE_URL, INSFORGE_ANON_KEY	process.env.*

Example .env.local for Next.js:

NEXT_PUBLIC_INSFORGE_URL=https://your-appkey.us-east.insforge.app
NEXT_PUBLIC_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...

Important: Never commit .env files to version control. Add .env, .env.local, and .env*.local to your .gitignore (keep .env.example for documenting required variables).

3. Initialize the client

import { createClient } from '@insforge/sdk'

// Next.js / CRA: use process.env
const insforge = createClient({
  baseUrl: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_INSFORGE_URL,
  anonKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY
})

// Vite / Astro: use import.meta.env
const insforge = createClient({
  baseUrl: import.meta.env.VITE_INSFORGE_URL,
  anonKey: import.meta.env.VITE_INSFORGE_ANON_KEY
})

Module Reference

Module	SDK Integration
Database	database/sdk-integration.md
Auth	auth/sdk-integration.md
Storage	storage/sdk-integration.md
Functions	functions/sdk-integration.md
AI	ai/sdk-integration.md
Real-time	realtime/sdk-integration.md
Email	email/sdk-integration.md
Payments	payments/sdk-integration.md

What Each Module Covers

Module	Content
Database	CRUD operations, filters, pagination, RPC calls
Auth	Sign up/in, OAuth, sessions, profiles, password reset
Storage	Upload, download, delete files; S3-compatible gateway for CI / backup tooling; write RLS policies for buckets
Functions	Invoke edge functions
AI	Chat completions, image generation, embeddings
Email	Send custom transactional HTML emails (welcome, newsletter, notifications)
Payments	Stripe Checkout Sessions, subscriptions, and Billing Portal redirects
Real-time	Connect, subscribe, publish events, and track presence snapshots plus join/leave deltas

Guides

Guide	When to Use
database/postgres-rls.md	Writing or reviewing RLS policies — covers infinite recursion prevention, SECURITY DEFINER patterns, performance tips, and common InsForge RLS patterns
storage/s3-gateway.md	Fallback path when the consumer is existing S3 tooling (aws CLI, AWS SDKs, rclone, Terraform, boto3) and adopting @insforge/sdk is impractical — covers endpoint/region setup, access-key management, path-style addressing, and supported vs. not-supported S3 operations. Requires InsForge 2.0.9+. Prefer the SDK (storage/sdk-integration.md) for app code
storage/postgres-rls.md	Writing RLS policies for storage.objects — owner-only, public-read, path-scoped, team-shared, and the NULL uploaded_by caveat for mixed REST + S3 buckets
database/pgvector.md	Building semantic search, recommendations, or RAG — covers the vector extension, schema/dimensions, distance operators, HNSW/IVFFlat indexes, and RPC similarity search
ai/embeddings-and-rag.md	Generating embeddings through the InsForge AI gateway, storing them in pgvector, and wiring up a basic RAG pipeline with chat completions
payments/backend-configuration.md	Configuring Stripe keys, syncing catalog, creating products/prices, webhooks, and portal RLS before app integration

Building Checkout for a New App

Before integrating payments, make sure a Stripe key is configured. Run npx @insforge/cli payments status. If it shows unconfigured, ask the user for the Stripe key first. See payments/backend-configuration.md.

Real-time Configuration

For real-time channels and database triggers, use SQL migrations or database admin tooling to configure channels, triggers, and policies. The real-time SDK is for frontend event handling and messaging, not backend configuration.

Create Database Triggers

Automatically publish events when database records change.

-- Create trigger function
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION notify_order_changes()
RETURNS TRIGGER AS $$
BEGIN
  PERFORM realtime.publish(
    'order:' || NEW.id::text,    -- channel
    TG_OP || '_order',           -- event: INSERT_order, UPDATE_order
    jsonb_build_object(
      'id', NEW.id,
      'status', NEW.status,
      'total', NEW.total
    )
  );
  RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql SECURITY DEFINER;

-- Attach to table
CREATE TRIGGER order_realtime
  AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE ON orders
  FOR EACH ROW
  EXECUTE FUNCTION notify_order_changes();

Conditional Trigger (Status Changes Only)

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION notify_order_status()
RETURNS TRIGGER AS $$
BEGIN
  PERFORM realtime.publish(
    'order:' || NEW.id::text,
    'status_changed',
    jsonb_build_object('id', NEW.id, 'status', NEW.status)
  );
  RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql SECURITY DEFINER;

CREATE TRIGGER order_status_trigger
  AFTER UPDATE ON orders
  FOR EACH ROW
  WHEN (OLD.status IS DISTINCT FROM NEW.status)
  EXECUTE FUNCTION notify_order_status();

Access Control (RLS)

RLS is disabled by default. To restrict channel access:

• Enable RLS

ALTER TABLE realtime.channels ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;
ALTER TABLE realtime.messages ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;

• Restrict Subscribe (SELECT on channels)

CREATE POLICY "users_subscribe_own_orders"
ON realtime.channels FOR SELECT
TO authenticated
USING (
  pattern = 'order:%'
  AND EXISTS (
    SELECT 1 FROM orders
    WHERE id = NULLIF(split_part(realtime.channel_name(), ':', 2), '')::uuid
      AND user_id = auth.uid()
  )
);

• Restrict Publish (INSERT on messages)

CREATE POLICY "members_publish_chat"
ON realtime.messages FOR INSERT
TO authenticated
WITH CHECK (
  channel_name LIKE 'chat:%'
  AND EXISTS (
    SELECT 1 FROM chat_members
    WHERE room_id = NULLIF(split_part(channel_name, ':', 2), '')::uuid
      AND user_id = auth.uid()
  )
);

• Quick Reference

Task	SQL
Create channel	INSERT INTO realtime.channels (pattern, description, enabled) VALUES (...)
Create trigger	CREATE TRIGGER ... EXECUTE FUNCTION ...
Publish from SQL	PERFORM realtime.publish(channel, event, payload)
Enable RLS	ALTER TABLE realtime.channels ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY

Best Practices

1. Create channel patterns first before subscribing from frontend

   • Insert channel patterns into realtime.channels table
   • Ensure enabled is set to true

2. Use specific channel patterns

   • Use wildcard % patterns for dynamic channels (e.g., order:% for order:123)
   • Use exact patterns for global channels (e.g., notifications)

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Solution
Subscribing to undefined channel pattern	Create channel pattern in realtime.channels first
Channel not receiving messages	Ensure channel enabled is true
Publishing without trigger	Create database trigger to auto-publish on changes

Recommended Workflow

1. Create channel patterns   → INSERT INTO realtime.channels
2. Ensure enabled = true     → Set enabled to true
3. Create triggers if needed → Auto-publish on database changes
4. Proceed with SDK subscribe → Use channel name matching pattern

Backend Configuration (Not Yet in CLI)

These modules still require HTTP API calls because the CLI does not yet support them:

Module	Backend Configuration
Auth	auth/backend-configuration.md
AI	ai/backend-configuration.md

Risky backend changes? Use a branch first

When a code change in this skill depends on a schema migration, new RLS policy, OAuth provider config change, or any other backend change that could brick prod, create a backend branch first instead of editing the live project. Branches share JWT_SECRET (existing user JWTs keep working) but get a fresh database + EC2 + API_KEY / ANON_KEY, so you can test the SDK + backend change end-to-end in isolation.

The full branching workflow lives in the insforge-cli skill — see branch for the decision guide and lifecycle commands. Typical loop:

npx @insforge/cli branch create feat-x --mode schema-only
# ... apply migrations / change auth config / update RLS on the branch ...
# ... test the SDK against the branch backend ...
npx @insforge/cli branch merge feat-x --dry-run     # review SQL
npx @insforge/cli branch merge feat-x               # apply to parent

⚠ After branch create or branch switch, the SDK's INSFORGE_URL and INSFORGE_ANON_KEY change. Restart your dev server (or re-source .env) so the SDK starts talking to the branch backend. If you don't, the SDK will silently keep hitting parent — the #1 cause of "I switched but my changes aren't showing up".

SDK Quick Reference

All SDK methods return { data, error }.

Module	Methods
insforge.database	.from().select(), .insert(), .update(), .delete(), .rpc()
insforge.auth	.signUp(), .signInWithPassword(), .signInWithOAuth(), .signOut(), .getCurrentUser()
insforge.storage	.from().upload(), .uploadAuto(), .download(), .remove()
insforge.functions	.invoke()
insforge.ai	.chat.completions.create(), .images.generate(), .embeddings.create()
insforge.realtime	.connect(), .subscribe(), .publish(), .on(), .disconnect()
insforge.emails	.send({ to, subject, html, cc?, bcc?, from?, replyTo? })
insforge.payments	.createCheckoutSession(), .createCustomerPortalSession()

Important Notes

• Database inserts require array format: insert([{...}]) not insert({...})
• Next.js / SSR auth: Use createClient({ isServerMode: true }), keep tokens in httpOnly cookies, and perform auth flows on the server. See auth/sdk-integration.md
• Storage: Save both url AND key to database for download/delete operations
• Functions invoke URL: /functions/{slug} (without /api prefix)
• Payments: Configure Stripe keys/catalog with npx @insforge/cli payments ... first; frontend code only creates Checkout/Portal sessions.
• Payment RLS: Before subscription checkout or Billing Portal UI, add app-specific RLS on payments.checkout_sessions and payments.customer_portal_sessions.
• Use Tailwind CSS v3.4 (do not upgrade to v4)
• Always local build before deploy: Prevents wasted build resources and faster debugging
• Deprecated packages: @insforge/react, @insforge/nextjs, and @insforge/react-router are deprecated. Do NOT install or use them. Use @insforge/sdk directly for all features including authentication.
• Deployment: Include a vercel.json in the project root for SPA routing (React, React Router apps). The download-template tool includes this automatically.
• Branching for risky backend changes: If your SDK code depends on a new schema, RLS policy, or auth config change, create a branch via npx @insforge/cli branch create first — see the insforge-cli skill's branch reference. After branch create / branch switch, restart the dev server so the SDK picks up the new INSFORGE_URL / INSFORGE_ANON_KEY.