Types

PowerSync’s Sync Rules use the SQLite type system.

The supported client-side SQLite types are:

1. null
2. integer: a 64-bit signed integer
3. real: a 64-bit floating point number
4. text: An UTF-8 text string
5. blob: Binary data

Postgres Type Mapping

Binary data in Postgres can be accessed in Sync Rules, but cannot be synced directly to clients (it needs to be converted to hex or base64 first — see below), and cannot be used as bucket parameters.

Postgres values are mapped according to this table:

Postgres Data Type	PowerSync / SQLite Column Type	Notes
text, varchar	text
int2, int4, int8	integer
numeric / decimal	text	These types have arbitrary precision in Postgres, so can only be represented accurately as text in SQLite
bool	integer	1 for true, 0 for false
float4, float8	real
enum	text
uuid	text
timestamptz	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sssZ. This is compatible with ISO8601 and SQLite’s functions. Precision matches the precision used in Postgres. -infinity becomes 0000-01-01 00:00:00Z and infinity becomes 9999-12-31 23:59:59Z.
timestamp	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss. In most cases, timestamptz should be used instead. -infinity becomes 0000-01-01 00:00:00 and infinity becomes 9999-12-31 23:59:59.
date, time	text
json, jsonb	text	There is no dedicated JSON type — JSON functions operate directly on text values.
interval	text
macaddr	text
inet	text
bytea	blob	Cannot sync directly to client — convert to hex or base64 first. See Operators & Functions.
geometry (PostGIS)	text	hex string of the binary data Use the ST functions to convert to other formats

There is no dedicated boolean data type. Boolean values are represented as 1 (true) or 0 (false).

json and jsonb values are treated as text values in their serialized representation. JSON functions and operators operate directly on these text values.

MongoDB Type Mapping

BSON Type	PowerSync / SQLite Column Type	Notes
String	text
Int, Long	integer
Double	real
Decimal128	text
Object	text	Converted to a JSON string
Array	text	Converted to a JSON string
ObjectId	text	Lower-case hex string
UUID	text	Lower-case hex string
Boolean	integer	1 for true, 0 for false
Date	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss
Null	null
Binary	blob	Cannot sync directly to client — convert to hex or base64 first. See Operators & Functions.
Regular Expression	text	JSON text in the format {"pattern":"...","options":"..."}
Timestamp	integer	Converted to a 64-bit integer
Undefined	null
DBPointer	text	JSON text in the format {"collection":"...","oid":"...","db":"...","fields":...}
JavaScript	text	JSON text in the format {"code": "...", "scope": ...}
Symbol	text
MinKey, MaxKey	null

• Data is converted to a flat list of columns, one column per top-level field in the MongoDB document.
• Special BSON types are converted to plain SQLite alternatives.
• For example, ObjectId, Date, UUID are all converted to a plain TEXT column.
• Nested objects and arrays are converted to JSON arrays, and JSON operators can be used to query them (in the Sync Rules and/or on the client-side).
• Binary data nested in objects or arrays is not supported.

MySQL (Alpha) Type Mapping

This section is a work in progress. More details for MySQL connections are coming soon. In the meantime, ask on our Discord server if you have any questions.