PocketBase Server-Side JavaScript (pb_hooks)

Runtime Basics

• Files go in pb_hooks/*.pb.js (must end with .pb.js)
• Engine: goja — ES5.1 + some ES6. No ES6 modules (import/export), no async/await, no arrow functions in older versions. Use function(){} and CommonJS require().
• Each file is loaded on app start and on hot-reload
• __hooks — absolute path to the pb_hooks directory
• TypeScript declarations: pb_data/types.d.ts (auto-generated, useful for IDE support)
• --hooksPool=25 flag controls concurrent JS goroutines (default: 25)
• Each handler runs in an isolated context — no shared mutable state between requests

Routing

Adding routes

routerAdd("GET", "/api/hello/{name}", function(e) {
    var name = e.request.pathValue("name")
    return e.json(200, { "message": "Hello " + name })
}, /* optional middleware */)

Path patterns

• {name} — named path parameter
• {path...} — wildcard (matches rest of path)
• {$} — exact match (no trailing slash)

Response methods

Method	Usage
e.json(status, data)	JSON response
e.string(status, text)	Plain text
e.html(status, html)	HTML response
e.redirect(status, url)	Redirect (301/302)
e.blob(status, contentType, bytes)	Binary data
e.stream(status, contentType, reader)	Streaming response
e.noContent(status)	No body (204)

Reading request data

// Body (JSON)
var body = new DynamicModel({ name: "", age: 0 })
e.bindBody(body)

// Query params
var page = e.request.url.query().get("page")

// Headers
var token = e.request.header.get("Authorization")

// Uploaded files
var files = e.findUploadedFiles("document")  // returns array of *filesystem.File

// Auth state
var user = e.auth          // current auth record or null
var isSuper = e.hasSuperuserAuth()

Middleware

Built-in middleware

routerAdd("GET", "/api/protected", handler,
    $apis.requireAuth(),                // any authenticated user
    // OR
    $apis.requireAuth("users"),         // only "users" collection
    // OR
    $apis.requireSuperuserAuth(),       // superusers only
    // OR
    $apis.requireGuestOnly(),           // unauthenticated only
    // OR
    $apis.bodyLimit(5 * 1024 * 1024),   // 5MB body limit
    // OR
    $apis.gzip()                        // gzip compression
)

Global middleware

routerUse(function(e) {
    // runs before every request
    console.log(e.request.method, e.request.url.path)
    return e.next()  // MUST call e.next() to continue
})

Custom route middleware

function myMiddleware(e) {
    // pre-processing
    var result = e.next()  // call next handler
    // post-processing
    return result
}

routerAdd("GET", "/api/test", handler, myMiddleware)

Priority: middleware runs in order — first registered, first executed.

Event Hooks

Record lifecycle

Each record event has 3 variants:

• onRecord*Execute — wraps the default action. Call e.next() to proceed.
• onRecord*AfterSuccess — runs after successful execution
• onRecord*AfterError — runs after execution error

// Before/during create
onRecordCreateExecute(function(e) {
    // e.record — the record being created
    e.record.set("status", "pending")
    return e.next()  // proceed with creation
}, "posts")  // optional collection filter

// After successful create
onRecordAfterCreateSuccess(function(e) {
    // e.record — the created record (has ID now)
    console.log("Created:", e.record.id)
}, "posts")

// After failed create
onRecordAfterCreateError(function(e) {
    // e.error — the error
    console.log("Failed:", e.error)
}, "posts")

All record hooks

Hook	Event object fields
onRecordCreateExecute	e.record
onRecordUpdateExecute	e.record
onRecordDeleteExecute	e.record
onRecordAfterCreateSuccess	e.record — after successful create
onRecordAfterUpdateSuccess	e.record — after successful update
onRecordAfterDeleteSuccess	e.record — after successful delete
onRecordAfterCreateError	e.record, e.error — after failed create
onRecordAfterUpdateError	e.record, e.error — after failed update
onRecordAfterDeleteError	e.record, e.error — after failed delete
onRecordValidate	e.record — add custom validation errors
onRecordEnrich	e.record — modify API response (hide/add fields)
onRecordsListRequest	e.records, e.result — modify list response
onRecordRequestCreate	e.record — during API create request
onRecordRequestUpdate	e.record — during API update request
onRecordRequestDelete	e.record — during API delete request

Auth hooks

onRecordAuthWithPasswordRequest(function(e) {
    // e.record — the auth record
    // e.password — the provided password
    return e.next()
}, "users")

onRecordAuthWithOAuth2Request(function(e) {
    // e.record — the auth record (may be new)
    // e.oAuth2User — OAuth2 user data
    // e.isNewRecord — true if first OAuth2 login
    return e.next()
}, "users")

onRecordAuthWithOTPRequest(function(e) {
    // e.record — the auth record
    return e.next()
}, "users")

onRecordAuthRefreshRequest(function(e) {
    return e.next()
}, "users")

Realtime hooks

onRealtimeConnectRequest(function(e) {
    // e.client — the SSE client
    // e.idleTimeout — connection timeout
    return e.next()
})

onRealtimeSubscribeRequest(function(e) {
    // e.client
    // e.subscriptions — requested subscriptions
    return e.next()
})

Other hooks

onFileDownloadRequest(function(e) {
    // e.record, e.fileField, e.servedPath, e.servedName
    return e.next()
}, "documents")

onBatchRequest(function(e) {
    // e.batch — array of sub-requests
    return e.next()
})

onCollectionCreateExecute(function(e) {
    // e.collection
    return e.next()
})

// App lifecycle
onBootstrap(function(e) {
    // runs once on app start (after DB is ready)
    return e.next()
})

onTerminate(function(e) {
    // runs on graceful shutdown
    return e.next()
})

Validation hook

onRecordValidate(function(e) {
    if (e.record.getString("title").length < 3) {
        e.error = new ValidationError("title", "Title must be at least 3 characters")
    }
    return e.next()
}, "posts")

Enrich hook (modify API response)

onRecordEnrich(function(e) {
    // Hide field from non-owners
    if (!e.requestInfo.auth || e.requestInfo.auth.id !== e.record.getString("author")) {
        e.record.hide("private_notes")
    }
    // Add computed field
    e.record.withCustomData(true)
    e.record.set("displayName", e.record.getString("first") + " " + e.record.getString("last"))
    return e.next()
}, "users")

Database

Query builder

var results = arrayOf(new DynamicModel({ id: "", title: "", count: 0 }))

$app.db()
    .select("id", "title", "COUNT(comments) as count")
    .from("posts")
    .where($dbx.hashExp({ status: "active" }))
    .andWhere($dbx.like("title", "hello"))
    .orderBy("created DESC")
    .limit(10)
    .offset(0)
    .all(results)  // populates results array

Execution methods

Method	Returns
.all(results)	Populates array
.one(result)	Single record
.execute()	For INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE

Raw queries

$app.db().newQuery("SELECT * FROM posts WHERE status = {:status}")
    .bind({ status: "active" })
    .all(results)

Always use named params {:param} — never concatenate SQL strings.

$dbx expressions

$dbx.hashExp({ field: "value" })           // field = "value"
$dbx.hashExp({ field: ["a", "b"] })        // field IN ("a", "b")
$dbx.not($dbx.hashExp({ field: "value" })) // NOT (field = "value")
$dbx.and(expr1, expr2)                     // expr1 AND expr2
$dbx.or(expr1, expr2)                      // expr1 OR expr2
$dbx.like("field", "val")                  // field LIKE "%val%"
$dbx.orLike("field", "a", "b")            // field LIKE "%a%" OR field LIKE "%b%"
$dbx.notLike("field", "val")              // field NOT LIKE "%val%"
$dbx.in("field", "a", "b", "c")           // field IN ("a", "b", "c")
$dbx.notIn("field", "a", "b")             // field NOT IN ("a", "b")
$dbx.between("field", 1, 10)              // field BETWEEN 1 AND 10
$dbx.exists($dbx.exp("SELECT 1 FROM t WHERE ..."))
$dbx.exp("raw SQL expression", optionalParams)

Transactions

$app.runInTransaction(function(txApp) {
    // use txApp instead of $app inside transaction
    var record = txApp.findRecordById("posts", "RECORD_ID")
    record.set("views", record.getInt("views") + 1)
    txApp.save(record)
})

Record Operations

Find records

// By ID
var record = $app.findRecordById("posts", "RECORD_ID")

// By field value
var record = $app.findFirstRecordByData("users", "email", "user@example.com")

// By filter expression (same syntax as API rules)
var record = $app.findFirstRecordByFilter("posts", "slug = {:slug}", { slug: "my-post" })

// Multiple records with filter
var records = $app.findRecordsByFilter(
    "posts",                    // collection
    "status = 'active'",        // filter
    "-created",                 // sort
    10,                         // limit
    0                           // offset
)

// All records (no limit)
var records = $app.findAllRecords("posts", $dbx.hashExp({ status: "active" }))

// Count
var total = $app.countRecords("posts", $dbx.hashExp({ status: "active" }))

Create records

var collection = $app.findCollectionByNameOrId("posts")
var record = new Record(collection)
record.set("title", "My Post")
record.set("author", "USER_ID")
record.set("tags", ["tag1", "tag2"])  // multi-relation
$app.save(record)
// record.id is now set

Update records

var record = $app.findRecordById("posts", "RECORD_ID")
record.set("title", "Updated Title")
$app.save(record)

Delete records

var record = $app.findRecordById("posts", "RECORD_ID")
$app.delete(record)

Record getters

record.id
record.getString("title")
record.getInt("count")
record.getFloat("price")
record.getBool("active")
record.getStringSlice("tags")  // for multi-valued fields
record.getDateTime("created")  // returns DateTime object
record.get("field")            // raw interface{} value

Expand relations

$app.expandRecord(record, ["author", "tags"], null)
var author = record.expandedOne("author")   // single relation
var tags = record.expandedAll("tags")        // multi relation

File operations

// Assign file from path
var file = $filesystem.fileFromPath("/path/to/file.pdf")
record.set("document", file)

// Assign file from bytes
var file = $filesystem.fileFromBytes(byteArray, "report.pdf")
record.set("document", file)

// Assign file from URL
var file = $filesystem.fileFromURL("https://example.com/file.pdf")
record.set("document", file)

$app.save(record)

Cron Jobs

cronAdd("daily_cleanup", "0 3 * * *", function() {
    // runs every day at 3:00 AM
    var old = $app.findRecordsByFilter("temp", "created < @now - 30d", "", 0, 0)
    for (var i = 0; i < old.length; i++) {
        $app.delete(old[i])
    }
})

cronRemove("daily_cleanup")  // remove a previously registered job

Cron expressions: minute hour day month weekday

Preview registered crons: Dashboard > Settings > Crons

Email

var message = new MailerMessage()
message.from = { address: $app.settings().meta.senderAddress, name: $app.settings().meta.senderName }
message.to = [{ address: "user@example.com", name: "User" }]
message.subject = "Hello"
message.html = "<h1>Hello World</h1>"
// message.bcc, message.cc — optional arrays
// message.attachments — optional

$app.newMailClient().send(message)

Customize system emails

```js

onMailerRecordVerificatio