API

class Database
class Statement

class Database

new Database()
Database#prepare() (see Statement)
Database#transaction()
Database#pragma()
Database#checkpoint()
Database#backup()
Database#function()
Database#aggregate()
Database#loadExtension()
Database#exec()
Database#close()
Properties

new Database(path, [options])

Creates a new database connection. If the database file does not exist, it is created. This happens synchronously, which means you can start executing queries right away.

Various options are accepted:

options.memory: open an in-memory database, rather than a disk-bound one (default: false).
options.readonly: open the database connection in readonly mode (default: false).
options.fileMustExist: if the database does not exist, an Error will be thrown instead of creating a new file. This option does not affect in-memory or readonly database connections (default: false).
options.timeout: the number of milliseconds to wait when executing queries on a locked database, before throwing a SQLITE_BUSY error (default: 5000).
options.verbose: provide a function that gets called with every SQL string executed by the database connection (default: null).

const Database = require('better-sqlite3');
const db = new Database('foobar.db', { verbose: console.log });

.prepare(string) -> Statement

Creates a new prepared Statement from the given SQL string.

const stmt = db.prepare('SELECT name, age FROM cats');

.transaction(function) -> function

Creates a function that always runs inside a transaction. When the function is invoked, it will begin a new transaction. When the function returns, the transaction will be committed. If an exception is thrown, the transaction will be rolled back (and the exception will propagate as usual).

const insert = db.prepare('INSERT INTO cats (name, age) VALUES (@name, @age)');

const insertMany = db.transaction((cats) => {
  for (const cat of cats) insert.run(cat);
});

insertMany([
  { name: 'Joey', age: 2 },
  { name: 'Sally', age: 4 },
  { name: 'Junior', age: 1 },
]);

Transaction functions can be called from inside other transaction functions. When doing so, the inner transaction becomes a savepoint.

const newExpense = db.prepare('INSERT INTO expenses (note, dollars) VALUES (?, ?)');

const adopt = db.transaction((cats) => {
  newExpense.run('adoption fees', 20);
  insertMany(cats); // nested transaction
});

Transactions also come with deferred, immediate, and exclusive versions.

insertMany(cats); // uses "BEGIN"
insertMany.deferred(cats); // uses "BEGIN DEFERRED"
insertMany.immediate(cats); // uses "BEGIN IMMEDIATE"
insertMany.exclusive(cats); // uses "BEGIN EXCLUSIVE"

Caveats

If you'd like to manage transactions manually, you're free to do so with regular prepared statements (using BEGIN, COMMIT, etc.). However, manually managed transactions should not be mixed with transactions managed by this .transaction() method. In other words, using raw COMMIT or ROLLBACK statements inside a transaction function is not supported.

Transaction functions do not work with async functions. Technically speaking, async functions always return after the first await, which means the transaction will already be committed before any async code executes. Also, because SQLite3 serializes all transactions, it's generally a very bad idea to keep a transaction open across event loop ticks anyways.

It's important to know that SQLite3 may sometimes rollback a transaction without us asking it to. This can happen either because of an ON CONFLICT clause, the RAISE() trigger function, or certain errors such as SQLITE_FULL or SQLITE_BUSY. In other words, if you catch an SQLite3 error within a transaction, you must be aware that any futher SQL that you execute might not be within the same transaction. Usually, the best course of action for such cases is to simply re-throw the error, exiting the transaction function.

try {
  ...
} catch (err) {
  if (!db.inTransaction) throw err; // (transaction was forcefully rolled back)
  ...
}

.pragma(string, [options]) -> results

Executes the given PRAGMA and returns its result. By default, the return value will be an array of result rows. Each row is represented by an object whose keys correspond to column names.

Since most PRAGMA statements return a single value, the simple option is provided to make things easier. When simple is true, only the first column of the first row will be returned.

db.pragma('cache_size = 32000');
console.log(db.pragma('cache_size', { simple: true })); // => 32000

If execution of the PRAGMA fails, an Error is thrown.

It's better to use this method instead of normal prepared statements when executing PRAGMA, because this method normalizes some odd behavior that may otherwise be experienced. The documentation on SQLite3 PRAGMA can be found here.

.checkpoint([databaseName]) -> this

Runs a WAL mode checkpoint on all attached databases (including the main database).

Unlike automatic checkpoints, this method executes a checkpoint in "RESTART" mode, which ensures a complete checkpoint operation even if other processes are using the database at the same time. You only need to use this method if you are accessing the database from multiple processes at the same time.

setInterval(() => db.checkpoint(), 30000).unref();

If databaseName is provided, it should be the name of an attached database (or "main"). This causes only that database to be checkpointed.

If the checkpoint fails, an Error is thrown.

.backup(destination, [options]) -> promise

Initiates a backup of the database, returning a promise for when the backup is complete. If the backup fails, the promise will be rejected with an Error. You can optionally backup an attached database by setting the attached option to the name of the desired attached database.

db.backup(`backup-${Date.now()}.db`)
  .then(() => {
    console.log('backup complete!');
  })
  .catch((err) => {
    console.log('backup failed:', err);
  });

You can continue to use the database normally while a backup is in progress. If the same database connection mutates the database while performing a backup, those mutations will be reflected in the backup automatically. However, if a different connection mutates the database during a backup, the backup will be forcefully restarted. Therefore, it's recommended that only a single connection is responsible for mutating the database if online backups are being performed.

You can monitor the progress of the backup by setting the progress option to a callback function. That function will be invoked every time the backup makes progress, providing an object with two properties:

.totalPages: the total number of pages in the source database (and thus, the number of pages that the backup will have when completed) at the time of this progress report.
.remainingPages: the number of pages that still must be transferred before the backup is complete.

By default, 100 pages will be transferred after each cycle of the event loop. However, you can change this setting as often as you like by returning a number from the progress callback. You can even return 0 to effectively pause the backup altogether. In general, the goal is to maximize throughput while reducing pause times. If the transfer size is very low, pause times will be low, but it may take a while to complete the backup. On the flip side, if the setting is too high, pause times will be greater, but the backup might complete sooner. In most cases, 100 has proven to be a strong compromise, but the best setting is dependent on your computer's specifications and the nature of your program. Do not change this setting without measuring the effectiveness of your change. You should not assume that your change will even have the intended effect, unless you measure it for your unique situation.

If the progress callback throws an exception, the backup will be aborted. Usually this happens due to an unexpected error, but you can also use this behavior to voluntarily cancel the backup operation. If the parent database connection is closed, all pending backups will be automatically aborted.

let paused = false;
db.backup(`backup-${Date.now()}.db`, {
  progress({ totalPages: t, remainingPages: r }) {
    console.log(`progress: ${((t - r) / t * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
    return paused ? 0 : 200;
  }
});

.function(name, [options], function) -> this

Registers a user-defined function so that it can be used by SQL statements.

db.function('add2', (a, b) => a + b);

db.prepare('SELECT add2(?, ?)').pluck().get(12, 4); // => 16
db.prepare('SELECT add2(?, ?)').pluck().get('foo', 'bar'); // => "foobar"
db.prepare('SELECT add2(?, ?, ?)').pluck().get(12, 4, 18); // => Error: wrong number of arguments

By default, user-defined functions have a strict number of arguments (determined by function.length). You can register multiple functions of the same name, each with a different number of arguments, causing SQLite3 to execute a different function depending on how many arguments were passed to it. If you register two functions with same name and the same number of arguments, the second registration will erase the first one.

If options.varargs is true, the registered function can accept any number of arguments.

If your function is deterministic, you can set options.deterministic to true, which may improve performance under some circumstances.

db.function('void', { deterministic: true, varargs: true }, () => {});

db.prepare("SELECT void()").pluck().get(); // => null
db.prepare("SELECT void(?, ?)").pluck().get(55, 19); // => null

.aggregate(name, options) -> this

Registers a user-defined aggregate function.

db.aggregate('addAll', {
  start: 0,
  step: (total, nextValue) => total + nextValue,
});

db.prepare('SELECT addAll(dollars) FROM expenses').pluck().get(); // => 92

The step() function will be invoked once for each row passed to the aggregate, using its return value as the new aggregate value. This works similarly to Array#reduce().

If options.start is a function, it will be invoked at the beginning of each aggregate, using its return value as the initial aggregate value. If options.start is not a function, it will be used as the initial aggregate value as-is (shown in the example above). If not provided, the initial aggregate value will be null.

You can also provide a result() function to transform the final aggregate value:

db.aggregate('getAverage', {
  start: () => [],
  step: (array, nextValue) => {
    array.push(nextValue);
  },
  result: array => array.reduce(sum) / array.length,
});

db.prepare('SELECT getAverage(dollars) FROM expenses').pluck().get(); // => 20.2

As shown above, you can use arbitrary JavaScript objects as your aggregation context, as long as a valid SQLite3 value is returned by result() in the end. If step() doesn't return anything (undefined), the aggregate value will not be replaced (be careful of this when using functions that return undefined when null is desired).

Just like regular user-defined functions, user-defined aggregates can accept multiple arguments. Furthermore, options.varargs and options.deterministic are also accepted.

If you provide an inverse() function, the aggregate can be used as a window function. Where step() is used to add a row to the current window, inverse() is used to remove a row from the current window. When using window functions, result() may be invoked multiple times.

db.aggregate('addAll', {
  start: 0,
  step: (total, nextValue) => total + nextValue,
  inverse: (total, droppedValue) => total - droppedValue,
  result: total => Math.round(total),
});

db.prepare(`
  SELECT timestamp, dollars, addAll(dollars) OVER day as dayTotal
  FROM expenses
  WINDOW day AS (PARTITION BY date(timestamp))
  ORDER BY timestamp
`).all();

.loadExtension(path) -> this

Loads a compiled SQLite3 extension and applies it to the current database connection.

It's your responsibility to make sure the extensions you load are compiled/linked against a version of SQLite3 that is compatible with better-sqlite3. Keep in mind that new versions of better-sqlite3 will periodically use newer versions of SQLite3. You can see which version is being used here.

db.loadExtension('./my-extensions/compress.so');

.exec(string) -> this

Executes the given SQL string. Unlike prepared statements, this can execute strings that contain multiple SQL statements. This function performs worse and is less safe than using prepared statements. You should only use this method when you need to execute SQL from an external source (usually a file). If an error occurs, execution stops and further statements are not executed. You must rollback changes manually.

const migration = fs.readFileSync('migrate-schema.sql', 'utf8');
db.exec(migration);

.close() -> this

Closes the database connection. After invoking this method, no statements can be created or executed.

process.on('exit', () => db.close());
process.on('SIGHUP', () => process.exit(128 + 1));
process.on('SIGINT', () => process.exit(128 + 2));
process.on('SIGTERM', () => process.exit(128 + 15));

Properties

.open -> boolean - Whether the database connection is currently open.

.inTransaction -> boolean - Whether the database connection is currently in an open transaction.

.name -> string - The string that was used to open the database connection.

.memory -> boolean - Whether the database is an in-memory database.

.readonly -> boolean - Whether the database connection was created in readonly mode.

class Statement

An object representing a single SQL statement.

Statement#run()
Statement#get()
Statement#all()
Statement#iterate()
Statement#pluck()
Statement#expand()
Statement#raw()
Statement#columns()
Statement#bind()
Properties

.run([...bindParameters]) -> object

*(only on statements that do not return data)

Executes the prepared statement. When execution completes it returns an info object describing any changes made. The info object has two properties:

info.changes: the total number of rows that were inserted, updated, or deleted by this operation. Changes made by foreign key actions or trigger programs do not count.
info.lastInsertRowid: the rowid of the last row inserted into the database (ignoring those caused by trigger programs). If the current statement did not insert any rows into the database, this number should be completely ignored.

If execution of the statement fails, an Error is thrown.

You can specify bind parameters, which are only bound for the given execution.

const stmt = db.prepare('INSERT INTO cats (name, age) VALUES (?, ?)');
const info = stmt.run('Joey', 2);

console.log(info.changes); // => 1