Pocketbase

PocketBase is remarkable for its simplicity: a single Go binary that provides a full backend — realtime database (SQLite), REST API for collections, auth (email/password, OAuth2, API keys), file storage, and an admin UI. For agents needing a lightweight, self-hosted data store with a REST API: PocketBase deploys in seconds with no infrastructure overhead. Excellent for prototyping, internal tools, and small-to-medium production workloads where SQLite's concurrency limits are acceptable. Confidence is docs-derived.

REST API at http://localhost:8090/api/. Collections (tables): GET /api/collections/{name}/records, POST /api/collections/{name}/records. Auth: POST /api/collections/users/auth-with-password returns auth token. Files: GET /api/files/{collection}/{record}/{filename}. Realtime: WebSocket subscription to /api/realtime for live collection changes. JS SDK: npm install pocketbase; import PocketBase from "pocketbase"; const pb = new PocketBase("http://localhost:8090"); const records = await pb.collection("posts").getList().

Token auth: Authorization: Bearer {token} (from auth endpoint). Admin token: Authorization: Admin {adminToken}. Tokens from auth endpoints; short-lived with optional refresh. HTTPS for production deployments (TLS termination via reverse proxy). OAuth2 providers configurable in admin UI. API key auth via custom records (not built-in — add as a collection field).

SQLite concurrency: suitable for low-to-moderate write throughput; not designed for high-concurrency write-heavy workloads. Record not found returns 404. Validation errors return 400 with field-level detail. Realtime subscriptions: reconnect on connection loss. Single-binary simplicity means failures are easy to diagnose. PocketBase GitHub actively maintained. Backup: just copy the pb_data directory.

pocketbase.io/docs covers collection setup, REST API reference, auth, realtime, file storage, and Go SDK for custom backend logic. Getting started: download binary, run ./pocketbase serve, create collections in admin UI, first API call in under 5 minutes. Open-source MIT (GitHub: pocketbase/pocketbase). Community via PocketBase GitHub discussions.