Turso Has a Free API That Puts SQLite on the Edge Globally

#database #sqlite #javascript #edge

Turso is the edge database built on libSQL (a fork of SQLite). It gives you embedded database performance with global replication — and a powerful SDK.

Connect and Query

import { createClient } from "@libsql/client";

const db = createClient({
  url: "libsql://my-db-username.turso.io",
  authToken: process.env.TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN,
});

// Simple query
const result = await db.execute("SELECT * FROM products WHERE price < 50 ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 20");
console.log(result.rows);

// Parameterized
const product = await db.execute({
  sql: "SELECT * FROM products WHERE id = ?",
  args: [productId],
});

Batch Operations: Multiple Queries, One Round Trip

const results = await db.batch([
  { sql: "INSERT INTO products (title, price, url) VALUES (?, ?, ?)", args: ["Widget", 29.99, "https://..."] },
  { sql: "INSERT INTO products (title, price, url) VALUES (?, ?, ?)", args: ["Gadget", 49.99, "https://..."] },
  { sql: "UPDATE stats SET total_products = total_products + 2 WHERE id = 1" },
  "SELECT COUNT(*) as total FROM products",
], "write");

console.log("Total products:", results[3].rows[0].total);

Transactions

const tx = await db.transaction("write");
try {
  await tx.execute({ sql: "INSERT INTO orders (user_id, total) VALUES (?, ?)", args: [userId, total] });
  await tx.execute({ sql: "UPDATE inventory SET stock = stock - ? WHERE product_id = ?", args: [qty, productId] });
  await tx.commit();
} catch (e) {
  await tx.rollback();
  throw e;
}

Embedded Replicas: Local + Remote

const db = createClient({
  url: "file:local-replica.db",  // Local SQLite file
  syncUrl: "libsql://my-db.turso.io",  // Remote primary
  authToken: process.env.TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN,
  syncInterval: 60,  // Sync every 60 seconds
});

// Reads hit local file (microseconds)
const products = await db.execute("SELECT * FROM products");

// Writes go to remote, then sync
await db.execute({ sql: "INSERT INTO products (title) VALUES (?)", args: ["New Product"] });

// Manual sync
await db.sync();

Vector Search (Extensions)

// Store embeddings
await db.execute({
  sql: "INSERT INTO documents (content, embedding) VALUES (?, vector(?))",
  args: [text, JSON.stringify(embedding)],
});

// Similarity search
const similar = await db.execute({
  sql: "SELECT content, vector_distance_cos(embedding, vector(?)) as distance FROM documents ORDER BY distance LIMIT 5",
  args: [JSON.stringify(queryEmbedding)],
});

Drizzle ORM Integration

import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/libsql";
import { createClient } from "@libsql/client";

const client = createClient({ url: "libsql://...", authToken: "..." });
const db = drizzle(client);

const products = await db.select().from(productsTable).where(lt(productsTable.price, 50));