Supabase JavaScript SDK Skill

Skill for building applications with the @supabase/supabase-js SDK. Covers Auth, Database (PostgREST), Storage, Realtime, and Edge Functions.

The SDK docs at https://supabase.com/docs/reference/javascript are the source of truth. The reference files alongside this skill contain source code and READMEs extracted from the monorepo for quick lookup.

Setup

npm install @supabase/supabase-js

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'

const supabase = createClient('https://xyzcompany.supabase.co', 'public-anon-key')

For type-safe queries, generate types from your database schema:

supabase gen types typescript --project-id your-project-id > database.types.ts

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
import type { Database } from './database.types'

const supabase = createClient<Database>(SUPABASE_URL, SUPABASE_ANON_KEY)

Quick Decision Trees

"I need to query data"

Database query?
├─ Select rows → supabase.from('table').select('*')
├─ Filter rows → .select().eq('col', val) / .gt() / .lt() / .in() / .like()
├─ Join tables → .select('*, other_table(*)') or .select('*, other_table!fk(*)')
├─ Insert → supabase.from('table').insert({ col: val })
├─ Upsert → supabase.from('table').upsert({ id: 1, col: val })
├─ Update → supabase.from('table').update({ col: val }).eq('id', 1)
├─ Delete → supabase.from('table').delete().eq('id', 1)
├─ Call RPC function → supabase.rpc('function_name', { arg: val })
├─ Count rows → .select('*', { count: 'exact', head: true })
├─ Pagination → .range(0, 9) or .limit(10).offset(20)
└─ Order → .order('created_at', { ascending: false })

"I need authentication"

Auth?
├─ Email/password sign up → supabase.auth.signUp({ email, password })
├─ Email/password sign in → supabase.auth.signInWithPassword({ email, password })
├─ OAuth (Google, GitHub, etc.) → supabase.auth.signInWithOAuth({ provider: 'google' })
├─ Magic link → supabase.auth.signInWithOtp({ email })
├─ Phone OTP → supabase.auth.signInWithOtp({ phone })
├─ Sign out → supabase.auth.signOut()
├─ Get current user → supabase.auth.getUser()
├─ Get session → supabase.auth.getSession()
├─ Listen to auth changes → supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange((event, session) => {})
├─ Reset password → supabase.auth.resetPasswordForEmail(email)
├─ Update user → supabase.auth.updateUser({ data: { name: 'New' } })
└─ Admin operations → supabase.auth.admin.listUsers() / .deleteUser(id)

"I need file storage"

Storage?
├─ Upload file → supabase.storage.from('bucket').upload('path/file.png', file)
├─ Download file → supabase.storage.from('bucket').download('path/file.png')
├─ Get public URL → supabase.storage.from('bucket').getPublicUrl('path/file.png')
├─ Create signed URL → supabase.storage.from('bucket').createSignedUrl('path', 3600)
├─ List files → supabase.storage.from('bucket').list('folder')
├─ Move file → supabase.storage.from('bucket').move('old/path', 'new/path')
├─ Remove file → supabase.storage.from('bucket').remove(['path/file.png'])
├─ Create bucket → supabase.storage.createBucket('name', { public: false })
└─ List buckets → supabase.storage.listBuckets()

"I need realtime"

Realtime?
├─ Listen to DB changes → supabase.channel('name')
│    .on('postgres_changes', { event: 'INSERT', schema: 'public', table: 'messages' }, handler)
│    .subscribe()
├─ Broadcast messages → channel.send({ type: 'broadcast', event: 'cursor', payload: { x, y } })
├─ Listen to broadcasts → .on('broadcast', { event: 'cursor' }, handler)
├─ Presence (who's online) → channel.track({ user_id, online_at })
│    .on('presence', { event: 'sync' }, () => channel.presenceState())
├─ Unsubscribe → supabase.removeChannel(channel)
└─ Unsubscribe all → supabase.removeAllChannels()

"I need edge functions"

Edge Functions?
├─ Invoke function → supabase.functions.invoke('function-name', { body: { key: 'val' } })
├─ With custom headers → .invoke('fn', { headers: { 'x-custom': 'val' }, body })
└─ Set region → .invoke('fn', { body, region: 'us-east-1' })

Common Patterns

Server-side with service role key

// Server-side only - bypasses RLS
const supabase = createClient(SUPABASE_URL, SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY, {
  auth: { persistSession: false }
})

React/Next.js auth

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'

const supabase = createClient(SUPABASE_URL, SUPABASE_ANON_KEY)

function useUser() {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null)
  useEffect(() => {
    supabase.auth.getUser().then(({ data }) => setUser(data.user))
    const { data: { subscription } } = supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange(
      (_, session) => setUser(session?.user ?? null)
    )
    return () => subscription.unsubscribe()
  }, [])
  return user
}

Typed database queries

// Generated types give autocomplete for table names, column names, and return types
const { data, error } = await supabase
  .from('profiles')        // autocompleted table name
  .select('id, username')  // autocompleted columns
  .eq('id', userId)        // type-safe filter
  .single()                // returns single row or error
// data is typed as { id: string; username: string } | null

Package Index

Package	Sub-client	Reference
@supabase/supabase-js	createClient()	references/supabase-js/
@supabase/auth-js	.auth	references/auth-js/
@supabase/postgrest-js	.from(), .rpc()	references/postgrest-js/
@supabase/realtime-js	.channel(), .realtime	references/realtime-js/
@supabase/storage-js	.storage	references/storage-js/
@supabase/functions-js	.functions	references/functions-js/