What is PGlite

PGlite is a WASM Postgres build packaged into a TypeScript/JavaScript client library, that enables you to run Postgres in the browser, Node.js and Bun, with no need to install any other dependencies. It's under 3mb Gzipped, and has support for many Postgres extensions, including pgvector.

Getting started with PGlite is simple: just install and import the NPM package, then create your embedded database:

import { PGlite } from '@electric-sql/pglite'

const db = new PGlite()
await db.query("select 'Hello world' as message;")
// -> { rows: [ { message: "Hello world" } ] }

It can be used as an ephemeral in-memory database, or with persistence either to the file system (Node/Bun), or IndexedDB (browser).

Unlike previous "Postgres in the browser" projects, PGlite does not use a Linux virtual machine - it is simply Postgres in WASM.

It's being developed by ElectricSQL for our use case of embedding into applications, either locally or at the edge, allowing users to sync a subset of their server-side Postgres database.

However, there are many more use cases for PGlite beyond its use as an embedded application database:

Unit and CI testing
PGlite is very fast to start and tear down. It's perfect for unit tests - you can have a unique fresh Postgres for each test.
Local development
You can use PGlite as an alternative to a full local Postgres for development; simplifying your development environments.
Remote development, or local web containers
As PGlite is so lightweight it can be easily embedded into remote containerised development environments, or in-browser web containers.
On-device or edge AI and RAG
PGlite has full support for pgvector, enabling a local or edge retrieval augmented generation (RAG) workflow.

We are very keen to establish PGlite both as an open source, and open contribution, project, working to build a community around it, so as to develop its capabilities for all use cases.

What is PGlite ​

What is PGlite