Types

How Postgres, MongoDB, MySQL and SQL Server types map to PowerSync’s SQLite-based sync column definitions.

The supported client-side SQLite types are:

1. null
2. integer: a 64-bit signed integer
3. real: a 64-bit floating point number
4. text: A UTF-8 text string
5. blob: Binary data

Postgres Type Mapping

Postgres types are mapped to SQLite types as follows:

Postgres Data Type	PowerSync / SQLite Column Type	Notes
text, varchar	text
int2, int4, int8	integer
numeric / decimal	text	These types have arbitrary precision in Postgres, so can only be represented accurately as text in SQLite
bool	integer	1 for true, 0 for false. There is no dedicated boolean data type in SQLite.
float4, float8	real
enum	text
uuid	text
timestamptz	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sssZ. This is compatible with ISO8601 and SQLite’s functions. Precision matches the precision used in Postgres. -infinity becomes 0000-01-01 00:00:00Z and infinity becomes 9999-12-31 23:59:59Z.
timestamp	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sss. In most cases, timestamptz should be used instead. -infinity becomes 0000-01-01 00:00:00 and infinity becomes 9999-12-31 23:59:59.
date, time	text
json, jsonb	text	json and jsonb values are treated as text values in their serialized representation. JSON functions and operators operate directly on these text values.
interval	text
macaddr	text
inet	text
bytea	blob	Cannot sync directly to client — convert to hex or base64 first. See Operators & Functions.
geometry (PostGIS)	text	Hex string of the binary data. Use the ST functions to convert to other formats
Arrays	text	JSON array.
DOMAIN types	text / depends	Depending on compatibility options, inner type or raw wire representation (legacy).
Custom types	text	Depending on compatibility options, JSON object or raw wire representation (legacy).
(Multi-)ranges	text	Depending on compatibility options, JSON object (array for multi-ranges) or raw wire representation (legacy).

Binary data can be accessed in the Sync Streams / Sync Rules, but cannot be used as parameters. To sync binary columns/fields to clients, those columns need to be converted to hex or base64 representation using the relevant functions.

MongoDB Type Mapping

MongoDB types are mapped to SQLite types as follows:

BSON Type	PowerSync / SQLite Column Type	Notes
String	text
Int, Long	integer
Double	real
Decimal128	text
Object	text	Converted to a JSON string
Array	text	Converted to a JSON string
ObjectId	text	Lower-case hex string
UUID	text	Lower-case hex string
Boolean	integer	1 for true, 0 for false. There is no dedicated boolean data type in SQLite.
Date	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.sssZ
Null	null
Binary	blob	Cannot sync directly to client — convert to hex or base64 first. See Operators & Functions.
Regular Expression	text	JSON text in the format {"pattern":"...","options":"..."}
Timestamp	integer	Converted to a 64-bit integer
Undefined	null
DBPointer	text	JSON text in the format {"collection":"...","oid":"...","db":"...","fields":...}
JavaScript	text	JSON text in the format {"code": "...", "scope": ...}
Symbol	text
MinKey, MaxKey	null

• Data is converted to a flat list of columns, one column per top-level field in the MongoDB document.
• Special BSON types are converted to plain SQLite alternatives. For example, ObjectId, Date, UUID are all converted to a plain TEXT column.
• Nested objects and arrays are converted to JSON, and JSON functions and operators can be used to query them (in the Sync Streams / Sync Rules and/or on the client-side SQLite statements).
• Binary data nested in objects or arrays is not supported.

Binary data can be accessed in the Sync Streams / Sync Rules, but cannot be used as parameters. To sync binary columns/fields to clients, those columns need to be converted to hex or base64 representation using the relevant functions.

MySQL Type Mapping

MySQL support is currently in a Beta release.

MySQL types are mapped to SQLite types as follows:

MySQL Data Type	PowerSync / SQLite Column Type	Notes
tinyint, smallint, mediumint, bigint, integer, int	integer
numeric, decimal	text
bool, boolean	integer	1 for true, 0 for false. There is no dedicated boolean data type in SQLite.
float, double, real	real
enum	text
set	text	Converted to JSON array
char, varchar	text
tinytext, text, mediumtext, longtext	text
timestamp	text	ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ
date	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD
time, datetime	text	ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ
year	text
json	text	There is no dedicated JSON type in SQLite — JSON functions operate directly on text values.
bit	blob	* See note below regarding syncing binary types
binary, varbinary	blob
image	blob
geometry, geometrycollection	blob
point, multipoint	blob
linestring, multilinestring	blob
polygon, multipolygon	blob

Binary data can be accessed in the Sync Streams / Sync Rules, but cannot be used as parameters. To sync binary columns/fields to clients, those columns need to be converted to hex or base64 representation using the relevant functions.

SQL Server Type Mapping

SQL Server support is currently in a Beta release.

SQL Server types are mapped to SQLite types as follows:

SQL Server Data Type	PowerSync / SQLite Column Type	Notes
tinyint, smallint, int, bigint	integer
numeric, decimal	text	Numeric string
float, real	real
bit	integer
money, smallmoney	text	Numeric string
xml	text
char, nchar, ntext	text
varchar, nvarchar, text	text
uniqueidentifier	text
timestamp	text	ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ
date	text	Format: YYYY-MM-DD
time	text	Format: HH:mm:ss.sss
datetime, datetime2, smalldatetime, datetimeoffset	text	ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ
json	text	Only exists for Azure SQL Database and SQL Server 2025
geometry, geography	text	text of JSON object describing the spatial data type
binary, varbinary, image	blob	* See note below regarding binary types
rowversion, timestamp	blob	* See note below regarding binary types
User Defined Types: hiearchyid	blob	* See note below regarding binary types

Binary data can be accessed in the Sync Streams / Sync Rules, but cannot be used as parameters. To sync binary columns/fields to clients, those columns need to be converted to hex or base64 representation using the relevant functions.