Extend with Go - Collection operations - Docs

Collections are usually managed via the Dashboard interface, but there are some situations where you may want to create or edit a collection programmatically (usually as part of a DB migration). You can find all available Collection related operations and methods in core.App and core.Collection , but below are listed some of the most common ones:

Fetch collections

Fetch single collection

All single collection retrieval methods return nil and sql.ErrNoRows error if no collection is found.

collection, err := app.FindCollectionByNameOrId("example") 

Fetch multiple collections

All multiple collections retrieval methods return empty slice and nil error if no collections are found.

allCollections, err := app.FindAllCollections()

authAndViewCollections, err := app.FindAllCollections(core.CollectionTypeAuth, core.CollectionTypeView) 

Custom collection query

In addition to the above query helpers, you can also create custom Collection queries using CollectionQuery() method. It returns a SELECT DB builder that can be used with the same methods described in the Database guide.

import (
    "github.com/pocketbase/dbx"
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
)

...

func FindSystemCollections(app core.App) ([]*core.Collection, error) {
    collections := []*core.Collection{}

    err := app.CollectionQuery().
        AndWhere(dbx.HashExp{"system": true}).
        OrderBy("created DESC").
        All(&collections)

    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }

    return collections, nil
} 

Collection properties

Id      string
Name    string
Type    string // "base", "view", "auth"
System  bool // !prevent collection rename, deletion and rules change of internal collections like _superusers
Fields  core.FieldsList
Indexes types.JSONArray[string]
Created types.DateTime
Updated types.DateTime

// CRUD rules
ListRule   *string
ViewRule   *string
CreateRule *string
UpdateRule *string
DeleteRule *string

// "view" type specific options
// (see https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/blob/master/core/collection_model_view_options.go)
ViewQuery string

// "auth" type specific options
// (see https://github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/blob/master/core/collection_model_auth_options.go)
AuthRule                   *string
ManageRule                 *string
AuthAlert                  core.AuthAlertConfig
OAuth2                     core.OAuth2Config
PasswordAuth               core.PasswordAuthConfig
MFA                        core.MFAConfig
OTP                        core.OTPConfig
AuthToken                  core.TokenConfig
PasswordResetToken         core.TokenConfig
EmailChangeToken           core.TokenConfig
VerificationToken          core.TokenConfig
FileToken                  core.TokenConfig
VerificationTemplate       core.EmailTemplate
ResetPasswordTemplate      core.EmailTemplate
ConfirmEmailChangeTemplate core.EmailTemplate 

Field definitions

Create new collection

import (
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/types"
)

...

// core.NewAuthCollection("example")
// core.NewViewCollection("example")
collection := core.NewBaseCollection("example")

// set rules
collection.ViewRule = types.Pointer("@request.auth.id != ''")
collection.CreateRule = types.Pointer("@request.auth.id != '' && @request.body.user = @request.auth.id")
collection.UpdateRule = types.Pointer(`
    @request.auth.id != '' &&
    user = @request.auth.id &&
    (@request.body.user:isset = false || @request.body.user = @request.auth.id)
`)

// add text field
collection.Fields.Add(&core.TextField{
    Name:     "title",
    Required: true,
    Max:      100,
})

// add relation field
usersCollection, err := app.FindCollectionByNameOrId("users")
if err != nil {
    return err
}
collection.Fields.Add(&core.RelationField{
    Name:          "user",
    Required:      true,
    Max:           100,
    CascadeDelete: true,
    CollectionId:  usersCollection.Id,
})

// add autodate/timestamp fields (created/updated)
collection.Fields.Add(&core.AutodateField{
    Name:     "created",
    OnCreate: true,
})
collection.Fields.Add(&core.AutodateField{
    Name:     "updated",
    OnCreate: true,
    OnUpdate: true,
})

// or: collection.Indexes = []string{"CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_example_user ON example (user)"}
collection.AddIndex("idx_example_user", true, "user", "")

// validate and persist
// (use SaveNoValidate to skip fields validation)
err = app.Save(collection)
if err != nil {
    return err
} 

Update existing collection

import (
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
    "github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/tools/types"
)

...

collection, err := app.FindCollectionByNameOrId("example")
if err != nil {
    return err
}

// change rule
collection.DeleteRule = types.Pointer("@request.auth.id != ''")

// add new editor field
collection.Fields.Add(&core.EditorField{
    Name:     "description",
    Required: true,
})

// change existing field
// (returns a pointer and direct modifications are allowed without the need of reinsert)
titleField := collection.Fields.GetByName("title").(*core.TextField)
titleField.Min = 10

// or: collection.Indexes = append(collection.Indexes, "CREATE INDEX idx_example_title ON example (title)")
collection.AddIndex("idx_example_title", false, "title", "")

// validate and persist
// (use SaveNoValidate to skip fields validation)
err = app.Save(collection)
if err != nil {
    return err
} 

Delete collection

collection, err := app.FindCollectionByNameOrId("example")
if err != nil {
    return err
}

err = app.Delete(collection)
if err != nil {
    return err
} 