Adapters

const pouch = new PouchDB('myDB');
console.log(pouch.adapter); // prints 'idb'

const db = new PouchDB('myDB.db', {adapter: 'cordova-sqlite'});

Browser adapter plugins

PouchDB also offers separate browser plugins that use backends other than IndexedDB. These plugins fully pass the PouchDB test suite and are rigorously tested in our CI process.

Downloads:

• pouchdb.memory.js (Minified: pouchdb.memory.min.js)
• pouchdb.localstorage.js (Minified: pouchdb.localstorage.min.js)

In-memory adapter

If you want a quick database for your unit tests, you can use the pouchdb.memory.js plugin, which offers a pure in-memory PouchDB:

<script src="pouchdb.js"></script>
<script src="pouchdb.memory.js"></script>
<script>
  // this pouch is ephemeral; it only exists in memory
  const pouch = new PouchDB('mydb', {adapter: 'memory'});
</script>

This pouch will act exactly like a normal one – replicating, storing attachments, pagination, etc. – but it will be deleted as soon as the user closes their browser. However, multiple PouchDB objects with the same database name will share the same data:

// pouch1 and pouch2 will share the same data
const pouch1 = new PouchDB('myDB', {adapter: 'memory'});
const pouch2 = new PouchDB('myDB', {adapter: 'memory'});

// pouch3 will have its own data
const pouch3 = new PouchDB('myOtherDB', {adapter: 'memory'});

LocalStorage adapter

If you need to support very old browsers, such as IE ≤ 9.0 and Opera Mini, you can use the pouchdb.localstorage.js plugin, which allows PouchDB to fall back to LocalStorage on browsers that don't support either IndexedDB or WebSQL. The es5-shims will also be necessary.

<script src="pouchdb.js"></script>
<script src="pouchdb.localstorage.js"></script>
<script>
  // this pouch is backed by LocalStorage
  const pouch = new PouchDB('mydb', {adapter: 'localstorage'});
</script>

In-memory

Just as in the browser, you can also create a pure in-memory PouchDB:

$ npm install pouchdb-adapter-memory

then:

PouchDB.plugin(require('pouchdb-adapter-memory'));
const pouch = new PouchDB('myDB', {adapter: 'memory'});

This implementation is based on MemDOWN, and will not write any changes to disk.

Node SQLite adapter

You can also use PouchDB over SQLite3 in Node, using the WebSQL adapter and node-websql:

const PouchDB = require('pouchdb');
PouchDB.plugin(require('pouchdb-adapter-node-websql'));

const db = new PouchDB('mydatabase.db', {adapter: 'websql'});

In this case, PouchDB is directly using SQLite queries to build the database, exactly as the WebSQL adapter would.

See "Prebuilt databases with PouchDB" for a guide to how you might use this adapter to create prebuilt SQLite database files for adapters such as Cordova or Electron.

Other LevelDOWN adapters

Technically you are free to use any LevelDOWN-based implementation in either Node or the browser. However this should be considered extremely experimental and not designed for production use.

See pouchdb-adapter-leveldb-core for details.

In both the browser and in Node.js, PouchDB can also function as a straightforward API on top of any CouchDB-compliant database:

const pouch = new PouchDB('http://my-site.com:5984/my-db');
const securePouch = new PouchDB('https://my-secure-site.com:5984/my-secure-db');

You can also sync to and from these databases to your local PouchDB.

Currently PouchDB has full support for:

• CouchDB 1.x
• Smileupps (same as 1.x)
• CouchDB 2.x (tested in CI)
• CouchDB 3.x (tested in CI)
• Cloudant (roughly the same as 2.x)
• PouchDB Server (tested in CI)
• PouchDB Server --in-memory mode

Drupal 8 has also announced support for PouchDB, and there is rcouch as well, but these are both untested by PouchDB.

If you are ever unsure about a server, consider replicating from PouchDB to CouchDB, then from that CouchDB to the other server.

PouchDB Server

PouchDB Server is a standalone REST server that implements the CouchDB API, while using a LevelDB-based PouchDB under the hood. It also supports an --in-memory mode and any LevelDOWN adapter, which you may find handy.

PouchDB Server passes the PouchDB test suite at 100%, but be aware that it is not as full-featured or battle-tested as CouchDB.

PouchDB Express

The underlying module for PouchDB Server, Express PouchDB is an Express submodule that mimics most of the CouchDB API within your Express application.

The best place to look for information on which browsers support which databases is caniuse.com. You can consult their tables on browser support for various backends:

• IndexedDB
• WebSQL
• LocalStorage