Getting Started

Nitro SQLite gives React Native apps a local SQLite database on iOS and Android. Start by installing its native package and Nitro Modules, then open a database with open().

1. Install the packages

Nitro SQLite requires React Native 0.75 or newer, React 17 or newer, and react-native-nitro-modules 0.37.1 or newer.

npm install react-native-nitro-sqlite react-native-nitro-modules

2. Set up the native project

The default database location needs no custom SQLite settings. If your project has an ios directory, install the native pods after adding the packages:

npx pod-install

Android needs no additional Nitro SQLite configuration for the default setup. The iOS and Android guides cover optional storage locations and build flags.

3. Rebuild the app

An already installed binary cannot load a native module added only to JavaScript. From a standard React Native CLI project, run the native build for your platform:

npm run ios
# or
npm run android

If your app uses different scripts, run its equivalent native build. See the React Native build setup for platform prerequisites.

For an Expo project, build a native app for your platform:

npx expo run:ios
# or
npx expo run:android

Expo Go does not include Nitro SQLite. Expo's run commands generate native directories when they do not exist. If your project keeps generated native directories, follow Expo's prebuild guidance to refresh them after adding a native dependency, then rebuild.

4. Run your first query

open() returns a connection bound to a database name. SQLite creates the file if it does not exist. This example creates a table, binds a value to ?, and reads it back:

import { open } from 'react-native-nitro-sqlite'

const db = open({ name: 'app.sqlite' })

db.execute(`
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS notes (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
    body TEXT NOT NULL
  )
`)

const body = 'Read the docs'
db.execute('INSERT INTO notes (body) VALUES (?)', [body])

const { rows } = db.execute<{ id: number; body: string }>(
  'SELECT id, body FROM notes WHERE body = ?',
  [body],
)

console.log(rows._array)
db.close()

Bind user supplied values as parameters rather than putting them into the SQL string. The row generic gives rows._array and rows.item(index) a TypeScript shape; it does not validate database values at runtime. For more result details, see parameters and results.

Keep going

If SQLite is new to you, start with databases and connections, tables and values, and queries and indexes. For work that may take longer, use await db.executeAsync(...) and read sync and async before mixing the two forms. Use transactions or batches for related writes. The API reference lists the complete public API.