Your first typed SDK

In this tutorial you will point pbkit at a PocketBase instance, generate a typed SDK, and use it to read, list, and create records. It takes about a minute and assumes pbkit is already installed — if not, follow Install pbkit first.

By the end you will understand the three files pbkit generates and how to call them.

1. Create a config file

Create pbkit.config.ts in your project root:

pbkit.config.ts

export default {
  input: "https://my-pb.example.com",
  output: "./src/generated",
  sdk: {
    baseUrl: "https://my-pb.example.com",
  },
}

You can also point to an exported JSON schema:

export default {
  input: "./pb_schema.json",
  output: "./src/generated",
  sdk: {
    baseUrl: "https://my-pb.example.com",
  },
}

2. Generate

bunx pbkit generate

This creates generated files in ./src/generated:

• types.gen.ts — TypeScript interfaces
• client.gen.ts — PocketBase client singleton
• sdk.gen.ts — Typed CRUD functions

3. Use the generated SDK

import { getArticle, listArticles, createArticle } from "./generated/sdk.gen"
import type { ArticlesCreate, ArticlesRecord } from "./generated/types.gen"

// Get a single record
const article: ArticlesRecord = await getArticle("RECORD_ID")

// Expand relations with autocomplete
const withAuthor = await getArticle("RECORD_ID", {
  expand: "author",
})

// List with pagination
const page = await listArticles({ page: 1, perPage: 20 })

// Create
const draft: ArticlesCreate = {
  title: "Hello",
  status: "draft",
  author: "USER_ID",
}

const newArticle = await createArticle(draft)

That’s it — you have a fully typed SDK with autocomplete and compile-time checks, generated entirely from your schema.

What just happened?

pbkit read your schema and wrote three files into ./src/generated:

File	What it is
types.gen.ts	TypeScript interfaces for every collection (ArticlesRecord, ArticlesCreate, …)
client.gen.ts	A PocketBase client initialized with your sdk.baseUrl
sdk.gen.ts	The typed CRUD functions you imported (getArticle, listArticles, createArticle, …)

By default the SDK functions talk to the client exported from client.gen.ts. You only ever import from sdk.gen.ts and types.gen.ts — never edit these files by hand, since they are overwritten on every run.

For why pbkit splits the output this way, see The generated files.

Keep your SDK in sync

Whenever your PocketBase schema changes, run bunx pbkit generate again. During active development you can leave it watching:

bunx pbkit generate --watch

This polls the schema every 10 seconds and regenerates on changes. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Next steps

• Migrate from pocketbase-typegen — moving an existing project
• Configuration reference — every available option
• Add TanStack Query or Zod schemas via plugins