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shiftcraft/.claude/skills/pocketbase-best-practices/rules/ext-go-setup.md
2026-04-17 23:26:01 +00:00

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---
title: Set Up a Go-Extended PocketBase Application
impact: HIGH
impactDescription: Foundation for all custom Go business logic, hooks, and routing
tags: go, extending, setup, main, bootstrap
---
## Set Up a Go-Extended PocketBase Application
When extending PocketBase as a Go framework (v0.36+), the entry point is a small `main.go` that creates the app, registers hooks on `OnServe()`, and calls `app.Start()`. Avoid reaching for a global `app` variable inside hook handlers - use `e.App` instead so code works inside transactions.
**Incorrect (global app reuse, no OnServe hook, bare http.Handler):**
```go
package main
import (
"log"
"net/http"
"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase"
)
var app = pocketbase.New() // global reference used inside handlers
func main() {
// Routes registered directly via net/http - bypasses PocketBase's router,
// middleware chain, auth, rate limiter and body limit
http.HandleFunc("/hello", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
w.Write([]byte("hello"))
})
if err := app.Start(); err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
```
**Correct (register routes inside `OnServe`, use `e.App` in handlers):**
```go
package main
import (
"log"
"net/http"
"os"
"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase"
"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/apis"
"github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase/core"
)
func main() {
app := pocketbase.New()
app.OnServe().BindFunc(func(se *core.ServeEvent) error {
// Serve static assets from ./pb_public (if present)
se.Router.GET("/{path...}", apis.Static(os.DirFS("./pb_public"), false))
// Custom API route - namespaced under /api/{yourapp}/ to avoid
// colliding with built-in /api/collections, /api/realtime, etc.
se.Router.GET("/api/myapp/hello/{name}", func(e *core.RequestEvent) error {
return e.JSON(http.StatusOK, map[string]string{
"message": "hello " + e.Request.PathValue("name"),
})
}).Bind(apis.RequireAuth())
return se.Next()
})
if err := app.Start(); err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
}
```
**Project bootstrap:**
```bash
go mod init myapp
go mod tidy
go run . serve # development
go build && ./myapp serve # production (statically linked binary)
```
**Key details:**
- Requires **Go 1.25.0+** (PocketBase v0.36.7+ bumped the minimum to Go 1.25.0).
- PocketBase ships with the pure-Go `modernc.org/sqlite` driver - **no CGO required** by default.
- If you need FTS5, ICU, or a custom SQLite build, pass `core.DBConnect` in `pocketbase.NewWithConfig(...)` - it is called twice (once for `pb_data/data.db`, once for `pb_data/auxiliary.db`).
- Inside hooks, prefer `e.App` over a captured parent-scope `app` - the hook may run inside a transaction and the parent `app` would deadlock.
Reference: [Extend with Go - Overview](https://pocketbase.io/docs/go-overview/)