pearcord-db

Local persistence for Pearcord: HyperDB (RocksDB) when the schema is built, with automatic fallback to a JSON file store.

Mission

Offer one LocalDatabase class that serializes all reads/writes, picks the best engine at runtime, and exposes a minimal insert / get / find / delete API aligned with @pearcord/* collections from pearcord-shared.

When to use / not

Use when:

• Any module needs durable guild, user, message, or invite rows on disk.
• You want engine-agnostic storage (hyperdb vs json) without branching in callers.

Do not use when:

• You only need in-memory structures or P2P gossip without local materialization.
• You need Autobase multi-writer replication — planned in pearcord-sync (not wired yet).

Public API

Export	Role
LocalDatabase	Main facade (storagePath → db/ directory)
LocalDatabase#ready()	Opens HyperDB or JsonStore backend
LocalDatabase#insert(collection, record)	Upsert by collection primary key
LocalDatabase#get(collection, query)	Single-row lookup
LocalDatabase#find(collection, query, opts?)	Query; supports { limit }; normalizes async iterators
LocalDatabase#delete(collection, query)	Remove matching row
LocalDatabase#close()	Close backend
LocalDatabase#getEngine()	'hyperdb' or 'json'
hasHyperDB	true if hyperdb + generated spec/hyperdb loaded
jsonStoreHasUsers(storagePath)	Migration probe: legacy JSON has users
JsonStore	Subpath export pearcord-db/store-json — standalone JSON backend

LocalDatabase uses an internal promise chain (_serialize) so concurrent mutations do not interleave.

P2P surface

None. This module is local-only. Peers replicate via gossip into the same collections on other devices; pearcord-guild writes inbound RPC payloads through platform handlers that call db.insert.

Storage

Engine	Path	When
HyperDB (Rocks)	{storagePath}/ (RocksDB files via HyperDB.rocks)	hyperdb installed and spec/hyperdb/index.js exists after npm run build:schema — primary engine (P0-3 complete)
JSON	{storagePath}/pearcord-db.json	Fallback if HyperDB unavailable, or HyperDB empty while JSON already has users

Platform default path: {PEARCORD_STORAGE or ~/.config/pearcord}/db.

DM metadata uses a separate JsonStore at {storagePath}/dm-meta (platform-only).

Platform integration

const { LocalDatabase } = require('pearcord-db')
// PearcordPlatform constructor:
this.dbPath = path.join(this.storagePath, 'db')
this.db = new LocalDatabase(this.dbPath)

Shared by pearcord-identity, pearcord-guild, pearcord-message, pearcord-invite, and direct platform queries (listGuilds, search, audit). Platform checks this.db.getEngine() for HyperDB-optimized message scans.

UI / IPC

No direct UI dependency. All IPC flows go through pearcord-platform, which owns the single LocalDatabase instance per session.

Related docs

• HYPERDB.md — schema build, collections, v9 replyToId
• MODULES.md — dependency graph
• ARCHITECTURE.md — storage layout
• GETTING_STARTED.md — PEARCORD_STORAGE
• AUTOMATED_TESTING.md — schema smoke targets

Tests

From apps/pearcord:

• npm run test:hyperdb — smoke-hyperdb.cjs
• npm run test:schema-v9 — smoke-schema-v9.cjs

Both use LocalDatabase and hasHyperDB from this package.

Code example

const path = require('bare-path')
const { LocalDatabase } = require('pearcord-db')
const { COLLECTIONS, id, now } = require('pearcord-shared')

const db = new LocalDatabase(path.join('/tmp/pearcord-demo', 'db'))
await db.ready()
console.log('engine:', db.getEngine())

await db.insert(COLLECTIONS.USERS, {
  id: id(),
  username: 'alice',
  createdAt: now()
})

const users = await db.find(COLLECTIONS.USERS, {})
await db.close()

Build HyperDB schema:

cd modules/pearcord-db && npm install && npm run build:schema

Repository

Part of Pearcord.

• Org: pearcord
• Clone: git clone https://git.ssh.surf/pearcord/pearcord-db.git
• Install: npm install git+https://git.ssh.surf/pearcord/pearcord-db.git#main