Short answer: the core LinkedQL live query engine runs on the backend today, and there’s an embeddable variant (FlashQL) that runs directly in the frontend with the same LinkedQL capabilities – live queries, DeepRefs, etc.
1. Pure frontend / local data
For data that can live entirely on the client, you can spin up an in-browser FlashQL instance:
const client = new FlashQL(); // runs in the page / worker
await client.query(`
CREATE TABLE users (
id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
name TEXT
)
`);
// Live query works the same way as on the backend:
const result = await client.query(
'SELECT * FROM users',
{ live: true }
);
From there, result is a live result set: inserts/updates/deletes that match the query will show up in the rows, and all the same features (live queries, DeepRefs, etc.) behave as they do on a backend instance.
At the moment FlashQL is in-memory only; persistence backends like IndexedDB / LocalStorage are on the roadmap.
2. Remote database from the frontend
If your source of truth is a remote Postgres/MySQL instance, the model we’re building is:
a LinkedQL engine next to the database, and
a FlashQL instance in the frontend that federates/syncs with that backend engine.
alt Hacker News
Author here — thanks for checking it out.
Short answer: the core LinkedQL live query engine runs on the backend today, and there’s an embeddable variant (FlashQL) that runs directly in the frontend with the same LinkedQL capabilities – live queries, DeepRefs, etc.
1. Pure frontend / local data
For data that can live entirely on the client, you can spin up an in-browser FlashQL instance:
const client = new FlashQL(); // runs in the page / worker
await client.query(` CREATE TABLE users ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT ) `);
// Live query works the same way as on the backend: const result = await client.query( 'SELECT * FROM users', { live: true } );
From there, result is a live result set: inserts/updates/deletes that match the query will show up in the rows, and all the same features (live queries, DeepRefs, etc.) behave as they do on a backend instance.
At the moment FlashQL is in-memory only; persistence backends like IndexedDB / LocalStorage are on the roadmap.
2. Remote database from the frontend
If your source of truth is a remote Postgres/MySQL instance, the model we’re building is:
a LinkedQL engine next to the database, and
a FlashQL instance in the frontend that federates/syncs with that backend engine.
That federation/sync path is in alpha right now (early docs here: https://linked-ql.netlify.app/flashql/foreign-io ), so today the “stable” story is:
run LinkedQL on the backend against Postgres/MySQL,
expose whatever API you like to the frontend,
and use FlashQL locally where a client-side store makes sense.
The goal is that the frontend doesn’t need a special framework — just a LinkedQL/FlashQL client wherever JavaScript runs.