Supabase SDK Patterns

Overview

Production patterns for @supabase/supabase-js v2 and supabase-py, where every call returns { data, error } and success is never assumed. Covers client initialization, CRUD with filters, auth, realtime, storage, and RPC, with Python equivalents for the query patterns.

Prerequisites

• Supabase project with URL and anon key (or service role key for server-side)
• @supabase/supabase-js v2 installed (TypeScript) or supabase pip package (Python)
• TypeScript projects: generated database types via supabase gen types typescript

Instructions

Step 1: Initialize a typed singleton client

Create one client instance and reuse it. Never call createClient per-request — a singleton preserves the auth session and connection pool.

// lib/supabase.ts
import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
import type { Database } from './database.types'

let supabase: ReturnType<typeof createClient<Database>>

export function getSupabase() {
  if (!supabase) {
    supabase = createClient<Database>(
      process.env.SUPABASE_URL!,
      process.env.SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!,
      {
        auth: { autoRefreshToken: true, persistSession: true },
        db: { schema: 'public' },
        global: { headers: { 'x-app-name': 'my-app' } },
      }
    )
  }
  return supabase
}

Python equivalent:

from supabase import create_client, Client

_client: Client | None = None

def get_supabase() -> Client:
    global _client
    if _client is None:
        _client = create_client(
            os.environ["SUPABASE_URL"],
            os.environ["SUPABASE_ANON_KEY"],
        )
    return _client

Step 2: Query, filter, and mutate data

Destructure { data, error } and check error before touching data. Chain filters onto .from(table).select(...); use .select().single() after an insert/upsert to return the affected row. Skeleton:

const { data, error } = await getSupabase()
  .from('users')
  .select('id, name, email')
  .eq('active', true)
  .order('name')
  .limit(10)

if (error) throw error

For the full CRUD set (insert-with-select, upsert on conflict, update, delete, RPC), the complete 12-filter reference table, and the Python equivalents, see queries and filters.

Step 3: Auth, realtime, and storage

Auth, realtime channels, and storage all follow the same { data, error } contract. Auth exposes signUp / signInWithPassword / getSession / onAuthStateChange; realtime subscribes to postgres_changes on a channel and requires removeChannel cleanup; storage does upload / download / getPublicUrl / createSignedUrl per bucket. Full walkthroughs with code for each: see auth, realtime, and storage.

Output

Applying these patterns yields:

• Type-safe singleton client with Database generics
• CRUD operations using the full filter chain (eq, gt, in, ilike, etc.)
• Insert-with-select and upsert patterns that return the affected row
• Auth flows for sign-up, sign-in, session management, and state listeners
• Realtime subscriptions with row-level filtering and cleanup
• Storage upload/download with signed URLs for private buckets
• Python equivalents for the query patterns

Error Handling

Every Supabase call returns { data, error }. Never skip the error check.

const { data, error } = await getSupabase().from('users').select('*')

if (error) {
  // error is a PostgrestError with these fields:
  //   error.message  — human-readable description
  //   error.code     — Postgres error code (e.g., '23505')
  //   error.details  — additional context
  //   error.hint     — suggested fix from Postgres
  console.error(`Query failed [${error.code}]: ${error.message}`)
  throw error
}

// Only safe to use data after the error check

Examples

The recommended production shape is a typed service layer that wraps the client so callers never touch raw queries, plus a pagination helper that returns a page of rows and the total count in one round trip. Both full, copy-ready implementations are in service patterns.

Resources

• Supabase JS Client Reference
• TypeScript Support & Type Generation
• Supabase Auth Reference
• Realtime Guide
• Storage Guide
• Python Client Reference

Next Steps

For database schema design, see supabase-schema-from-requirements. For auth deep-dive with RLS policies, see supabase-install-auth. For realtime architecture patterns, see supabase-auth-storage-realtime-core.