The backend for AI apps

Convex is the open-source reactive database for app developers.

npm create convex

Everything is code

From database schemas to queries, from auth to APIs, express every part of your backend in pure TypeScript. Your backend code lives next to your app code, is typechecked and autocompleted, and is generated by AI with exceptional accuracy.

Screenshot of app preview and Convex dashboard

Always in sync

Convex libraries guarantee that your app always reflects changes to your frontend code, backend code, and database state in real time. No need for state managers, cache invalidation policies, or websockets.

Backend built-ins

Create cron jobs, kick off backend AI workflows, leverage built-in auth, and tap into a growing ecosystem of components that solve common backend needs with just an npm i.

import { mutation, query }

from "./_generated/server";

import { v } from "convex/values";

export const setComplete = mutation({

args: { id: v.id("todos") },

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

await ctx.db.patch(args.id, {

// Try checking a todo--nothing happens!

// Change this to `true` and try again.

completed: false,

});

export const list = query({…});

export const add = mutation({…});

export const setIncomplete = mutation({

args: { …) },

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

await ctx.db.patch(args.id, { completed: false });

});

Try it out!

import { defineSchema, defineTable } from "convex/server";

import { v } from "convex/values";

export default defineSchema({

todos: defineTable({

text: v.string(),

category: v.optional(v.string()),

completed: v.boolean(),

}).index("by_completed", ["completed"]),

});

import { api } from "../../convex/_generated/api";

import { TodoList } from "./TodoList";

import { useQuery } from "convex/react";

export function TodoApp() {

// Load more by changing `count` to 10.

// Everything updates reactively.

const todos = useQuery(api.todos.list, { count: 5 });

return <TodoList todos={todos} />;

}

Try it out!

import { mutation, query } from "./_generated/server";

import { v } from "convex/values";

export const setComplete = mutation({…});

export const list = query({

args: { count: v.number() },

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

return await ctx.db.query("todos").order("desc").take(args.count);

});

export const add = mutation({

args: {

text: v.string(),

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

await ctx.db.insert("todos", {

text: args.text,

completed: false,

});

export const setIncomplete = mutation({

args: { id: v.id("todos") },

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

await ctx.db.patch(args.id, { completed: false });

});

import { cronJobs } from "convex/server";

import { internal } from "./_generated/api";

const crons = cronJobs();

crons.interval(

"categorize todos",

{ seconds: 5 },

internal.categorize.categorize,

{

// Add categories "Sports" and "Health"

// to see the todos categorized on the

// next cron job run.

categories: ["Chores", "Work"],

);

export default crons;

Try it out!

import { v } from "convex/values";

import { api, internal } from "./_generated/api";

import { Doc, Id } from "./_generated/dataModel";

import { internalAction, internalMutation } from "./_generated/server";

import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";

type AiCategorizeResponse = {

id: Id<"todos">;

category: string;

};

export const categorize = internalAction({

args: { categories: v.array(v.string()) },

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

const todos = await ctx.runQuery(api.todos.list, { count: 100 });

const response = await categorizeTodos(todos, args.categories);

await ctx.runMutation(internal.categorize.setCategories, {

categories: response,

});

export const setCategories = internalMutation({

args: {

categories: v.array(v.object({ id: v.id("todos"), category: v.string() })),

handler: async (ctx, args) => {

for (const category of args.categories) {

await ctx.db.patch(category.id, {

category: category.category,

});

}

});

async function categorizeTodos(

todos: Doc<"todos">[],

categories: string[],

): Promise<AiCategorizeResponse[]> {

const claude = new Anthropic({… });

const prompt = `

` The categories are: ${categories.join(", ")}.

. The todoId and todo text are:

. The todoId and todo text are: ${todos.map((todo) => `${todo._id}: ${todo.text}`).join("\n")}.

. Return a JSON object with the format: {"todos": [{"id": "$todoId", "category": "$category"}]},

. Return a JSON object with the format: {"todos": [{"id": "$todoId", "category": "$category"}]}, where $todoId is the id of the todo and $category is the task category that the todo most closely matches.

const message = await claude.messages.create({

model: "claude-3-sonnet-20240229",

max_tokens: 1000,

system:

"You are a helpful assistant that categorizes human-written todo items into categories.",

messages: [

{

role: "user",

content: prompt,

});

// Get the first text content block

const content = message.content.find((block) => block.type === "text");

if (!content || content.type !== "text") {

throw new Error("Unexpected response format from Claude");

}

return JSON.parse(content.text);

}

import { defineSchema, defineTable } from "convex/server";

import { v } from "convex/values";

export default defineSchema({

todos: defineTable({

text: v.string(),

category: v.optional(v.string()),

completed: v.boolean(),

}).index("by_completed", ["completed"]),

});

Designed for AI coding

With Convex, everything is just TypeScript. This means your favorite AI tools are pre-equipped to generate high quality code.

Learn more

Not just a database

Everything your product deserves to build, launch, and scale.

Learn more

Built to go the distance

Built by a team of experts who have designed and run some of the industry’s highest-scale, most reliable databases. When your project takes off and the stakes get high, Convex is ready.

Full ACID transactions, relational tables
Data-race freedom and the strongest possible end-to-end state consistency
SOC-2, HIPAA, GDPR compliant
Automated snapshot backup/restore, production telemetry
Integrations with the world-class services you love, like Clerk, Datadog, Netlify, Vercel

Customers

What people building their business on Convex are saying

Convex has simplified our backend operations, allowing our team to focus on delivering value to our customers. Its reliable transactions help us develop complex features quickly and reliably, tightening our feedback loop. Convex really helps us put functionality and user experience first.

Punn Kam

Co-founder

HostAI

Read case study

These days, realtime collaboration and communication are table stakes, every product is expected to nail it. Convex makes it drop-dead simple to get the crazy-hard backend to make it happen, and I get to focus on making a magical user experience.

Seth Raphael

CEO

Wonder

Convex allowed us to iterate very quickly on the models and schema by letting us see our changes deploy in real time. Convex allowed us to not think about the persistence layer, deduping of calls, loading states, pagination, or any part of the backend that you’re usually rolling yourself. The team was highly responsive and unblocked us when we needed it.

Allen Hartwig

CEO

Nut Tree

Read case study

Convex has re-imagined from the ground up what the primitives of an application platform should be, and are delivering on this vision with admirable rigor and comprehensiveness. Convex offers just about everything that a serious, modern software product might need to be successful, and the resulting DX is truly unparalleled!

RJ Dellecese

Founding Software Engineer

GlobeCommerce.co

Love for Convex

WebDevCody@webdevcody

Next + Convex (all in typescript)

Vs

Angular (typescript) + Django (python) + Postgres + S3 + Websocket DIY + SQS + IaC + DIY e2e type safety

🤔

AndyOz@andy_austin_dev

@convex_dev Simple. Fast. Realtime.

Robin@robinxpfp

I think @convex_dev might be the best DB I’ve ever used

Colin | Clerk.com@tweetsbycolin

Happy to see more first-class clerk x convex integration

There’s such a major architecture shift around Serverless + Edge + React + Typescript that (imo) it’s unlikely sql is still the right abstraction

Very compelling that convex is approaching this from first principles

Guillermo Rauch@rauchg

😱 @convex_dev is the gift that keeps on giving

Check it out in combination with @nextjs docs.convex.dev

Timothy Stepro@tim_stepro

@convex_dev is everything I wanted Firebase to be. Such a great tool. Feels illegal to know about this before others.

urubatan@urubatan

#dailytip if you are a #react developer and want an alternative to Firebase, you might want to give @convex_dev a try. It has amazing ReactHooks with samples in #Javascript and #typescript and the price isn't bad. I'm not a Firebase expert but it looks like all features are there

David Kim@dvddkkim

@convex_dev feels like what I wanted Firebase and MongoDB Realm to be and more. Really enjoying the DX so far!

James Perkins@james_r_perkins

I used @convex_dev once to make sure our integration at @ClerkDev worked and the docs matched what we expected.

It’s magical. I don’t say that lightly. I think it’s time to do a video on the channel.

Jason Lengstorf@jlengstorf

I’m working on a new app build with @convex_dev and I am *very* excited about the tech here

- DB schema defined in TS - end-to-end types (like if tRPC also set up your DB) - real-time updates Just Work™

Anshuman Bhardwaj@sun_anshuman

Managing an application's state has become easier, but the global state concept is still a pain for developers, which @convex_dev aims to solve. I made a realtime application using @convex_dev , @nextjs, and @auth0 and loved it.😍

Console - Devtools, devtools, devtools@consoledotdev

Interesting tool of the week: convex.dev by @convex_dev

We like: Makes it easy to build a live-updating web app with a document database. Strictly-typed fully relational schemas defined in code (optional, but recommended)