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Turso Driver Laravel Laravel Package
tursodatabase/turso-driver-laravel
Laravel database driver for Turso (libSQL) that lets your app use Turso's SQLite-compatible embedded and remote databases through Laravel's native DB layer. Add a connection and keep using Eloquent, migrations, and the query builder with edge-friendly, replicated SQLite storage.
Turso Driver for Laravel with Native libSQL - Community SDK
Frequently asked questions about Turso Driver Laravel
- What is the Turso driver for Laravel and how does it work?
- It is a community SDK that adds a Laravel database driver for Turso, the SQLite-compatible libSQL platform. Instead of a PDO extension, it registers a custom Laravel connector that routes Eloquent, the query builder, and raw queries to libSQL through the native libSQL C library via FFI. That means your app keeps using Laravel's DB layer, but the connection path and dialect are SQLite-based rather than MySQL or Postgres.
- How do I install and configure tursodatabase/turso-driver-laravel?
- Install it with Composer, register the package service provider, and add a connection entry in config/database.php for your Turso endpoint or embedded database. From there you can set it as the default connection or reach it explicitly with DB::connection('turso'). Confirm the driver name and required credentials in the package README before wiring it into your .env file.
- Does this package require FFI and a native libsql binary?
- Yes. The driver uses PHP FFI against the native libSQL C library, so ffi.enable must be on and a compatible libsql binary must be present on the host. That binary has to match your OS and architecture, including glibc versus musl and x86 versus ARM. FFI is frequently disabled on managed hosting, so validate your deployment target before committing to this driver.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does the Turso driver support?
- Check the declared support matrix in the package's composer.json and README, because a small community driver tends to lag behind major Laravel releases. Pin the package and framework versions in composer.json and review changelogs before upgrading Laravel. Look for CI evidence across the PHP versions you actually deploy rather than assuming parity.
- Does it support migrations, the schema builder, and Eloquent relationships?
- Laravel's SQLite grammar covers a lot of query builder behavior, so Eloquent and basic migrations often work, but you must verify the driver's schema builder output yourself. Exercise UPSERT, RETURNING, generated columns, JSON functions, and date/time handling in a staging environment. Run a full slice of your app, including relationships and raw queries, before trusting it with real data.
- How do transactions, rollbacks, and network timeouts behave with Turso and libSQL?
- Transaction semantics over libSQL, especially remote or HTTP access, can differ from local SQLite guarantees, so test commit, rollback, and lock contention explicitly. Verify that connection failures and timeouts surface as Laravel QueryExceptions so your existing error handling still works. If your workload is write-heavy or depends on strict transactional isolation, treat this driver as unproven until you have load-tested it.
- Can I use Turso as an embedded replica or read replica with this driver?
- The package targets Turso's SQLite-compatible embedded and remote databases and is pitched as edge-friendly, replicated storage. Whether it exposes embedded replica sync and read-replica routing, or only a single endpoint, depends on the driver version, so confirm in the source and README. The safest pattern is to start with Turso as a secondary read or reporting store before considering it as a primary.
- Can this driver coexist with MySQL or Postgres connections in the same Laravel app?
- Yes in principle. It registers as another connection in config/database.php, so you can keep your existing MySQL or Postgres connection and add Turso alongside it. Be aware that you are adding a second dialect and connection path, and models, raw queries, and migrations must be explicit about which connection they target. For teams not committed to Turso, that complexity usually has no clear payoff.
- Is the Turso Laravel driver production-ready, and what are the maintenance risks?
- Treat it as an early-stage community SDK: modest star count, limited production exposure, and no vendor-backed SLA. Risks include incomplete Eloquent or schema-builder parity, FFI portability, native binary version drift with upstream libSQL, and framework upgrades stranding the driver. If you adopt it, pin versions, keep a fallback path such as a pure-PHP libSQL or HTTP client, and budget time for reading the source.
- How should I test a Laravel app that uses the Turso driver?
- Run your existing test suite against a real Turso database or embedded libSQL file rather than mocking the connection, since the driver's value is in the actual connection path. Add targeted tests for migrations, transactions, rollback behavior, JSON columns, and date handling. Include a staging copy of a representative app slice and CI jobs on the same OS and architecture as production, because FFI and binary compatibility are common failure points.
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