Convex

Convex API Skill

Quick Start

Convex manages your database, server functions, and client state. You write server functions in TypeScript, and Convex automatically syncs the results to your React frontend via WebSockets.

npm install convex

Common Workflows

Realtime Queries

Write a query function in your convex/ folder. In your React component, use useQuery(api.messages.list). Convex handles the WebSocket subscription; if the database changes, the React component automatically re-renders.

Production Patterns

Mutations and Actions

Use mutation functions for deterministic database writes. Use action functions (which can call third-party APIs like OpenAI or Stripe) for non-deterministic side effects. Actions can subsequently call mutations to update the database.

Error Recovery

Convex automatically retries deterministic queries and mutations if they fail due to transient database locks. Actions are NOT retried automatically; handle HTTP failures explicitly within your action code.

Security Notes

Enforce authorization directly within your Convex query and mutation functions by verifying the ctx.auth object before reading or writing data.

Performance Considerations

Because queries are strictly deterministic, Convex caches their results transparently. Avoid fetching massive data sets; utilize pagination patterns or explicit limit clauses.

Testing Guidance

Use the convex-test library to write unit tests for your backend functions, passing in mock authentication states to verify your row-level security logic.

Troubleshooting

If a mutation throws a non-deterministic error (e.g., Math.random() or fetch()), Convex will reject it. Move side-effects into action functions.

References

• Convex Docs

Related Skills

• Clerk
• Vercel

Why use this skill

Use this when your agent works with convex — structured patterns beat pasted docs and prevent common hallucinations.

AI pitfalls

• Inventing column names or schema fields
• Using deprecated driver methods or wrong connection strings
• Omitting connection pooling or transaction boundaries

Production checklist

• Migrations version-controlled and applied via CI
• Connection limits and pooling configured
• Backups and restore procedure documented

Related skills

• clerk — related to
• vercel — related to

Last Verified: 2026-07-02