What is lovefield?

google/lovefield — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 6,781JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Lovefield))
    What it does
      In-browser database
      SQL-like queries
      No server needed
    Features
      Relational data
      Cross-browser support
      Local client storage
    Use Cases
      Offline web apps
      Client-side data
      Relational queries
    Status
      Maintenance mode
      Google open source
      2015 era project

mindmap root((Lovefield)) What it does In-browser database SQL-like queries No server needed Features Relational data Cross-browser support Local client storage Use Cases Offline web apps Client-side data Relational queries Status Maintenance mode Google open source 2015 era project

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Store and query structured data in a browser-only app without needing a backend database or server.

USE CASE 2

Build an offline-capable web app that uses relational joins and SQL-like queries on local client data.

USE CASE 3

Prototype a data-heavy web application using familiar SQL-style syntax before adding a real backend.

What is it built with?

JavaScript

How does it compare?

	google/lovefield	imfunniee/gitfolio	choices-js/choices
Stars	6,781	6,781	6,782
Language	JavaScript	JavaScript	JavaScript
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	easy
Complexity	3/5	1/5	2/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Project is in maintenance mode, documentation lives on external links that may be outdated.

So what is it?

Lovefield is a relational database that runs inside a web browser. It is written in pure JavaScript, meaning it does not require any server-side component to work. You can store, query, and update structured data directly within the browser using an API that resembles SQL, the standard language used to interact with traditional databases. The project is aimed at web developers who want to work with structured data in a client-side application without the complexity of setting up a server database. Instead of sending queries to a remote server, all data operations happen locally in the browser. Lovefield was designed to work across multiple browsers, including older versions of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Safari. The README is brief and points to external documentation for getting started, including a quick-start demo, a FAQ, a full specification, and design documents. A short video from 2015 provides a seven-minute overview, and a longer presentation from a JavaScript meetup gives a thirty-minute introduction to the project. Lovefield was created at Google and released as open source. The project appears to be in maintenance mode rather than active development, based on the age of the linked materials and the Travis CI badge pointing to an older continuous integration service.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to define a Lovefield schema with two related tables and run a JOIN query entirely in the browser.

Prompt 2

Write JavaScript using Lovefield to insert rows into an in-browser database and retrieve them filtered by a condition.

Prompt 3

How do I set up Lovefield in a plain HTML and JavaScript project to store and query user preferences locally?

Prompt 4

Migrate data between Lovefield schema versions when my app updates and adds a new column to an existing table.

Frequently asked questions