hermes-config/skills/self-hosting/pocketbase-setup/references/pocketbase-schema-fields.md

Adding Fields to PocketBase Collection Schema

PocketBase silently drops fields not defined in the collection schema — HTTP 200, no error, data just disappears. When you add new fields to the data model, you MUST also add them to the PocketBase schema via API.

The problem

Services saved with recommendation and explanation fields appeared to save successfully, but the fields were missing when read back. Root cause: the services collection schema only had name, price, description, category, duration — unknown fields were silently stripped on create/update.

Detection

Query the collection schema to see current fields:

# Auth + list collections
auth = api("POST", "/api/collections/_superusers/auth-with-password", {
    "identity": "admin@example.com",
    "password": "password"
})
token = auth["token"]
cols = api("GET", "/api/collections", token=token)
svc = next(c for c in cols["items"] if c["name"] == "services")
print([f["name"] for f in svc["fields"]])
# ['id', 'userId', 'name', 'description', 'price', 'category', ...]

Fix: PATCH the collection

Add missing fields by PATCHing the complete fields array (including existing fields):

existing_fields = svc["fields"]
new_fields = [
    {"autogeneratePattern":"","hidden":False,"id":"text_rec_new","max":0,"min":0,
     "name":"recommendation","pattern":"","presentable":False,"primaryKey":False,
     "required":False,"system":False,"type":"text"},
    {"autogeneratePattern":"","hidden":False,"id":"text_exp_new","max":0,"min":0,
     "name":"explanation","pattern":"","presentable":False,"primaryKey":False,
     "required":False,"system":False,"type":"text"},
]
result = api("PATCH", f"/api/collections/{svc['id']}", 
              {"fields": existing_fields + new_fields}, token=token)

Important: You must send the COMPLETE fields array, not just the new fields. PocketBase replaces the entire schema. Each field needs a unique id string — use descriptive names like text_rec_001 or UUIDs.

Full script

See scripts/pb_add_fields.py for a reusable script that auths, lists collections, and adds specified fields.