Is PocketBase Down Right Now?
PocketBase is self-hosted — outages are your infrastructure, not a cloud service. This guide covers diagnosing PocketBase API errors, real-time subscription issues, process crashes, and deployment problems.
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Check Your PocketBase Instance
PocketBase is self-hosted — check your server directly:
PocketBase Architecture Components
PocketBase bundles a full backend into a single Go binary. Understanding each component helps diagnose issues:
Auto-generated CRUD API for all collections
Server-Sent Events for live collection updates
Web dashboard at /_/ for schema and data management
User auth, OAuth2, email/password, and magic links
File uploads attached to collection records
Embedded SQLite database (pb_data/data.db)
Go extensions for custom business logic
Transactional email for auth and notifications
Monitor your PocketBase instance 24/7
Self-hosted means self-monitored. Better Stack pings your PocketBase URL every 30 seconds and alerts you instantly when it goes down.
Try Better Stack Free →Common PocketBase Errors & Fixes
connection refusedPocketBase process is not running or port is blockedFix: Restart the PocketBase process; check firewall rules on the host server
400 Bad RequestInvalid request data or validation failureFix: Check the error response body for field-level validation messages
401 UnauthorizedMissing or expired auth tokenFix: Re-authenticate; check token expiry — PocketBase tokens expire after 7 days by default
403 ForbiddenUser lacks collection access rulesFix: Review collection API rules in the Admin UI; ensure the rule allows the requested action
404 Not FoundRecord or collection does not existFix: Verify the collection name and record ID; check case sensitivity
500 Internal Server ErrorPocketBase process error or database corruptionFix: Check PocketBase logs; if SQLite is corrupted, restore from backup
🖥️ Self-Hosted Reliability Checklist
PocketBase reliability depends on your infrastructure setup. Key steps to keep it running:
- ✅ Run PocketBase as a systemd service with Restart=always
- ✅ Set up external uptime monitoring (Better Stack, UptimeRobot)
- ✅ Configure daily automated SQLite backups to off-server storage
- ✅ Use a reverse proxy (Nginx/Caddy) with SSE timeout configured
- ✅ Monitor disk space — SQLite growth can fill volumes
- ✅ Pin PocketBase version and test upgrades in staging first
Troubleshooting PocketBase Issues
Check if the process is running
Run ps aux | grep pocketbase and journalctl -u pocketbase -n 50 to see if the process is alive and review recent logs.
Test direct API access
Bypass your proxy and test PocketBase directly: curl http://localhost:8090/api/health. If this works but your public URL doesn't, the issue is in your reverse proxy config.
Configure Nginx for SSE
Add proxy_read_timeout 3600; and proxy_buffering off; to your Nginx location block. Without these, SSE connections drop after 60 seconds.
Set up uptime monitoring
Use Better Stack to monitor /api/health every 30 seconds. Get Slack/email alerts before users notice downtime.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is PocketBase down right now?
PocketBase is self-hosted software, so "down" means your own deployment is unavailable — not a cloud service. Check if the PocketBase process is running on your server, if the port (default 8090) is accessible, and if your hosting provider has any infrastructure issues. Use uptime monitoring on your PocketBase URL to get alerts when it goes down.
Why is PocketBase returning connection refused?
PocketBase "connection refused" errors mean: (1) The PocketBase process is not running — check with ps aux | grep pocketbase, (2) The process crashed — check the process logs for panic messages, (3) PocketBase is listening on a different port than expected (default is 8090), (4) Firewall rules are blocking the port, (5) Your deployment platform restarted the container without a restart policy. Ensure PocketBase runs as a service (systemd, Docker with restart: always, etc.).
Why are PocketBase real-time subscriptions disconnecting?
PocketBase uses SSE (Server-Sent Events) for real-time. Disconnections happen when: (1) The PocketBase server restarts, (2) A proxy (Nginx, Cloudflare) is timing out the long-lived SSE connection — increase proxy_read_timeout, (3) The client loses network access, (4) Memory pressure causes the PocketBase process to crash. The PocketBase JS SDK auto-reconnects, but you should monitor for repeated disconnects.
How do I back up PocketBase data?
PocketBase stores all data in a single SQLite file (pb_data/data.db). Back it up by: (1) Using the Admin UI → Settings → Backups for manual or scheduled backups, (2) Running sqlite3 pb_data/data.db ".backup /path/to/backup.db" from the command line, (3) Copying pb_data/ directory when PocketBase is stopped (offline backup), (4) Using a cron job to create timestamped copies of data.db. Store backups off-server (S3, Backblaze, etc.).
Why is the PocketBase admin UI not loading?
If the PocketBase admin UI at /_/ is not loading: (1) Verify PocketBase is running and the port is accessible, (2) Check if your reverse proxy is correctly forwarding requests — ensure the path /_/ is not being blocked, (3) Clear browser cache — the admin UI is a SPA that can get cached in a broken state, (4) Try accessing PocketBase directly on its port without a proxy to isolate the issue, (5) Check PocketBase logs for any startup errors.
🌐 Can't Access PocketBase?
If PocketBase is working for others but not for you, it might be an ISP or regional issue. A VPN can help bypass network-level blocks and routing problems.
Troubleshoot with a VPN
Connect from a different region to test if the issue is local to your network. Also protects your connection on public Wi-Fi.
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