Skip to main content
Reads a cookie with the given name from the current request.

​
Signature

sqlpage.cookie(name TEXT) -> TEXT

​
Parameters

​
name
TEXT
required
The name of the cookie to read

​
Return Value

​
return
TEXT
The value of the cookie as text, or NULL if the cookie is not present

​
Description

The cookie() function reads HTTP cookies sent by the browser. Cookies are commonly used for session management, personalization, and tracking. Cookies can be set using the cookie component.

​
Examples

Read a username cookie and greet the user: 
SELECT 'text' as component,
    'Hello, ' || sqlpage.cookie('username') || '!' as contents
WHERE sqlpage.cookie('username') IS NOT NULL;

​
Session Authentication

Check if a user is logged in using a session cookie: 
SET session_id = sqlpage.cookie('session_id');

-- Redirect to login if no session
SELECT 'redirect' as component,
    '/login.sql' as link
WHERE $session_id IS NULL;

-- Verify session is valid
SET user_id = (SELECT user_id FROM sessions WHERE token = $session_id AND expires_at > CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);

SELECT 'redirect' as component,
    '/login.sql' as link
WHERE $user_id IS NULL;

-- Show protected content
SELECT 'text' as component,
    'Welcome back!' as contents;

​
Remember User Preferences

Use a cookie to remember user theme preference: 
SET theme = COALESCE(sqlpage.cookie('theme'), 'light');

SELECT 'shell' as component,
    'My Application' as title,
    $theme as theme;
Create a form to set a username cookie: 
-- Form to set username
SELECT 'form' as component;
SELECT 'username' as name, 'text' as type, 'Enter your name' as label;
Then handle the submission: 
-- When form is submitted
SELECT 'cookie' as component,
    'username' as name,
    :username as value,
    3600 * 24 * 365 as max_age -- 1 year
WHERE :username IS NOT NULL;

SELECT 'redirect' as component,
    '/' as link
WHERE :username IS NOT NULL;

​
Shopping Cart

Store a simple shopping cart in a cookie: 
-- Read cart from cookie (comma-separated product IDs)
SET cart = sqlpage.cookie('cart');

-- Display cart items
SELECT 'list' as component;
SELECT 
    name as title,
    price as description
FROM products
WHERE id IN (SELECT value FROM json_each('[' || REPLACE($cart, ',', '],[') || ']'));

​
HttpOnly Cookies

When setting cookies with the cookie component, use httponly to prevent JavaScript access: 
SELECT 'cookie' as component,
    'session_id' as name,
    sqlpage.random_string(32) as value,
    TRUE as httponly,  -- Prevents XSS attacks
    TRUE as secure;    -- HTTPS only

​
Secure Cookies

For production, always use secure cookies that are only sent over HTTPS: 
SELECT 'cookie' as component,
    'auth_token' as name,
    $token as value,
    TRUE as secure,
    TRUE as httponly,
    'Strict' as samesite;
  • session_id - Session authentication tokens
  • csrf_token - CSRF protection tokens
  • theme - User interface theme
  • language - User’s preferred language
  • cart - Shopping cart data

​
See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us