Storage Options

Storage Options

SQLiteOptions controls how specific .NET types are stored in and read from the database. Build one via SQLiteOptionsBuilder, then hand the immutable result to SQLiteDatabase:

SQLiteOptions options = new SQLiteOptionsBuilder("mydb.sqlite")
    .UseDateTimeStorage(DateTimeStorageMode.TextFormatted, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")
    .Build();

using SQLiteDatabase db = new(options);

UseDateTimeStorage, UseDateTimeOffsetStorage, UseTimeSpanStorage, UseDateOnlyStorage, UseTimeOnlyStorage, UseDecimalStorage, and UseEnumStorage each set the corresponding mode and optionally the format string. Chain them together with AddTypeConverter, AddMethodTranslator, AddPropertyTranslator, UseWalMode, UseOpenFlags, and UseEncryptionKey to configure the whole database in one place.

Once you call Build(), the returned SQLiteOptions is fully read-only. If you need to change a setting, build a new options instance.

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DateTime

Property	Type	Default
DateTimeStorage	DateTimeStorageMode	Integer
DateTimeFormat	string	"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Integer	INTEGER	638000000000000000
TextTicks	TEXT	"638000000000000000"
TextFormatted	TEXT	"2000-02-03 04:05:06"

TextFormatted uses DateTimeFormat as the format string when reading and writing values.

LINQ property access (Year, Month, Day, etc.) is not supported with TextFormatted. Switch to Integer if you need it.

TextTicks stores the tick count as a TEXT string. It is provided for compatibility with other SQLite libraries that use this format.

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DateTimeOffset

Property	Type	Default
DateTimeOffsetStorage	DateTimeOffsetStorageMode	Ticks
DateTimeOffsetFormat	string	"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss zzz"

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Ticks	INTEGER	638000000000000000
UtcTicks	INTEGER	638000000000000000
TextFormatted	TEXT	"2000-02-03 04:05:06 +05:30"

Ticks stores the local tick count. The original offset is not stored, so you need a separate column to preserve it.

UtcTicks stores the UTC tick count. The original offset is not preserved.

TextFormatted uses DateTimeOffsetFormat as the format string when reading and writing values.

LINQ property access (Year, Month, Day, etc.) is not supported with TextFormatted. Switch to Ticks if you need it.

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DateOnly

Property	Type	Default
DateOnlyStorage	DateOnlyStorageMode	Integer
DateOnlyFormat	string	"yyyy-MM-dd"

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Integer	INTEGER	638000000000000000
Text	TEXT	"2000-02-03"

Text uses DateOnlyFormat as the format string when reading and writing values.

LINQ property access (Year, Month, Day, etc.) is not supported with Text. Switch to Integer if you need it.

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TimeOnly

Property	Type	Default
TimeOnlyStorage	TimeOnlyStorageMode	Integer
TimeOnlyFormat	string	"HH:mm:ss"

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Integer	INTEGER	144060000000
Text	TEXT	"04:05:06"

Text uses TimeOnlyFormat as the format string when reading and writing values.

LINQ property access (Hour, Minute, Second) is not supported with Text. Switch to Integer if you need it.

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TimeSpan

Property	Type	Default
TimeSpanStorage	TimeSpanStorageMode	Integer
TimeSpanFormat	string	"c"

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Integer	INTEGER	720060000000
Text	TEXT	"2.03:04:05.0060070"

Text uses TimeSpanFormat as the format string. The default "c" is the standard constant (invariant) format.

LINQ property access (Days, Hours, TotalDays, etc.) is not supported with Text. Switch to Integer if you need it.

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decimal

Property	Type	Default
DecimalStorage	DecimalStorageMode	Real
DecimalFormat	string	"G"

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Real	REAL	1234.5678
Text	TEXT	"1234.5678"

Real stores the value as a double precision floating point number, which can lose precision for very large or high-precision decimal values.

Text stores the full decimal string to preserve precision. When the column is used in a LINQ query (comparisons, ordering, etc.), it is automatically wrapped with CAST(... AS REAL) in the generated SQL (which makes it lose precision).

DecimalFormat controls the format string used when storing the value as text. The default "G" is the general format.

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enum

Property	Type	Default
EnumStorage	EnumStorageMode	Integer

Mode	SQLite type	Example value
Integer	INTEGER	1
Text	TEXT	"Active"

Text stores the name of the enum value. This is more readable but takes more space than Integer.

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Auto-Increment Primary Keys

Property	Type	Default
ExplicitAutoIncrementKeysPreserved	bool	false

Controls how the Add family of methods (Add, AddAsync, AddRange, AddRangeAsync) handles the value already set on an [AutoIncrement] primary key.

Value	Behavior
false (default)	The value on the entity is always overwritten. SQLite assigns a new id and writes it back to the property.
true	A non-default value (for example, Id == 5) is used directly. The row is inserted at that id, and a uniqueness error is thrown if it is already taken. A type-default value (Id == 0) still triggers SQLite to assign one.

Set this to true to match Entity Framework Core's Add behavior:

SQLiteOptions options = new SQLiteOptionsBuilder("app.db")
    .PreserveExplicitAutoIncrementKeys()
    .Build();

This option only changes the Add family. AddOrUpdate already uses a non-default primary key when you set one, with or without the option. See CRUD Operations for the full breakdown and the EF Core migration guide for context on why you might want this.