Fetch data

Build a SELECT. Pass any number of column expressions (default *) and chain filters / modifiers before calling .execute. The builder also exposes result-shape switchers (single, maybe_single, csv, explain).

Signature

supabase.from(table).select(*columns, count: nil, head: nil)

columns is a splat — pass each column expression as a separate string, or pass none to default to "*". Embedded resources ("posts(*)", "author:users!author_id(name)") are supported by PostgREST and pass through unchanged.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`columns`	String (splat)	Optional	One or more column expressions. Whitespace inside quoted strings is preserved; whitespace outside is stripped. Defaults to "*".
`count`	String	Optional	One of "exact", "planned", "estimated". Adds Prefer: count=... so APIResponse#count is populated from the Content-Range header.
`head`	Boolean	Optional	When true, issues a HEAD request — no body, count only. Pair with count: to read a row total without fetching rows.

Returns

Supabase::Postgrest::SelectRequestBuilder

A chainable builder. Call .execute to fire the request and receive an APIResponse (data: and count:). Use .single, .maybe_single, .csv, or .explain to change the response shape before executing.

Example — fetch every column

response = supabase.from("countries").select("*").execute

response.data  # => [{ "id" => 1, "name" => "Algeria", "continent" => "Africa" }, ...]

Example — pick specific columns + filters + ordering

response = supabase
  .from("countries")
  .select("id, name")
  .eq("continent", "Africa")
  .order("name")
  .limit(20)
  .execute

response.data  # => [{ "id" => 1, "name" => "Algeria" }, ...]

Example — count rows alongside the data

response = supabase
  .from("countries")
  .select("*", count: "exact")
  .eq("continent", "Africa")
  .execute

response.data   # => [...rows...]
response.count  # => 54

Example — count only, no rows (HEAD)

response = supabase
  .from("countries")
  .select("*", count: "exact", head: true)
  .eq("continent", "Africa")
  .execute

response.data   # => []
response.count  # => 54

Example — embedded resources

PostgREST resource embedding works as a column expression. The shape mirrors what PostgREST returns, so authors picking columns inside the embedded resource use the standard relation(col1, col2) syntax.

response = supabase
  .from("posts")
  .select("id, title, author:users!author_id(id, full_name)")
  .order("id", desc: true)
  .limit(10)
  .execute

Example — fetch exactly one row

.single flips the Accept header so PostgREST returns the row as an object (not an array of length 1) and raises Supabase::Postgrest::Errors::APIError if the result is 0 or more than 1 row.

response = supabase
  .from("countries")
  .select("*")
  .eq("id", 1)
  .single
  .execute

response.data  # => { "id" => 1, "name" => "Algeria", ... }

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