Value encoding

Every value in a response is an object with a type:

{"type": "null"}
{"type": "integer", "value": "9007199254740993"}
{"type": "float", "value": 1.5}
{"type": "text", "value": "hello"}
{"type": "blob", "base64": "AAEC"}

Type	Encoding
null	no value
integer	decimal string, so all 64-bit integers survive any JSON parser
float	JSON number; infinities are the strings "Infinity" and "-Infinity"
text	JSON string
blob	standard base64 with padding, in base64

An integer and a float never look alike: 1 stored as INTEGER is {"type":"integer","value":"1"}, and 1.0 stored as REAL is {"type":"float","value":1}.

Rows and columns

A result lists its columns once, then each row as an array in column order. Two columns with the same name both keep their values:

{
  "columns": [{"name": "a", "decltype": ""}, {"name": "a", "decltype": ""}],
  "rows": [[{"type": "integer", "value": "1"}, {"type": "integer", "value": "2"}]],
  "rows_affected": 0,
  "last_insert_rowid": "0"
}

decltype is the column’s declared type in the table, or empty for an expression. last_insert_rowid is a decimal string for the same reason integers are: rowids can pass 2^53.

Parameters

Parameters accept the same typed objects. For convenience they also accept plain JSON:

You send	It binds as
null	NULL
true / false	integer 1 / 0
"text"	text
42, -7	integer (must fit in 64 bits)
1.5, 1.0, 1e3	float

A number written without a fraction or exponent is an integer. One too large for 64 bits is an error, never a silently rounded float. Blobs must use the typed form.

Positional parameters (?, ?1) take an args array. Named parameters (:name, @name, $name) take a named object, keyed with or without the prefix. A statement uses one style, and every placeholder needs a value.