/packages/examples/supabase

Supabase Edge Functions elizaOS Worker Example

Deploy an AI chat agent as a serverless Supabase Edge Function. This example shows how to run an elizaOS agent as a stateless worker that processes chat messages via HTTP.

All handlers use the full elizaOS runtime with OpenAI as the LLM provider, providing the same capabilities as the AWS Lambda and chat demo examples.

Architecture

┌──────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌────────────────┐
│  Test Client │────▶│  Supabase Edge  │────▶│  Edge Function │
│  (curl/deno) │◀────│  Functions      │◀────│  (elizaOS)     │
└──────────────┘     └─────────────────┘     └────────────────┘
                                                    │
                                                    ▼
                                             ┌────────────────┐
                                             │  OpenAI API    │
                                             └────────────────┘

Supported Languages

Language	Support Level	Notes
TypeScript	✅ Native	Full Deno runtime support
Python	❌ Not supported	Supabase Edge Functions use Deno runtime

Note

: Unlike AWS Lambda, Supabase Edge Functions run on the Deno runtime, which only natively supports TypeScript/JavaScript in this example. Python is not supported by this runtime.

Prerequisites

• Supabase CLI installed
• Deno 1.40+ (for local development)
• Supabase project with Edge Functions enabled
• OpenAI API key

Quick Start

1. Set Environment Variables

Create a .env file in your Supabase project or set secrets:

# Local development
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-api-key"

# Or set in Supabase Dashboard → Project Settings → Edge Functions → Secrets
supabase secrets set OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key

2. Initialize Supabase Project

# If starting fresh
supabase init

# Copy edge functions to your project
cp -r packages/examples/supabase/functions/* supabase/functions/

3. Test Locally First

# Start Supabase local development
supabase start

# Serve edge functions locally
supabase functions serve eliza-chat --env-file .env

# Test with curl (in another terminal)
curl -X POST http://localhost:54321/functions/v1/eliza-chat \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ANON_KEY" \
  -d '{"message": "Hello, Eliza!"}'

4. Deploy

# Deploy to Supabase
supabase functions deploy eliza-chat

# Set secrets (if not already set)
supabase secrets set OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key

5. Test Your Deployment

# Get your project URL from Supabase Dashboard
curl -X POST https://YOUR_PROJECT.supabase.co/functions/v1/eliza-chat \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ANON_KEY" \
  -d '{"message": "Hello, Eliza!"}'

Project Structure

packages/examples/supabase/
├── README.md                       # This file
├── functions/
│   ├── eliza-chat/                 # TypeScript Edge Function
│   │   ├── index.ts                # Main handler
│   │   ├── lib/
│   │   │   ├── runtime.ts          # elizaOS runtime manager
│   │   │   └── types.ts            # Type definitions
│   │   └── deno.json               # Deno configuration
├── scripts/
│   ├── build-wasm.sh               # Reserved helper for WASM experiments
│   └── test-local.sh               # Local testing script
├── test-client.ts                  # Interactive test client
└── config.toml                     # Supabase config

API Reference

POST /functions/v1/eliza-chat

Send a message to the elizaOS agent.

Request:

{
  "message": "Hello, how are you?",
  "userId": "optional-user-id",
  "conversationId": "optional-conversation-id"
}

Response:

{
  "response": "I'm doing well, thank you for asking!",
  "conversationId": "uuid-for-conversation-tracking",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-10T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Headers:

Header	Required	Description
Authorization	Yes	Bearer YOUR_ANON_KEY or Bearer YOUR_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY
Content-Type	Yes	application/json

GET /functions/v1/eliza-chat/health

Health check endpoint.

Response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "runtime": "elizaos-deno",
  "version": "2.0.0-beta.0"
}

Configuration

Environment Variables / Secrets

Variable	Required	Default	Description
OPENAI_API_KEY	Yes	-	Your OpenAI API key
OPENAI_SMALL_MODEL	No	gpt-5-mini	Small model to use
OPENAI_LARGE_MODEL	No	gpt-5	Large model to use
CHARACTER_NAME	No	Eliza	Agent's name
CHARACTER_BIO	No	A helpful AI assistant.	Agent's bio
CHARACTER_SYSTEM	No	(default)	System prompt

Setting Secrets

# Via CLI
supabase secrets set OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx CHARACTER_NAME=MyAgent

# Via Dashboard
# Project Settings → Edge Functions → Secrets

TypeScript Implementation

The TypeScript implementation uses the Deno runtime natively:

// functions/eliza-chat/index.ts
import { serve } from "https://deno.land/std@0.168.0/http/server.ts";
import { handleChat, handleHealth } from "./lib/runtime.ts";

serve(async (req: Request): Promise<Response> => {
  const url = new URL(req.url);

  if (url.pathname.endsWith("/health")) {
    return handleHealth();
  }

  if (req.method === "POST") {
    return await handleChat(req);
  }

  return new Response("Method not allowed", { status: 405 });
});

Performance

Cold Starts

Supabase Edge Functions typically have faster cold starts than traditional Lambda:

• Cold start: 50-200ms (vs 2-5s for Lambda)
• Warm invocation: 5-20ms

Edge Locations

Edge Functions run on Deno Deploy's global edge network, providing low-latency responses worldwide.

Monitoring

Logs

# Stream logs
supabase functions logs eliza-chat --scroll

# Get recent logs
supabase functions logs eliza-chat

Supabase Dashboard

View metrics and logs in:

• Project → Edge Functions → Select function → Logs

Cost

Supabase Edge Functions pricing (as of 2025):

• Free tier: 500K invocations/month
• Pro tier: 2M invocations included, then $2 per 1M
• No duration-based billing (unlike Lambda)

Comparison with AWS Lambda

Feature	Supabase Edge Functions	AWS Lambda
Runtime	Deno (TS/JS)	Node, Python, Rust, etc.
Cold Start	50-200ms	2-5s
Global Edge	✅ Built-in	Via Lambda@Edge
Supabase Integration	✅ Native	Manual
Python Support	❌	✅
Rust Support	Via WASM	Native

Troubleshooting

"Function not found" Error

Ensure the function is deployed:

supabase functions list
supabase functions deploy eliza-chat

"Unauthorized" Error

Check your authorization header:

# Get your anon key from Supabase Dashboard
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ANON_KEY" ...

"OpenAI API key not found"

Set the secret:

supabase secrets set OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key

CORS Issues

The function includes CORS headers by default. For custom domains, update the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header.

Cleanup

# Delete function
supabase functions delete eliza-chat

# Remove secrets
supabase secrets unset OPENAI_API_KEY

See Also

• elizaOS Documentation
• Supabase Edge Functions Docs
• Deno Documentation
• AWS Lambda Example - Same pattern for AWS