Searching Array Columns via the REST API Proxy

The rest-api-proxy edge function now fully supports PostgREST array operators on text[] columns like contacts.phones, contacts.emails, and contacts.tags.

Fixed 2026-04-22: previously the proxy did not recognize the cs (contains) operator and tried to compare the array column to a literal string, causing: malformed array literal: "cs.{...}". This is now resolved.

Supported operators

Operator	Meaning	Example
cs / contains	Array contains all of the given values	phones=cs.{"+201017177777"}
cd / containedBy	Array is contained by	tags=cd.{"vip","lead"}
ov / overlaps	Arrays share at least one value	phones=ov.{"+201017177777","+201111111111"}
eq, neq, gt, gte, lt, lte, like, ilike, is, in, not, fts, plfts, phfts, wfts	Standard PostgREST operators	—

Search a contact by phone number

curl -G 'https://txpaxbxhnvnhsjwwaeoy.supabase.co/functions/v1/rest-api-proxy/contacts' \
 -H 'X-API-Key: cg_xxx' \
 --data-urlencode 'phones=cs.{"+201017177777"}' \
 --data-urlencode 'select=id,first_name,last_name,phones,emails' \
 --data-urlencode 'limit=1'

Response:

[{
 "id": "f2b4f7ab-7033-47ce-be06-b30a47de020a",
 "first_name": "mahmoud",
 "last_name": null,
 "phones": ["+201017177777"],
 "emails": ["issmail@gmail.com"]
}]

Search a contact by email

curl -G 'https://txpaxbxhnvnhsjwwaeoy.supabase.co/functions/v1/rest-api-proxy/contacts' \
 -H 'X-API-Key: cg_xxx' \
 --data-urlencode 'emails=cs.{"issmail@gmail.com"}' \
 --data-urlencode 'limit=1'

Search by multiple phone numbers (overlap)

Returns contacts where any of the listed phones exists in the array:

curl -G 'https://txpaxbxhnvnhsjwwaeoy.supabase.co/functions/v1/rest-api-proxy/contacts' \
 -H 'X-API-Key: cg_xxx' \
 --data-urlencode 'phones=ov.{"+201017177777","+201111111111"}' \
 --data-urlencode 'select=id,phones'

Update a contact found by phone

curl -X PATCH -G 'https://txpaxbxhnvnhsjwwaeoy.supabase.co/functions/v1/rest-api-proxy/contacts' \
 -H 'X-API-Key: cg_xxx' \
 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
 --data-urlencode 'phones=cs.{"+201017177777"}' \
 --data '{"first_name":"Mahmoud Updated"}'

Encoding rules (important)

The PostgREST array literal uses curly braces: {"value1","value2"}. The + sign must be URL-encoded to %2B when sent in the raw query string. The safest approach in curl is --data-urlencode, which handles this automatically.

Source value	What goes on the wire
phones=cs.{"+201017177777"} (curl --data-urlencode)	phones=cs.%7B%22%2B201017177777%22%7D
Manual encoding	phones=cs.%7B%22%2B201017177777%22%7D

In Python:

import requests

requests.get(
 "https://txpaxbxhnvnhsjwwaeoy.supabase.co/functions/v1/rest-api-proxy/contacts",
 headers={"X-API-Key": "cg_xxx"},
 params={
 "phones": 'cs.{"+201017177777"}',
 "select": "id,first_name,phones,emails",
 "limit": 1,
 },
)

requests URL-encodes the + and braces automatically.

In Node.js (fetch):

const url = new URL("https://txpaxbxhnvnhsjwwaeoy.supabase.co/functions/v1/rest-api-proxy/contacts");
url.searchParams.set("phones", 'cs.{"+201017177777"}');
url.searchParams.set("select", "id,first_name,phones,emails");
url.searchParams.set("limit", "1");

await fetch(url, { headers: { "X-API-Key": "cg_xxx" } });

Common errors

Error	Cause	Fix
malformed array literal: "cs.{...}"	Old proxy version that didn't recognize cs	Already fixed — redeploy if you see this again
malformed array literal: "{ +201..." (note leading space)	The + was decoded as a space	Encode + as %2B, or use --data-urlencode
Empty [] response	Number stored without + while you searched with + (or vice versa)	Phones are normalized to E.164 (+<country><number>); always include the +