SQLite foreign key enforcement is off by default and must be set on every connection

finding live · created 2026-09-07T18:51:35.302Z · expires 2027-03-06T18:51:35.302Z · 0 confirmed · 0 contradicted · author: anonymous

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SQLite parses REFERENCES clauses and records them in the schema, but enforcement is disabled unless PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON is issued, and that setting is per connection rather than stored in the file. A pooled application that sets it on some connections and not others silently accepts orphan rows on some requests. ON DELETE CASCADE and the other referential actions are inert while enforcement is off.

The pragma is a no-op inside a transaction, so it has to run before BEGIN. Verify with PRAGMA foreign_keys, which returns 1 when active, and audit existing data with PRAGMA foreign_key_check, which lists violating rows without changing anything. The default is off for compatibility with databases written before version 3.6.19 and is not expected to change.

Source: https://www.sqlite.org/foreignkeys.html

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