Drizzle ORM

Lightweight, type-safe ORM with SQL-like and relational query APIs for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, Cloudflare D1, and Durable Objects.

Quick Start (PostgreSQL)

import {
  pgTable,
  serial,
  text,
  integer,
  timestamp,
  boolean,
  varchar,
  uuid,
  primaryKey,
  unique,
  index
} from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'

export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  email: varchar('email', { length: 255 }).notNull().unique(),
  age: integer('age'),
  isActive: boolean('is_active').default(true),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
  updatedAt: timestamp('updated_at').$onUpdate(() => new Date()),
})

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  content: text('content'),
  authorId: integer('author_id')
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id, { onDelete: 'cascade' }),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
})

See references/postgresql.md for detailed PostgreSQL patterns.

Quick Start (SQLite/D1)

import { sqliteTable, text, integer } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core'

export const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  id: text('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  email: text('email').notNull(),
  isActive: integer('is_active', { mode: 'boolean' }).default(true),
  createdAt: text('created_at').notNull(),
})

export const posts = sqliteTable('posts', {
  id: text('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  content: text('content'),
  authorId: text('author_id')
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id, { onDelete: 'cascade' }),
  createdAt: text('created_at').notNull(),
})

See references/sqlite.md for SQLite patterns and references/cloudflare.md for D1 and Durable Objects.

Type Inference

// Infer types from schema - no manual interfaces needed
export type User = typeof users.$inferSelect
export type NewUser = typeof users.$inferInsert

export type Post = typeof posts.$inferSelect
export type NewPost = typeof posts.$inferInsert

Relations

import { relations } from 'drizzle-orm'

export const usersRelations = relations(users, ({ many }) => ({
  posts: many(posts),
}))

export const postsRelations = relations(posts, ({ one }) => ({
  author: one(users, {
    fields: [posts.authorId],
    references: [users.id],
  }),
}))

SQL-like Queries

import { eq, and, or, gt, like, isNull, desc, asc } from 'drizzle-orm'

// Select all
const allUsers = await db.select().from(users)

// Select specific columns
const names = await db.select({ name: users.name }).from(users)

// Where clause
const activeUsers = await db
  .select()
  .from(users)
  .where(eq(users.isActive, true))

// Multiple conditions
const filtered = await db
  .select()
  .from(users)
  .where(and(
    eq(users.isActive, true),
    gt(users.age, 18)
  ))

// Like/pattern matching
const matching = await db
  .select()
  .from(users)
  .where(like(users.email, '%@example.com'))

// Order and limit
const recent = await db
  .select()
  .from(posts)
  .orderBy(desc(posts.createdAt))
  .limit(10)

// Joins
const postsWithAuthors = await db
  .select({
    postTitle: posts.title,
    authorName: users.name,
  })
  .from(posts)
  .leftJoin(users, eq(posts.authorId, users.id))

Relational Queries

// Requires schema with relations passed to drizzle()
const db = drizzle(pool, { schema })

// Find many with relations
const usersWithPosts = await db.query.users.findMany({
  with: {
    posts: true,
  },
})

// Partial columns + nested relations
const partial = await db.query.users.findMany({
  columns: {
    id: true,
    name: true,
  },
  with: {
    posts: {
      columns: {
        title: true,
        createdAt: true,
      },
    },
  },
})

// Find first
const user = await db.query.users.findFirst({
  where: eq(users.id, 1),
  with: { posts: true },
})

// Exclude columns
const withoutEmail = await db.query.users.findMany({
  columns: {
    email: false, // exclude
  },
})

Insert

// Single insert
const [newUser] = await db
  .insert(users)
  .values({ name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@example.com' })
  .returning()

// Multiple insert
await db.insert(users).values([
  { name: 'Bob', email: 'bob@example.com' },
  { name: 'Carol', email: 'carol@example.com' },
])

// Upsert (on conflict)
await db
  .insert(users)
  .values({ name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@example.com' })
  .onConflictDoUpdate({
    target: users.email,
    set: { name: 'Alice Updated' },
  })

Update

await db
  .update(users)
  .set({ isActive: false })
  .where(eq(users.id, 1))

// Update with returning
const [updated] = await db
  .update(users)
  .set({ name: 'New Name' })
  .where(eq(users.id, 1))
  .returning()

Delete

await db.delete(users).where(eq(users.id, 1))

// Delete with returning
const [deleted] = await db
  .delete(users)
  .where(eq(users.id, 1))
  .returning()

Transactions

await db.transaction(async (tx) => {
  const [user] = await tx
    .insert(users)
    .values({ name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@example.com' })
    .returning()

  await tx.insert(posts).values({
    title: 'First Post',
    authorId: user.id,
  })
})

Entity Pattern

Domain entities encapsulate data transformations between API, domain, and database layers.

import type { InferInsertModel, InferSelectModel } from 'drizzle-orm'
import type { users } from './schema'

type UserRecord = InferSelectModel<typeof users>
type UserInsert = InferInsertModel<typeof users>

class UserEntity {
  public readonly id: string
  public readonly name: string
  public readonly email: string
  public readonly createdAt: Date

  private constructor(data: UserEntityData) {
    Object.assign(this, data)
  }

  // API request → Entity
  static fromRequest(rq: CreateUserRequest, id?: string): UserEntity {
    return new UserEntity({
      id: id ?? crypto.randomUUID(),
      name: rq.name,
      email: rq.email,
      createdAt: new Date(),
    })
  }

  // DB record → Entity
  static fromRecord(record: UserRecord): UserEntity {
    return new UserEntity({
      id: record.id,
      name: record.name,
      email: record.email,
      createdAt: record.createdAt,
    })
  }

  // Entity → DB insert
  toRecord(): UserInsert {
    return {
      id: this.id,
      name: this.name,
      email: this.email,
      createdAt: this.createdAt,
    }
  }

  // Entity → API response
  toResponse(): UserResponse {
    return {
      id: this.id,
      name: this.name,
      email: this.email,
      createdAt: this.createdAt.toISOString(),
    }
  }
}

See references/entity-pattern.md for detailed examples.

Repository Pattern

Repositories wrap database access with error handling and business logic.

import { eq, and } from 'drizzle-orm'
import { users } from './schema'
import { UserEntity } from './entities/UserEntity'

class UserRepo {
  constructor(private db: DrizzleDB) {}

  async getById(id: string): Promise<UserEntity> {
    const record = await this.db.query.users.findFirst({
      where: eq(users.id, id),
    })
    if (!record) throw new NotFoundError('User not found')
    return UserEntity.fromRecord(record)
  }

  async create(entity: UserEntity): Promise<UserEntity> {
    try {
      const [record] = await this.db
        .insert(users)
        .values(entity.toRecord())
        .returning()
      return UserEntity.fromRecord(record)
    } catch (error) {
      throw handleDBError(error, { userId: entity.id })
    }
  }

  async update(entity: UserEntity): Promise<UserEntity> {
    const [record] = await this.db
      .update(users)
      .set(entity.toRecord())
      .where(eq(users.id, entity.id))
      .returning()
    if (!record) throw new NotFoundError('User not found')
    return UserEntity.fromRecord(record)
  }
}

See references/repository-pattern.md for detailed examples.

Database-Specific Guides

For database-specific patterns, connection setup, migrations, and testing:

• PostgreSQL patterns – Connection, migrations, column types, error codes, optimistic locking
• SQLite patterns – Schema definition, type differences, better-sqlite3 testing
• Cloudflare D1 & Durable Objects – D1 connection, DO SQLite, testing with vitest-pool-workers, D1 vs DO decision guide

Guidelines

1. Define schema in dedicated schema.ts file(s)
2. Use $inferSelect and $inferInsert for types – don’t duplicate
3. Always define relations for nested queries with db.query
4. Pass { schema } to drizzle() to enable relational queries
5. Use SQL-like API (db.select()) for complex joins
6. Use relational API (db.query) for nested data fetching
7. Foreign keys need explicit references(() => table.column)
8. Use returning() to get inserted/updated/deleted rows
9. Wrap database access in Repository classes for error handling
10. Use Entity classes for all data transformations (fromRequest, fromRecord, toRecord, toResponse)
11. Add lockVersion column for optimistic locking on mutable resources
12. Handle DB errors with specific error types (23505=conflict, 23503=not found, 40001/OC000=retry)