drizzle-orm

name	drizzle-orm
description	Drizzle ORM schema definition, type-safe queries, relational queries, CRUD operations, transactions, migrations with drizzle-kit, and database setup for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite. Use when defining database schemas, writing queries or joins, managing migrations, setting up a new Drizzle project, or working with drizzle-kit.

Drizzle ORM

Topic Routing

Read the matching reference before writing code for any of these topics:

Topic	Reference
Schema definition & column types	references/schema-patterns.md
Queries, joins, & CRUD operations	references/query-patterns.md
Migrations & drizzle-kit	references/migrations.md

Critical Rules

Schema

• Define schemas in dedicated schema.ts files using pgTable / mysqlTable / sqliteTable from the correct dialect package
• Use $inferSelect and $inferInsert for TypeScript types — never duplicate type definitions manually
• Foreign keys require explicit references(() => table.column) — omitting this creates an unconstrained column
• Pass { schema } to drizzle() when initializing the client to enable relational queries

Relations

• Define with relations() from drizzle-orm alongside the table definition
• Relations are required for db.query relational API — the SQL-like API does not use them
• Do not use relations as a substitute for foreign key constraints; define both

Queries

• Use SQL-like API (db.select().from()) for complex joins and aggregations
• Use relational API (db.query.table.findMany({ with: { ... } })) for nested data fetching
• Import eq, and, or, gt, like, isNull etc. from drizzle-orm for where clauses
• Always use returning() to get the inserted, updated, or deleted rows back

Migrations

• Use drizzle-kit for all migrations: npx drizzle-kit generate then npx drizzle-kit migrate
• Configure in drizzle.config.ts — connections string must be set before running commands
• Never manually edit generated migration SQL files — regenerate if changes are needed
• Use npx drizzle-kit push in development only; always use migrate for production

Transactions

• Wrap multi-step operations in db.transaction(async (tx) => { ... })
• Use tx (the transaction argument) instead of db for all queries inside the callback

Performance

• Use db.select({ col: table.col }) for partial selects — avoids loading unused columns
• Add indexes in the schema definition for frequently queried columns
• Use .prepare() for repeated queries (prepared statements)

Schema Definition

import { pgTable, text, integer, timestamp, boolean } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
import { relations } from 'drizzle-orm';

export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: text('id').primaryKey(),
  email: text('email').notNull().unique(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
});

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: text('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  authorId: text('author_id').notNull().references(() => users.id, { onDelete: 'cascade' }),
  published: boolean('published').default(false).notNull(),
});

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

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

// Type inference — no manual duplication
export type User = typeof users.$inferSelect;
export type NewUser = typeof users.$inferInsert;

Query Patterns

import { db } from './db';
import { eq } from 'drizzle-orm';
import { users, posts } from './schema';

// SQL-like: select with join
const results = await db
  .select({ user: users, postCount: count(posts.id) })
  .from(users)
  .leftJoin(posts, eq(posts.authorId, users.id))
  .groupBy(users.id);

// Relational: nested fetch
const usersWithPosts = await db.query.users.findMany({
  where: eq(users.id, userId),
  with: { posts: { where: eq(posts.published, true) } },
});

// Insert with returning
const [newUser] = await db.insert(users).values({ id, email, name }).returning();

Reference Files

• references/schema-patterns.md — Table definitions, column types, constraints, indexes, relations, type inference
• references/query-patterns.md — Select, joins, where clauses, relational API, CRUD, transactions, prepared statements
• references/migrations.md — drizzle.config.ts, generate/migrate/push commands, migration workflow

Quick Workflow: Set up Drizzle in a project

1. Install: npm install drizzle-orm + dialect driver (postgres / @libsql/client / better-sqlite3)
2. Install drizzle-kit: npm install -D drizzle-kit
3. Define schema in src/db/schema.ts using the correct dialect table builder
4. Create drizzle.config.ts with database URL and schema path — verify the config before running commands
5. Generate migration: npx drizzle-kit generate — inspect the SQL output before applying
6. Apply migration: npx drizzle-kit migrate
   • If migration fails: check DB connection string → verify schema matches existing tables → use npx drizzle-kit push for dev environments
7. Initialize client: const db = drizzle(pool, { schema }) and run a test query to confirm connectivity