Drizzle ORM Database Migrations (TypeScript)
Migration-first database development workflow using Drizzle ORM for TypeScript/JavaScript projects.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
Working with Drizzle ORM in TypeScript/JavaScript projects Need to create or modify database schema Want migration-first development workflow Setting up new database tables or columns Need to ensure schema consistency across environments Core Principle: Migration-First Development
Critical Rule: Schema changes ALWAYS start with migrations, never code-first.
Why Migration-First? ✅ SQL migrations are the single source of truth ✅ Prevents schema drift between environments ✅ Enables rollback and versioning ✅ Forces explicit schema design decisions ✅ TypeScript types generated from migrations ✅ CI/CD can validate schema changes Anti-Pattern (Code-First)
❌ WRONG: Writing TypeScript schema first
// DON'T DO THIS FIRST export const users = pgTable('users', { id: uuid('id').primaryKey(), email: text('email').notNull(), });
Correct Pattern (Migration-First)
✅ CORRECT: Write SQL migration first
-- drizzle/0001_add_users_table.sql CREATE TABLE users ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(), email TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE, created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW() );
Complete Migration Workflow Step 1: Design Schema in SQL Migration
Create descriptive SQL migration file:
-- drizzle/0001_create_school_calendars.sql CREATE TABLE school_calendars ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(), school_id UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES schools(id) ON DELETE CASCADE, start_date DATE NOT NULL, end_date DATE NOT NULL, academic_year TEXT NOT NULL, created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(), updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW() );
-- Add indexes for query performance CREATE INDEX idx_school_calendars_school_id ON school_calendars(school_id); CREATE INDEX idx_school_calendars_academic_year ON school_calendars(academic_year);
-- Add constraints ALTER TABLE school_calendars ADD CONSTRAINT check_date_range CHECK (end_date > start_date);
Naming Convention:
Use sequential numbers: 0001_, 0002_, etc. Descriptive names: create_school_calendars, add_user_roles Format: XXXX_descriptive_name.sql Step 2: Generate TypeScript Definitions
Drizzle Kit generates TypeScript types from SQL:
Generate TypeScript schema and snapshots
pnpm drizzle-kit generate
Or using npm
npm run db:generate
What This Creates:
TypeScript schema files (if using drizzle-kit push) Snapshot files in drizzle/meta/XXXX_snapshot.json Migration metadata Step 3: Create Schema Snapshot
Snapshots enable schema drift detection:
// drizzle/meta/0001_snapshot.json (auto-generated) { "version": "5", "dialect": "postgresql", "tables": { "school_calendars": { "name": "school_calendars", "columns": { "id": { "name": "id", "type": "uuid", "primaryKey": true, "notNull": true, "default": "gen_random_uuid()" }, "school_id": { "name": "school_id", "type": "uuid", "notNull": true } } } } }
Snapshots in Version Control:
✅ Commit snapshots to git ✅ Enables drift detection in CI ✅ Documents schema history Step 4: Implement TypeScript Schema
Now write TypeScript schema that mirrors SQL migration:
// src/lib/db/schema/school/calendar.ts import { pgTable, uuid, date, text, timestamp } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'; import { schools } from './school';
export const schoolCalendars = pgTable('school_calendars', { id: uuid('id').primaryKey().defaultRandom(), schoolId: uuid('school_id') .notNull() .references(() => schools.id, { onDelete: 'cascade' }), startDate: date('start_date').notNull(), endDate: date('end_date').notNull(), academicYear: text('academic_year').notNull(), createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow(), updatedAt: timestamp('updated_at').defaultNow(), });
// Type inference export type SchoolCalendar = typeof schoolCalendars.$inferSelect; export type NewSchoolCalendar = typeof schoolCalendars.$inferInsert;
Key Points:
Column names match SQL exactly: school_id → 'school_id' TypeScript property names use camelCase: schoolId Constraints and indexes defined in SQL, not TypeScript Foreign keys reference other tables Step 5: Organize Schemas by Domain
Structure schemas for maintainability:
src/lib/db/schema/ ├── index.ts # Export all schemas ├── school/ │ ├── index.ts │ ├── district.ts │ ├── holiday.ts │ ├── school.ts │ └── calendar.ts ├── providers.ts ├── cart.ts └── users.ts
index.ts (export all):
// src/lib/db/schema/index.ts export * from './school'; export * from './providers'; export * from './cart'; export * from './users';
school/index.ts:
// src/lib/db/schema/school/index.ts export * from './district'; export * from './holiday'; export * from './school'; export * from './calendar';
Step 6: Add Quality Check to CI
Validate schema consistency in CI/CD:
.github/workflows/quality.yml
name: Quality Checks
on: pull_request: branches: [main, develop] push: branches: [main]
jobs: quality: runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Setup Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
- name: Install dependencies
run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
- name: Check database schema drift
run: pnpm drizzle-kit check
- name: Verify migrations (dry-run)
run: pnpm drizzle-kit push --dry-run
env:
DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.STAGING_DATABASE_URL }}
- name: Run type checking
run: pnpm tsc --noEmit
- name: Lint code
run: pnpm lint
CI Checks Explained:
drizzle-kit check: Validates snapshots match schema drizzle-kit push --dry-run: Tests migration without applying Type checking: Ensures TypeScript compiles Linting: Enforces code style Step 7: Test on Staging
Before production, test migration on staging:
1. Run migration on staging
STAGING_DATABASE_URL="..." pnpm drizzle-kit push
2. Verify schema
pnpm drizzle-kit check
3. Test affected API routes
curl https://staging.example.com/api/schools/calendars
4. Check for data integrity issues
Run queries to verify data looks correct
5. Monitor logs for errors
Check application logs for migration-related errors
Staging Checklist:
Migration runs without errors Schema drift check passes API routes using new schema work correctly No data integrity issues Application logs show no errors Query performance acceptable Common Migration Patterns Adding a Column -- drizzle/0005_add_user_phone.sql ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN phone TEXT;
-- Add index if querying by phone CREATE INDEX idx_users_phone ON users(phone);
TypeScript:
export const users = pgTable('users', { id: uuid('id').primaryKey(), email: text('email').notNull(), phone: text('phone'), // New column });
Creating a Junction Table -- drizzle/0006_create_provider_specialties.sql CREATE TABLE provider_specialties ( provider_id UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES providers(id) ON DELETE CASCADE, specialty_id UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES specialties(id) ON DELETE CASCADE, PRIMARY KEY (provider_id, specialty_id) );
CREATE INDEX idx_provider_specialties_provider ON provider_specialties(provider_id); CREATE INDEX idx_provider_specialties_specialty ON provider_specialties(specialty_id);
TypeScript:
export const providerSpecialties = pgTable('provider_specialties', { providerId: uuid('provider_id') .notNull() .references(() => providers.id, { onDelete: 'cascade' }), specialtyId: uuid('specialty_id') .notNull() .references(() => specialties.id, { onDelete: 'cascade' }), }, (table) => ({ pk: primaryKey(table.providerId, table.specialtyId), }));
Modifying Column Type -- drizzle/0007_change_price_to_decimal.sql ALTER TABLE services ALTER COLUMN price TYPE DECIMAL(10, 2);
TypeScript:
import { decimal } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
export const services = pgTable('services', { id: uuid('id').primaryKey(), name: text('name').notNull(), price: decimal('price', { precision: 10, scale: 2 }).notNull(), });
Adding Constraints -- drizzle/0008_add_email_constraint.sql ALTER TABLE users ADD CONSTRAINT users_email_unique UNIQUE (email);
ALTER TABLE users ADD CONSTRAINT users_email_format CHECK (email ~* '^[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}$');
Configuration drizzle.config.ts import type { Config } from 'drizzle-kit';
export default { schema: './src/lib/db/schema/index.ts', out: './drizzle', driver: 'pg', dbCredentials: { connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL!, }, } satisfies Config;
package.json Scripts { "scripts": { "db:generate": "drizzle-kit generate:pg", "db:push": "drizzle-kit push:pg", "db:studio": "drizzle-kit studio", "db:check": "drizzle-kit check:pg", "db:up": "drizzle-kit up:pg" } }
Migration Testing Workflow Local Testing
1. Create migration
echo "CREATE TABLE test (...)" > drizzle/0009_test.sql
2. Generate TypeScript
pnpm db:generate
3. Push to local database
pnpm db:push
4. Verify schema
pnpm db:check
5. Test in application
pnpm dev
Manually test affected features
6. Run tests
pnpm test
Rollback Strategy -- drizzle/0010_add_feature.sql (up migration) CREATE TABLE new_feature (...);
-- drizzle/0010_add_feature_down.sql (down migration) DROP TABLE new_feature;
Apply rollback:
Manually run down migration
psql $DATABASE_URL -f drizzle/0010_add_feature_down.sql
Best Practices Do's ✅ Write SQL migrations first ✅ Use descriptive migration names ✅ Add indexes for foreign keys ✅ Include constraints in migrations ✅ Test migrations on staging before production ✅ Commit snapshots to version control ✅ Organize schemas by domain ✅ Use drizzle-kit check in CI Don'ts ❌ Never write TypeScript schema before SQL migration ❌ Don't skip staging testing ❌ Don't modify old migrations (create new ones) ❌ Don't forget to add indexes ❌ Don't use drizzle-kit push in production (use proper migrations) ❌ Don't commit generated files without snapshots Troubleshooting Schema Drift Detected
Error: Schema drift detected
Solution:
Check what changed
pnpm drizzle-kit check
Regenerate snapshots
pnpm drizzle-kit generate
Review changes and commit
git add drizzle/meta/ git commit -m "Update schema snapshots"
Migration Fails on Staging
Error: Migration fails with data constraint violation
Solution:
Rollback migration Create data migration script Run data migration first Then run schema migration -- First: Migrate data UPDATE users SET status = 'active' WHERE status IS NULL;
-- Then: Add constraint ALTER TABLE users ALTER COLUMN status SET NOT NULL;
TypeScript Types Out of Sync
Error: TypeScript types don't match database
Solution:
Regenerate everything
pnpm db:generate pnpm tsc --noEmit
If still broken, check schema files
Ensure column names match SQL exactly
Related Skills universal-data-database-migration - Universal migration patterns toolchains-typescript-data-drizzle - Drizzle ORM usage patterns toolchains-typescript-core - TypeScript best practices universal-debugging-verification-before-completion - Verification workflows