Drizzle ORM Patterns
Overview
Expert guide for building type-safe database applications with Drizzle ORM. Covers schema definition, relations, queries, transactions, and migrations for all supported databases.
When to Use
Defining database schemas with tables, columns, and constraints
Creating relations between tables (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many)
Writing type-safe CRUD queries
Implementing complex joins and aggregations
Managing database transactions with rollback
Setting up migrations with Drizzle Kit
Working with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MSSQL, or CockroachDB
Instructions
Identify your database dialect
- Choose PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MSSQL, or CockroachDB
Define your schema
- Use the appropriate table function (pgTable, mysqlTable, etc.)
Set up relations
- Define relations using
relations()
or
defineRelations()
for complex relationships
Initialize the database client
- Create your Drizzle client with proper credentials
Write queries
- Use the query builder for type-safe CRUD operations
Handle transactions
- Wrap multi-step operations in transactions when needed
Set up migrations
- Configure Drizzle Kit for schema management
Examples
Example 1: Create a Complete Schema with Relations
import
{
pgTable
,
serial
,
text
,
integer
,
timestamp
}
from
'drizzle-orm/pg-core'
;
import
{
relations
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Define tables
export
const
users
=
pgTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
email
:
text
(
'email'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
unique
(
)
,
createdAt
:
timestamp
(
'created_at'
)
.
defaultNow
(
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
posts
=
pgTable
(
'posts'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
title
:
text
(
'title'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
authorId
:
integer
(
'author_id'
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
users
.
id
)
,
createdAt
:
timestamp
(
'created_at'
)
.
defaultNow
(
)
,
}
)
;
// Define relations
export
const
usersRelations
=
relations
(
users
,
(
{
many
}
)
=>
(
{
posts
:
many
(
posts
)
,
}
)
)
;
export
const
postsRelations
=
relations
(
posts
,
(
{
one
}
)
=>
(
{
author
:
one
(
users
,
{
fields
:
[
posts
.
authorId
]
,
references
:
[
users
.
id
]
}
)
,
}
)
)
;
Example 2: CRUD Operations
import
{
eq
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Insert
const
[
newUser
]
=
await
db
.
insert
(
users
)
.
values
(
{
name
:
'John'
,
email
:
'john@example.com'
,
}
)
.
returning
(
)
;
// Select with filter
const
[
user
]
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
email
,
'john@example.com'
)
)
;
// Update
const
[
updated
]
=
await
db
.
update
(
users
)
.
set
(
{
name
:
'John Updated'
}
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
)
.
returning
(
)
;
// Delete
await
db
.
delete
(
users
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
)
;
Example 3: Transaction with Rollback
async
function
transferFunds
(
fromId
:
number
,
toId
:
number
,
amount
:
number
)
{
await
db
.
transaction
(
async
(
tx
)
=>
{
const
[
from
]
=
await
tx
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
accounts
)
.
where
(
eq
(
accounts
.
userId
,
fromId
)
)
;
if
(
from
.
balance
<
amount
)
{
tx
.
rollback
(
)
;
// Rolls back all changes
}
await
tx
.
update
(
accounts
)
.
set
(
{
balance
:
sql
${
accounts
.
balance
}
-
${
amount
}
}
)
.
where
(
eq
(
accounts
.
userId
,
fromId
)
)
;
await
tx
.
update
(
accounts
)
.
set
(
{
balance
:
sql
${
accounts
.
balance
}
+
${
amount
}
}
)
.
where
(
eq
(
accounts
.
userId
,
toId
)
)
;
}
)
;
}
Schema Definition
PostgreSQL Table
import
{
pgTable
,
serial
,
text
,
integer
,
boolean
,
timestamp
,
pgEnum
}
from
'drizzle-orm/pg-core'
;
// Enum definition
export
const
rolesEnum
=
pgEnum
(
'roles'
,
[
'guest'
,
'user'
,
'admin'
]
)
;
// Table with all column types
export
const
users
=
pgTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
email
:
text
(
'email'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
unique
(
)
,
role
:
rolesEnum
(
)
.
default
(
'user'
)
,
verified
:
boolean
(
'verified'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
default
(
false
)
,
createdAt
:
timestamp
(
'created_at'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
defaultNow
(
)
,
}
)
;
MySQL Table
import
{
mysqlTable
,
serial
,
text
,
int
,
tinyint
,
datetime
}
from
'drizzle-orm/mysql-core'
;
export
const
users
=
mysqlTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
email
:
text
(
'email'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
unique
(
)
,
verified
:
tinyint
(
'verified'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
default
(
0
)
,
createdAt
:
datetime
(
'created_at'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
defaultNow
(
)
,
}
)
;
SQLite Table
import
{
sqliteTable
,
integer
,
text
}
from
'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core'
;
export
const
users
=
sqliteTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
integer
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
{
autoIncrement
:
true
}
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
email
:
text
(
'email'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
unique
(
)
,
}
)
;
Indexes and Constraints
import
{
uniqueIndex
,
index
,
primaryKey
}
from
'drizzle-orm/pg-core'
;
export
const
posts
=
pgTable
(
'posts'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
title
:
text
(
'title'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
slug
:
text
(
'slug'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
authorId
:
integer
(
'author_id'
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
users
.
id
)
,
createdAt
:
timestamp
(
'created_at'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
defaultNow
(
)
,
}
,
(
table
)
=>
[
uniqueIndex
(
'slug_idx'
)
.
on
(
table
.
slug
)
,
index
(
'author_idx'
)
.
on
(
table
.
authorId
)
,
index
(
'created_idx'
)
.
on
(
table
.
createdAt
)
,
]
)
;
Composite Primary Key
export
const
usersToGroups
=
pgTable
(
'users_to_groups'
,
{
userId
:
integer
(
'user_id'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
users
.
id
)
,
groupId
:
integer
(
'group_id'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
groups
.
id
)
,
}
,
(
table
)
=>
[
primaryKey
(
{
columns
:
[
table
.
userId
,
table
.
groupId
]
}
)
,
]
)
;
Relations
One-to-Many (v1 syntax)
import
{
relations
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
export
const
users
=
pgTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
usersRelations
=
relations
(
users
,
(
{
many
}
)
=>
(
{
posts
:
many
(
posts
)
,
}
)
)
;
export
const
posts
=
pgTable
(
'posts'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
content
:
text
(
'content'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
authorId
:
integer
(
'author_id'
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
users
.
id
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
postsRelations
=
relations
(
posts
,
(
{
one
}
)
=>
(
{
author
:
one
(
users
,
{
fields
:
[
posts
.
authorId
]
,
references
:
[
users
.
id
]
,
}
)
,
}
)
)
;
One-to-One
export
const
profiles
=
pgTable
(
'profiles'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
userId
:
integer
(
'user_id'
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
users
.
id
)
.
unique
(
)
,
bio
:
text
(
'bio'
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
profilesRelations
=
relations
(
profiles
,
(
{
one
}
)
=>
(
{
user
:
one
(
users
,
{
fields
:
[
profiles
.
userId
]
,
references
:
[
users
.
id
]
,
}
)
,
}
)
)
;
Many-to-Many (v2 syntax)
import
{
defineRelations
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
export
const
users
=
pgTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
groups
=
pgTable
(
'groups'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
usersToGroups
=
pgTable
(
'users_to_groups'
,
{
userId
:
integer
(
'user_id'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
users
.
id
)
,
groupId
:
integer
(
'group_id'
)
.
notNull
(
)
.
references
(
(
)
=>
groups
.
id
)
,
}
,
(
t
)
=>
[
primaryKey
(
{
columns
:
[
t
.
userId
,
t
.
groupId
]
}
)
]
)
;
export
const
relations
=
defineRelations
(
{
users
,
groups
,
usersToGroups
}
,
(
r
)
=>
(
{
users
:
{
groups
:
r
.
many
.
groups
(
{
from
:
r
.
users
.
id
.
through
(
r
.
usersToGroups
.
userId
)
,
to
:
r
.
groups
.
id
.
through
(
r
.
usersToGroups
.
groupId
)
,
}
)
,
}
,
groups
:
{
participants
:
r
.
many
.
users
(
)
,
}
,
}
)
)
;
Self-Referential Relation
export
const
users
=
pgTable
(
'users'
,
{
id
:
serial
(
'id'
)
.
primaryKey
(
)
,
name
:
text
(
'name'
)
.
notNull
(
)
,
invitedBy
:
integer
(
'invited_by'
)
.
references
(
(
)
:
AnyPgColumn
=>
users
.
id
)
,
}
)
;
export
const
usersRelations
=
relations
(
users
,
(
{
one
}
)
=>
(
{
invitee
:
one
(
users
,
{
fields
:
[
users
.
invitedBy
]
,
references
:
[
users
.
id
]
,
}
)
,
}
)
)
;
CRUD Operations
Insert
import
{
eq
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Single insert
await
db
.
insert
(
users
)
.
values
(
{
name
:
'John'
,
email
:
'john@example.com'
,
}
)
;
// Multiple inserts
await
db
.
insert
(
users
)
.
values
(
[
{
name
:
'John'
,
email
:
'john@example.com'
}
,
{
name
:
'Jane'
,
email
:
'jane@example.com'
}
,
]
)
;
// Returning inserted row
const
[
newUser
]
=
await
db
.
insert
(
users
)
.
values
(
{
name
:
'John'
,
email
:
'john@example.com'
,
}
)
.
returning
(
)
;
Select
// Select all
const
allUsers
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
;
// Select specific columns
const
result
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
id
:
users
.
id
,
name
:
users
.
name
,
}
)
.
from
(
users
)
;
// Select with where
const
user
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
)
;
// Select first match
const
[
user
]
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
)
;
// $count shorthand
const
count
=
await
db
.
$count
(
users
)
;
const
activeCount
=
await
db
.
$count
(
users
,
eq
(
users
.
verified
,
true
)
)
;
Update
await
db
.
update
(
users
)
.
set
(
{
name
:
'John Updated'
}
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
)
;
// With returning
const
[
updatedUser
]
=
await
db
.
update
(
users
)
.
set
(
{
verified
:
true
}
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
email
,
'john@example.com'
)
)
.
returning
(
)
;
Delete
await
db
.
delete
(
users
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
)
;
// With returning
const
[
deletedUser
]
=
await
db
.
delete
(
users
)
.
where
(
eq
(
users
.
email
,
'john@example.com'
)
)
.
returning
(
)
;
Query Operators
import
{
eq
,
ne
,
gt
,
gte
,
lt
,
lte
,
like
,
ilike
,
inArray
,
isNull
,
isNotNull
,
and
,
or
,
between
,
exists
,
notExists
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Comparison
eq
(
users
.
id
,
1
)
ne
(
users
.
name
,
'John'
)
gt
(
users
.
age
,
18
)
gte
(
users
.
age
,
18
)
lt
(
users
.
age
,
65
)
lte
(
users
.
age
,
65
)
// String matching
like
(
users
.
name
,
'%John%'
)
// case-sensitive
ilike
(
users
.
name
,
'%john%'
)
// case-insensitive
// Null checks
isNull
(
users
.
deletedAt
)
isNotNull
(
users
.
deletedAt
)
// Array
inArray
(
users
.
id
,
[
1
,
2
,
3
]
)
// Range
between
(
users
.
createdAt
,
startDate
,
endDate
)
// Combining conditions
and
(
gte
(
users
.
age
,
18
)
,
eq
(
users
.
verified
,
true
)
)
or
(
eq
(
users
.
role
,
'admin'
)
,
eq
(
users
.
role
,
'moderator'
)
)
Pagination
import
{
asc
,
desc
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Basic pagination
const
page
=
1
;
const
pageSize
=
10
;
const
users
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
orderBy
(
asc
(
users
.
id
)
)
.
limit
(
pageSize
)
.
offset
(
(
page
-
1
)
*
pageSize
)
;
// Cursor-based pagination (more efficient)
const
lastId
=
100
;
const
users
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
where
(
gt
(
users
.
id
,
lastId
)
)
.
orderBy
(
asc
(
users
.
id
)
)
.
limit
(
10
)
;
Joins
import
{
eq
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Left join
const
result
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
leftJoin
(
posts
,
eq
(
users
.
id
,
posts
.
authorId
)
)
;
// Inner join
const
result
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
innerJoin
(
posts
,
eq
(
users
.
id
,
posts
.
authorId
)
)
;
// Multiple joins
const
result
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
leftJoin
(
posts
,
eq
(
users
.
id
,
posts
.
authorId
)
)
.
leftJoin
(
comments
,
eq
(
posts
.
id
,
comments
.
postId
)
)
;
// Partial select with join
const
usersWithPosts
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
userId
:
users
.
id
,
userName
:
users
.
name
,
postTitle
:
posts
.
title
,
}
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
leftJoin
(
posts
,
eq
(
users
.
id
,
posts
.
authorId
)
)
;
// Self-join with alias
import
{
alias
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
const
parent
=
alias
(
users
,
'parent'
)
;
const
result
=
await
db
.
select
(
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
leftJoin
(
parent
,
eq
(
parent
.
id
,
users
.
parentId
)
)
;
Aggregations
import
{
count
,
sum
,
avg
,
min
,
max
,
sql
,
gt
}
from
'drizzle-orm'
;
// Count all
const
[
{
value
}
]
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
value
:
count
(
)
}
)
.
from
(
users
)
;
// Count with condition
const
[
{
value
}
]
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
value
:
count
(
users
.
id
)
}
)
.
from
(
users
)
.
where
(
gt
(
users
.
age
,
18
)
)
;
// Sum, Avg
const
[
stats
]
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
totalAge
:
sum
(
users
.
age
)
,
avgAge
:
avg
(
users
.
age
)
,
}
)
.
from
(
users
)
;
// Min, Max
const
[
extremes
]
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
oldest
:
min
(
users
.
age
)
,
youngest
:
max
(
users
.
age
)
,
}
)
.
from
(
users
)
;
// Group by with having
const
ageGroups
=
await
db
.
select
(
{
age
:
users
.
age
,
count
:
sql
<
number
cast(count( ${ users . id } ) as int), } ) . from ( users ) . groupBy ( users . age ) . having ( ( { count } ) => gt ( count , 1 ) ) ; Transactions // Basic transaction await db . transaction ( async ( tx ) => { await tx . update ( accounts ) . set ( { balance : sql${ accounts . balance } - 100} ) . where ( eq ( accounts . userId , 1 ) ) ; await tx . update ( accounts ) . set ( { balance : sql${ accounts . balance } + 100} ) . where ( eq ( accounts . userId , 2 ) ) ; } ) ; // Transaction with rollback await db . transaction ( async ( tx ) => { const [ account ] = await tx . select ( ) . from ( accounts ) . where ( eq ( accounts . userId , 1 ) ) ; if ( account . balance < 100 ) { tx . rollback ( ) ; // Throws exception } await tx . update ( accounts ) . set ( { balance : sql${ accounts . balance } - 100} ) . where ( eq ( accounts . userId , 1 ) ) ; } ) ; // Transaction with return value const newBalance = await db . transaction ( async ( tx ) => { await tx . update ( accounts ) . set ( { balance : sql${ accounts . balance } - 100} ) . where ( eq ( accounts . userId , 1 ) ) ; const [ account ] = await tx . select ( ) . from ( accounts ) . where ( eq ( accounts . userId , 1 ) ) ; return account . balance ; } ) ; // Nested transactions (savepoints) await db . transaction ( async ( tx ) => { await tx . insert ( users ) . values ( { name : 'John' } ) ; await tx . transaction ( async ( tx2 ) => { await tx2 . insert ( posts ) . values ( { title : 'Hello' , authorId : 1 } ) ; } ) ; } ) ; Drizzle Kit Migrations Configuration (drizzle.config.ts) import { defineConfig } from 'drizzle-kit' ; export default defineConfig ( { schema : './src/db/schema.ts' , out : './drizzle' , dialect : 'postgresql' , dbCredentials : { url : process . env . DATABASE_URL ! , } , } ) ; package.json Scripts { "scripts" : { "generate" : "drizzle-kit generate" , "migrate" : "drizzle-kit migrate" , "push" : "drizzle-kit push" , "pull" : "drizzle-kit pull" } } CLI Commands
Generate migration files from schema
npx drizzle-kit generate
Apply pending migrations
npx drizzle-kit migrate
Push schema directly to DB (for development)
npx drizzle-kit push
Pull schema from existing database
- npx drizzle-kit pull
- Programmatic Migration
- import
- {
- drizzle
- }
- from
- 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres'
- ;
- import
- {
- migrate
- }
- from
- 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres/migrator'
- ;
- const
- db
- =
- drizzle
- (
- process
- .
- env
- .
- DATABASE_URL
- )
- ;
- await
- migrate
- (
- db
- ,
- {
- migrationsFolder
- :
- './drizzle'
- }
- )
- ;
- Type Inference
- // Infer insert type
- type
- NewUser
- =
- typeof
- users
- .
- $inferInsert
- ;
- //
- // Infer select type
- type
- User
- =
- typeof
- users
- .
- $inferSelect
- ;
- //
- // Use in functions
- async
- function
- createUser
- (
- data
- :
- typeof
- users
- .
- $inferInsert
- )
- {
- return
- db
- .
- insert
- (
- users
- )
- .
- values
- (
- data
- )
- .
- returning
- (
- )
- ;
- }
- async
- function
- getUser
- (
- id
- :
- number
- )
- :
- Promise
- <
- typeof
- users
- .
- $inferSelect
- >
- {
- const
- [
- user
- ]
- =
- await
- db
- .
- select
- (
- )
- .
- from
- (
- users
- )
- .
- where
- (
- eq
- (
- users
- .
- id
- ,
- id
- )
- )
- ;
- return
- user
- ;
- }
- Common Patterns
- Soft Delete
- export
- const
- users
- =
- pgTable
- (
- 'users'
- ,
- {
- id
- :
- serial
- (
- 'id'
- )
- .
- primaryKey
- (
- )
- ,
- name
- :
- text
- (
- 'name'
- )
- .
- notNull
- (
- )
- ,
- deletedAt
- :
- timestamp
- (
- 'deleted_at'
- )
- ,
- }
- )
- ;
- // Query non-deleted only
- const
- activeUsers
- =
- await
- db
- .
- select
- (
- )
- .
- from
- (
- users
- )
- .
- where
- (
- isNull
- (
- users
- .
- deletedAt
- )
- )
- ;
- // Soft delete
- await
- db
- .
- update
- (
- users
- )
- .
- set
- (
- {
- deletedAt
- :
- new
- Date
- (
- )
- }
- )
- .
- where
- (
- eq
- (
- users
- .
- id
- ,
- id
- )
- )
- ;
- Upsert
- import
- {
- onConflict
- }
- from
- 'drizzle-orm'
- ;
- await
- db
- .
- insert
- (
- users
- )
- .
- values
- (
- {
- id
- :
- 1
- ,
- name
- :
- 'John'
- ,
- :
- 'john@example.com'
- }
- )
- .
- onConflict
- (
- onConflict
- (
- users
- .
- )
- .
- doUpdateSet
- (
- {
- name
- :
- excluded
- .
- name
- ,
- }
- )
- )
- ;
- Batch Operations
- // Batch insert
- await
- db
- .
- insert
- (
- users
- )
- .
- values
- (
- batch
- )
- .
- returning
- (
- )
- ;
- // Batch update
- const
- updates
- =
- batch
- .
- map
- (
- item
- =>
- (
- {
- id
- :
- item
- .
- id
- ,
- name
- :
- item
- .
- name
- ,
- }
- )
- )
- ;
- await
- db
- .
- insert
- (
- users
- )
- .
- values
- (
- updates
- )
- .
- onConflictDoNothing
- (
- )
- ;
- Best Practices
- Type Safety
-
- Always use TypeScript and leverage
- $inferInsert
- /
- $inferSelect
- Relations
-
- Define relations using the relations() API for nested queries
- Transactions
-
- Use transactions for multi-step operations that must succeed together
- Migrations
-
- Use
- generate
- +
- migrate
- in production,
- push
- for development
- Indexes
-
- Add indexes on frequently queried columns and foreign keys
- Soft Deletes
-
- Use
- deletedAt
- timestamp instead of hard deletes when possible
- Pagination
-
- Use cursor-based pagination for large datasets
- Query Optimization
-
- Use
- .limit()
- and
- .where()
- to fetch only needed data
- Constraints and Warnings
- Foreign Key Constraints
-
- Always define references using arrow functions
- () => table.column
- to avoid circular dependency issues
- Transaction Rollback
-
- Calling
- tx.rollback()
- throws an exception - use try/catch if needed
- Returning Clauses
-
- Not all databases support
- .returning()
- - check your dialect compatibility
- Type Inference
-
- Use
- InferSelectModel
- and
- InferInsertModel
- from
- drizzle-orm
- for newer type-safe patterns
- Batch Operations
-
- Large batch inserts may hit database limits - chunk into smaller batches
- Migrations in Production
-
- Always test migrations in staging before applying to production
- Soft Delete Queries
- Remember to always filter deletedAt IS NULL in queries