Resources scripts/ database-checklist.sh references/ orm-comparison.md Database Layer Implementation This skill guides you through implementing database layers in applications, from initial schema design to query optimization. It leverages GoodVibes precision tools and project analysis tools for type-safe, production-ready database implementations. When to Use This Skill Use this skill when you need to: Set up a new database connection and ORM Design and implement database schemas Create and run migrations Generate type-safe database clients Write queries and handle relationships Optimize database performance Integrate with existing database infrastructure Workflow Follow this sequence for database layer implementation: 1. Discover Existing Database Infrastructure Before implementing any database changes, understand the current state using the detect_stack analysis tool: detect_stack : project_root : "." categories : [ "database" , "orm" ] This identifies: Existing database technology (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, SQLite) ORM/query builder in use (Prisma, Drizzle, Kysely, Mongoose) Schema definition files Migration tooling Connection management patterns Check project memory for database decisions: precision_read : files : - path : ".goodvibes/memory/decisions.json" - path : ".goodvibes/memory/patterns.json" verbosity : minimal Look for: Previous database technology choices ("Use Prisma for type safety") Migration strategies ("Always use reversible migrations") Performance patterns ("Add indexes for foreign keys") Known issues ("Avoid N+1 queries in user endpoints") If database already exists, map the current schema: get_database_schema : project_root : "." include_relations : true include_indexes : true This returns: Table/collection definitions Column types and constraints Relationships (foreign keys, references) Indexes and unique constraints Enums and custom types 2. Choose Database Technology If starting fresh, consult the ORM comparison reference to select the appropriate technology stack. See: references/orm-comparison.md for decision trees. Key decision factors: Factor Recommendation Type safety priority Prisma or Drizzle Maximum SQL control Kysely or Drizzle Document database Mongoose (MongoDB) Serverless/edge Drizzle with libSQL/Turso Existing PostgreSQL Prisma or Drizzle Learning curve Prisma (best DX) Record your decision in memory: After choosing, document the decision in .goodvibes/memory/decisions.json for future reference. 3. Design Schema Identify entities and relationships first: Entities: User, Post, Comment, Category Relationships: - User 1:N Post (author) - Post N:M Category (through PostCategory) - Post 1:N Comment - User 1:N Comment (author) Create schema files using precision_write: For Prisma: precision_write : files : - path : "prisma/schema.prisma" content : | generator client { provider = "prisma-client-js" } datasource db { provider = "postgresql" url = env("DATABASE_URL") } model User { id String @id @default(cuid()) email String @unique name String ? posts Post [ ] comments Comment [ ] createdAt DateTime @default(now()) updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt } model Post { id String @id @default(cuid()) title String content String published Boolean @default(false) author User @relation(fields : [ authorId ] , references : [ id ] ) authorId String categories Category [ ] comments Comment [ ] createdAt DateTime @default(now()) updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt @@index( [ authorId ] ) @@index( [ published , createdAt ] ) } model Category { id String @id @default(cuid()) name String @unique posts Post [ ] } model Comment { id String @id @default(cuid()) content String post Post @relation(fields : [ postId ] , references : [ id ] ) postId String author User @relation(fields : [ authorId ] , references : [ id ] ) authorId String createdAt DateTime @default(now()) @@index( [ postId ] ) @@index( [ authorId ] ) } verbosity : minimal For Drizzle: precision_write : files : - path : "src/db/schema.ts" content : | import { pgTable, text, timestamp, boolean, index } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'; import { relations } from 'drizzle-orm'; export const users = pgTable('users' , { id : text('id').primaryKey().$defaultFn(() =
crypto.randomUUID()) , email : text('email').notNull().unique() , name : text('name') , createdAt : timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull() , updatedAt : timestamp('updated_at').defaultNow().notNull() , } ); export const posts = pgTable('posts' , { id : text('id').primaryKey().$defaultFn(() =
crypto.randomUUID()) , title : text('title').notNull() , content : text('content').notNull() , published : boolean('published').default(false).notNull() , authorId : text('author_id').notNull().references(() =
users.id) , createdAt : timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull() , updatedAt : timestamp('updated_at').defaultNow().notNull() , } , (table) =
( { authorIdx : index('author_idx').on(table.authorId) , publishedCreatedIdx : index('published_created_idx').on(table.published , table.createdAt) , } )); export const usersRelations = relations(users , ( { many } ) =
( { posts : many(posts) , } )); export const postsRelations = relations(posts , ( { one } ) =
( { author : one(users , { fields : [ posts.authorId ] , references : [ users.id ] , } ) , } )); verbosity : minimal Schema best practices: Use appropriate ID strategy: CUID/UUID for distributed systems Auto-increment for simple apps Composite keys for join tables Add timestamps: Always include createdAt Include updatedAt for mutable entities Consider deletedAt for soft deletes Index strategically: Foreign keys (for joins) Frequently queried fields Composite indexes for multi-column filters Unique constraints where applicable Plan for scale: Text vs VARCHAR limits JSONB for flexible data (PostgreSQL) Separate tables for large text/blobs 4. Configure Database Connection Create environment configuration: precision_write : files : - path : ".env.example" content : |
Database
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname"
For Prisma with connection pooling
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname?pgbouncer=true"
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname"
mode : overwrite verbosity : minimal Create database client module: For Prisma: precision_write : files : - path : "src/lib/db.ts" content : | import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'; const globalForPrisma = globalThis as unknown as { prisma : PrismaClient | undefined; } ; export const db = globalForPrisma.prisma ? ? new PrismaClient( { log : process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? [ 'query' , 'error' , 'warn' ] : [ 'error' ] , } ); if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') { globalForPrisma.prisma = db; } verbosity : minimal For Drizzle: precision_write : files : - path : "src/lib/db.ts" content : | import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/postgres-js'; import postgres from 'postgres'; import * as schema from '@/db/schema'; const connectionString = process.env.DATABASE_URL !; const client = postgres(connectionString , { max : process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? 10 : 1 , } ); export const db = drizzle(client , { schema } ); verbosity : minimal 5. Run Migrations Use precision_exec to run migration commands with expectations: For Prisma: precision_exec : commands : - cmd : "npx prisma migrate dev --name init" timeout_ms : 60000 expect : exit_code : 0
Note: Prisma outputs progress to stderr; this is expected behavior
- cmd : "npx prisma generate" expect : exit_code : 0 verbosity : standard For Drizzle: precision_exec : commands : - cmd : "npx drizzle-kit generate" expect : exit_code : 0 - cmd : "npx drizzle-kit push" timeout_ms : 60000 expect : exit_code : 0 verbosity : standard Migration best practices: Always review generated migrations before applying Use reversible migrations (include both up and down) Test migrations on dev database before production Backup production data before running migrations Use transactions for multi-step migrations 6. Generate Type-Safe Client Use the generate_types project tool to generate TypeScript types from your schema: generate_types : project_root : "." source : "database" output_path : "src/types/db.ts" This creates type definitions for: Table/collection types Insert types (omitting auto-generated fields) Update types (all fields optional) Select types (with relations) Verify type generation: precision_exec : commands : - cmd : "npm run typecheck" expect : exit_code : 0 verbosity : minimal 7. Implement Queries Start with basic CRUD operations: precision_write : files : - path : "src/db/queries/users.ts" content : | import { db } from '@/lib/db'; export async function createUser(data : { email : string; name? : string } ) { return db.user.create( { data , } ); } export async function getUserById(id : string) { return db.user.findUnique( { where : { id } , include : { posts : true , } , } ); } export async function updateUser( id : string , data : { email? : string; name? : string } ) { return db.user.update( { where : { id } , data , } ); } export async function deleteUser(id : string) { return db.user.delete( { where : { id } , } ); } verbosity : minimal Check for N+1 query patterns using project tools: get_prisma_operations : project_root : "." analyze_performance : true This identifies: N+1 query opportunities (missing include or select ) Missing indexes on frequently queried fields Inefficient relationship loading Optimize queries: Use select to limit fields: db . user . findMany ( { select : { id : true , email : true } , // Don't fetch unused fields } ) ; Eager load relationships: db . post . findMany ( { include : { author : true } , // Prevents N+1 } ) ; Use pagination: db . post . findMany ( { take : 20 , skip : ( page - 1 ) * 20 , } ) ; Add database-level constraints: @@index([userId, createdAt(sort: Desc)]) 8. Implement Transactions For multi-step operations, use transactions: Prisma: export async function createPostWithCategories ( postData : { title : string ; content : string ; authorId : string } , categoryIds : string [ ] ) { return db . $transaction ( async ( tx ) => { const post = await tx . post . create ( { data : { ... postData , categories : { connect : categoryIds . map ( ( id ) => ( { id } ) ) , } , } , } ) ; await tx . user . update ( { where : { id : postData . authorId } , data : { updatedAt : new Date ( ) } , } ) ; return post ; } ) ; } Drizzle: export async function createPostWithCategories ( postData : { title : string ; content : string ; authorId : string } , categoryIds : string [ ] ) { return db . transaction ( async ( tx ) => { const [ post ] = await tx . insert ( posts ) . values ( postData ) . returning ( ) ; await tx . insert ( postCategories ) . values ( categoryIds . map ( ( categoryId ) => ( { postId : post . id , categoryId , } ) ) ) ; return post ; } ) ; } 9. Seed Development Data Create seed script for local development: precision_write : files : - path : "prisma/seed.ts" content : | import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'; const prisma = new PrismaClient(); async function main() { // Clear existing data await prisma.comment.deleteMany(); await prisma.post.deleteMany(); await prisma.user.deleteMany(); await prisma.category.deleteMany(); // Create users const alice = await prisma.user.create( { data : { email : 'alice@example.com' , name : 'Alice' , } , } ); const bob = await prisma.user.create( { data : { email : 'bob@example.com' , name : 'Bob' , } , } ); // Create categories const tech = await prisma.category.create( { data : { name : 'Technology' } , } ); const news = await prisma.category.create( { data : { name : 'News' } , } ); // Create posts await prisma.post.create( { data : { title : 'First Post' , content : 'This is the first post' , published : true , authorId : alice.id , categories : { connect : [ { id : tech.id } ] , } , } , } ); console.log('Database seeded successfully'); } main() .catch((e) =
{ console.error(e); process.exit(1); } ) .finally(async () =
{ await prisma.$disconnect(); } ); verbosity : minimal Update package.json: precision_edit : edits : - path : "package.json" find : '"scripts": {' hints : near_line : 2 replace : | "prisma": { "seed": "tsx prisma/seed.ts" }, "scripts": { verbosity : minimal 10. Validate Implementation Run the database checklist script: ./plugins/goodvibes/skills/outcome/database-layer/scripts/database-checklist.sh . This validates: Schema file exists and is valid Migration directory present Database URL documented in .env.example Type generation configured No SQL injection vulnerabilities (string concatenation) Connection pooling configured Indexes on foreign keys Run type checking and tests: precision_exec : commands : - cmd : "npm run typecheck" expect : exit_code : 0 - cmd : "npm run test -- db" expect : exit_code : 0 verbosity : minimal Use query_database to verify data integrity: query_database : project_root : "." query : "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users;" Common Patterns Soft Deletes Add deletedAt field and filter in queries: model Post { id String @id deletedAt DateTime? } // Soft delete await db . post . update ( { where : { id } , data : { deletedAt : new Date ( ) } , } ) ; // Query only active records await db . post . findMany ( { where : { deletedAt : null } , } ) ; Optimistic Locking Use version field to prevent concurrent updates: model Post { id String @id version Int @default(0) } await db . post . update ( { where : { id : postId , version : currentVersion , } , data : { title : newTitle , version : { increment : 1 } , } , } ) ; Connection Pooling For serverless environments, use connection pooling:
PgBouncer
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:6543/db?pgbouncer=true"
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/db"
datasource db {
provider = "postgresql"
url = env("DATABASE_URL")
directUrl = env("DIRECT_URL")
}
Full-Text Search
PostgreSQL:
@@index([content(ops: raw("gin_trgm_ops"))], type: Gin)
await
db
.
$queryRaw
SELECT * FROM posts
WHERE to_tsvector('english', content) @@ to_tsquery('search terms')
;
Security Checklist
Database credentials in environment variables (not committed)
Input validation on all user-provided data
Parameterized queries (no string concatenation)
Row-level security for multi-tenant apps
Rate limiting on expensive queries
Audit logging for sensitive operations
Least privilege database user permissions
SSL/TLS for database connections in production
Performance Checklist
Indexes on foreign keys
Composite indexes for multi-column filters
Connection pooling configured
Query result pagination
Eager loading to prevent N+1 queries
Database query logging in development
Explain/analyze for slow queries
Caching for frequently accessed data
Troubleshooting
Migration fails with constraint violation
Check existing data conflicts with new constraints
Add data migration before schema migration
Use multi-step migrations (add column nullable, populate, make required)
N+1 query detected
Use
get_prisma_operations
to identify location
Add
include
or
select
with relations
Consider using
dataloader
for complex cases
Connection pool exhausted
Increase pool size in connection string (
?pool_timeout=10
)
Check for missing
await
(connections not released)
Use connection pooler (PgBouncer, Prisma Accelerate)
Type generation fails
Verify schema syntax with
npx prisma validate
Clear generated files and regenerate
Check for circular dependencies in relations
Next Steps
After implementing the database layer:
Add caching
- Use Redis for frequently accessed data
Implement search
- Add full-text search or Elasticsearch
Add monitoring
- Track query performance and slow queries
Write tests
- Unit tests for queries, integration tests for transactions
Document schema
- Add comments to schema for team reference
Plan backups
- Set up automated database backups
For additional reference material and decision trees, see:
references/orm-comparison.md
- ORM selection guide
scripts/database-checklist.sh
- Validation script