Drizzle ORM

Modern TypeScript-first ORM with zero dependencies, compile-time type safety, and SQL-like syntax. Optimized for edge runtimes and serverless environments.

Quick Start

Installation

# Core ORM
npm install drizzle-orm

# Database driver (choose one)
npm install pg            # PostgreSQL
npm install mysql2        # MySQL
npm install better-sqlite3 # SQLite

# Drizzle Kit (migrations)
npm install -D drizzle-kit

Basic Setup

// db/schema.ts
import { pgTable, serial, text, timestamp } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';

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

// db/client.ts
import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres';
import { Pool } from 'pg';
import * as schema from './schema';

const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });
export const db = drizzle(pool, { schema });

First Query

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

// Insert
const newUser = await db.insert(users).values({
  email: 'user@example.com',
  name: 'John Doe',
}).returning();

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

// Where
const user = await db.select().from(users).where(eq(users.id, 1));

// Update
await db.update(users).set({ name: 'Jane Doe' }).where(eq(users.id, 1));

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

Schema Definition

Column Types Reference

PostgreSQL	MySQL	SQLite	TypeScript
serial()	serial()	integer()	number
text()	text()	text()	string
integer()	int()	integer()	number
boolean()	boolean()	integer()	boolean
timestamp()	datetime()	integer()	Date
json()	json()	text()	unknown
uuid()	varchar(36)	text()	string

Common Schema Patterns

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

export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  email: varchar('email', { length: 255 }).notNull().unique(),
  passwordHash: varchar('password_hash', { length: 255 }).notNull(),
  role: text('role', { enum: ['admin', 'user', 'guest'] }).default('user'),
  metadata: json('metadata').$type<{ theme: string; locale: string }>(),
  isActive: boolean('is_active').default(true),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
  updatedAt: timestamp('updated_at').defaultNow().notNull(),
}, (table) => ({
  emailIdx: unique('email_unique_idx').on(table.email),
}));

// Infer TypeScript types
type User = typeof users.$inferSelect;
type NewUser = typeof users.$inferInsert;

Relations

One-to-Many

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

export const authors = pgTable('authors', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
});

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  authorId: integer('author_id').notNull().references(() => authors.id),
});

export const authorsRelations = relations(authors, ({ many }) => ({
  posts: many(posts),
}));

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

// Query with relations
const authorsWithPosts = await db.query.authors.findMany({
  with: { posts: true },
});

Many-to-Many

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),
}, (table) => ({
  pk: primaryKey({ columns: [table.userId, table.groupId] }),
}));

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

export const groupsRelations = relations(groups, ({ many }) => ({
  users: many(usersToGroups),
}));

export const usersToGroupsRelations = relations(usersToGroups, ({ one }) => ({
  user: one(users, { fields: [usersToGroups.userId], references: [users.id] }),
  group: one(groups, { fields: [usersToGroups.groupId], references: [groups.id] }),
}));

Queries

Filtering

import { eq, ne, gt, gte, lt, lte, like, ilike, inArray, isNull, isNotNull, and, or, between } from 'drizzle-orm';

// Equality
await db.select().from(users).where(eq(users.email, 'user@example.com'));

// Comparison
await db.select().from(users).where(gt(users.id, 10));

// Pattern matching
await db.select().from(users).where(like(users.name, '%John%'));

// Multiple conditions
await db.select().from(users).where(
  and(
    eq(users.role, 'admin'),
    gt(users.createdAt, new Date('2024-01-01'))
  )
);

// IN clause
await db.select().from(users).where(inArray(users.id, [1, 2, 3]));

// NULL checks
await db.select().from(users).where(isNull(users.deletedAt));

Joins

import { eq } from 'drizzle-orm';

// Inner join
const result = await db
  .select({
    user: users,
    post: posts,
  })
  .from(users)
  .innerJoin(posts, eq(users.id, posts.authorId));

// Left join
const result = await db
  .select({
    user: users,
    post: posts,
  })
  .from(users)
  .leftJoin(posts, eq(users.id, posts.authorId));

// Multiple joins with aggregation
import { count, sql } from 'drizzle-orm';

const result = await db
  .select({
    authorName: authors.name,
    postCount: count(posts.id),
  })
  .from(authors)
  .leftJoin(posts, eq(authors.id, posts.authorId))
  .groupBy(authors.id);

Pagination & Sorting

import { desc, asc } from 'drizzle-orm';

// Order by
await db.select().from(users).orderBy(desc(users.createdAt));

// Limit & offset
await db.select().from(users).limit(10).offset(20);

// Pagination helper
function paginate(page: number, pageSize: number = 10) {
  return db.select().from(users)
    .limit(pageSize)
    .offset(page * pageSize);
}

Transactions

// Auto-rollback on error
await db.transaction(async (tx) => {
  await tx.insert(users).values({ email: 'user@example.com', name: 'John' });
  await tx.insert(posts).values({ title: 'First Post', authorId: 1 });
  // If any query fails, entire transaction rolls back
});

// Manual control
const tx = db.transaction(async (tx) => {
  const user = await tx.insert(users).values({ ... }).returning();

  if (!user) {
    tx.rollback();
    return;
  }

  await tx.insert(posts).values({ authorId: user.id });
});

Migrations

Drizzle Kit Configuration

// drizzle.config.ts
import type { Config } from 'drizzle-kit';

export default {
  schema: './db/schema.ts',
  out: './drizzle',
  dialect: 'postgresql',
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!,
  },
} satisfies Config;

Migration Workflow

# Generate migration
npx drizzle-kit generate

# View SQL
cat drizzle/0000_migration.sql

# Apply migration
npx drizzle-kit migrate

# Introspect existing database
npx drizzle-kit introspect

# Drizzle Studio (database GUI)
npx drizzle-kit studio

Example Migration

-- drizzle/0000_initial.sql
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "users" (
  "id" serial PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
  "email" varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  "name" text NOT NULL,
  "created_at" timestamp DEFAULT now() NOT NULL,
  CONSTRAINT "users_email_unique" UNIQUE("email")
);

Navigation

Detailed References

• 🏗️ Advanced Schemas - Custom types, composite keys, indexes, constraints, multi-tenant patterns. Load when designing complex database schemas.

• 🔍 Query Patterns - Subqueries, CTEs, raw SQL, prepared statements, batch operations. Load when optimizing queries or handling complex filtering.

• ⚡ Performance - Connection pooling, query optimization, N+1 prevention, prepared statements, edge runtime integration. Load when scaling or optimizing database performance.

• 🔄 vs Prisma - Feature comparison, migration guide, when to choose Drizzle over Prisma. Load when evaluating ORMs or migrating from Prisma.

Red Flags

Stop and reconsider if:

• Using any or unknown for JSON columns without type annotation
• Building raw SQL strings without using sql template (SQL injection risk)
• Not using transactions for multi-step data modifications
• Fetching all rows without pagination in production queries
• Missing indexes on foreign keys or frequently queried columns
• Using select() without specifying columns for large tables

Performance Benefits vs Prisma

Metric	Drizzle	Prisma
Bundle Size	~35KB	~230KB
Cold Start	~10ms	~250ms
Query Speed	Baseline	~2-3x slower
Memory	~10MB	~50MB
Type Generation	Runtime inference	Build-time generation

Integration

• typescript-core: Type-safe schema inference with satisfies
• nextjs-core: Server Actions, Route Handlers, Middleware integration
• Database Migration: Safe schema evolution patterns

Related Skills

When using Drizzle, these skills enhance your workflow:

• prisma: Alternative ORM comparison: Drizzle vs Prisma trade-offs
• typescript: Advanced TypeScript patterns for type-safe queries
• nextjs: Drizzle with Next.js Server Actions and API routes
• sqlalchemy: SQLAlchemy patterns for Python developers learning Drizzle

[Full documentation available in these skills if deployed in your bundle]