Database Schema Designer

Design production-ready database schemas with best practices built-in.

Quick Start

Just describe your data model:

design a schema for an e-commerce platform with users, products, orders

You'll get a complete SQL schema like:

CREATE TABLE users (
  id BIGINT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id BIGINT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  user_id BIGINT NOT NULL REFERENCES users(id),
  total DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
  INDEX idx_orders_user (user_id)
);

What to include in your request:

Entities (users, products, orders)
Key relationships (users have orders, orders have items)
Scale hints (high-traffic, millions of records)
Database preference (SQL/NoSQL) - defaults to SQL if not specified

Triggers

Trigger	Example
`design schema`	"design a schema for user authentication"
`database design`	"database design for multi-tenant SaaS"
`create tables`	"create tables for a blog system"
`schema for`	"schema for inventory management"
`model data`	"model data for real-time analytics"
`I need a database`	"I need a database for tracking orders"
`design NoSQL`	"design NoSQL schema for product catalog"

Key Terms

Term	Definition
Normalization	Organizing data to reduce redundancy (1NF → 2NF → 3NF)
3NF	Third Normal Form - no transitive dependencies between columns
OLTP	Online Transaction Processing - write-heavy, needs normalization
OLAP	Online Analytical Processing - read-heavy, benefits from denormalization
Foreign Key (FK)	Column that references another table's primary key
Index	Data structure that speeds up queries (at cost of slower writes)
Access Pattern	How your app reads/writes data (queries, joins, filters)
Denormalization	Intentionally duplicating data to speed up reads

Quick Reference

Task	Approach	Key Consideration
New schema	Normalize to 3NF first	Domain modeling over UI
SQL vs NoSQL	Access patterns decide	Read/write ratio matters
Primary keys	INT or UUID	UUID for distributed systems
Foreign keys	Always constrain	ON DELETE strategy critical
Indexes	FKs + WHERE columns	Column order matters
Migrations	Always reversible	Backward compatible first

Process Overview

Your Data Requirements
    |
    v
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Phase 1: ANALYSIS                                   |
| * Identify entities and relationships               |
| * Determine access patterns (read vs write heavy)   |
| * Choose SQL or NoSQL based on requirements         |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
    |
    v
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Phase 2: DESIGN                                     |
| * Normalize to 3NF (SQL) or embed/reference (NoSQL) |
| * Define primary keys and foreign keys              |
| * Choose appropriate data types                     |
| * Add constraints (UNIQUE, CHECK, NOT NULL)         |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
    |
    v
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Phase 3: OPTIMIZE                                   |
| * Plan indexing strategy                            |
| * Consider denormalization for read-heavy queries   |
| * Add timestamps (created_at, updated_at)           |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
    |
    v
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Phase 4: MIGRATE                                    |
| * Generate migration scripts (up + down)            |
| * Ensure backward compatibility                     |
| * Plan zero-downtime deployment                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
    |
    v
Production-Ready Schema

Commands

Command	When to Use	Action
`design schema for {domain}`	Starting fresh	Full schema generation
`normalize {table}`	Fixing existing table	Apply normalization rules
`add indexes for {table}`	Performance issues	Generate index strategy
`migration for {change}`	Schema evolution	Create reversible migration
`review schema`	Code review	Audit existing schema

Workflow: Start with design schema → iterate with normalize → optimize with add indexes → evolve with migration

Core Principles

Principle	WHY	Implementation
Model the Domain	UI changes, domain doesn't	Entity names reflect business concepts
Data Integrity First	Corruption is costly to fix	Constraints at database level
Optimize for Access Pattern	Can't optimize for both	OLTP: normalized, OLAP: denormalized
Plan for Scale	Retrofitting is painful	Index strategy + partitioning plan

Anti-Patterns

Avoid	Why	Instead
VARCHAR(255) everywhere	Wastes storage, hides intent	Size appropriately per field
FLOAT for money	Rounding errors	DECIMAL(10,2)
Missing FK constraints	Orphaned data	Always define foreign keys
No indexes on FKs	Slow JOINs	Index every foreign key
Storing dates as strings	Can't compare/sort	DATE, TIMESTAMP types
SELECT * in queries	Fetches unnecessary data	Explicit column lists
Non-reversible migrations	Can't rollback	Always write DOWN migration
Adding NOT NULL without default	Breaks existing rows	Add nullable, backfill, then constrain

Verification Checklist

After designing a schema:

Normal Forms

Form	Rule	Violation Example
1NF	Atomic values, no repeating groups	`product_ids = '1,2,3'`
2NF	1NF + no partial dependencies	customer_name in order_items
3NF	2NF + no transitive dependencies	country derived from postal_code

1st Normal Form (1NF)

-- BAD: Multiple values in column
CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  product_ids VARCHAR(255)  -- '101,102,103'
);

-- GOOD: Separate table for items
CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT
);

CREATE TABLE order_items (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  order_id INT REFERENCES orders(id),
  product_id INT
);

2nd Normal Form (2NF)

-- BAD: customer_name depends only on customer_id
CREATE TABLE order_items (
  order_id INT,
  product_id INT,
  customer_name VARCHAR(100),  -- Partial dependency!
  PRIMARY KEY (order_id, product_id)
);

-- GOOD: Customer data in separate table
CREATE TABLE customers (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100)
);

3rd Normal Form (3NF)

-- BAD: country depends on postal_code
CREATE TABLE customers (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  postal_code VARCHAR(10),
  country VARCHAR(50)  -- Transitive dependency!
);

-- GOOD: Separate postal_codes table
CREATE TABLE postal_codes (
  code VARCHAR(10) PRIMARY KEY,
  country VARCHAR(50)
);

When to Denormalize

Scenario	Denormalization Strategy
Read-heavy reporting	Pre-calculated aggregates
Expensive JOINs	Cached derived columns
Analytics dashboards	Materialized views

-- Denormalized for performance
CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT,
  total_amount DECIMAL(10,2),  -- Calculated
  item_count INT               -- Calculated
);

String Types

Type	Use Case	Example
CHAR(n)	Fixed length	State codes, ISO dates
VARCHAR(n)	Variable length	Names, emails
TEXT	Long content	Articles, descriptions

-- Good sizing
email VARCHAR(255)
phone VARCHAR(20)
country_code CHAR(2)

Numeric Types

Type	Range	Use Case
TINYINT	-128 to 127	Age, status codes
SMALLINT	-32K to 32K	Quantities
INT	-2.1B to 2.1B	IDs, counts
BIGINT	Very large	Large IDs, timestamps
DECIMAL(p,s)	Exact precision	Money
FLOAT/DOUBLE	Approximate	Scientific data

-- ALWAYS use DECIMAL for money
price DECIMAL(10, 2)  -- $99,999,999.99

-- NEVER use FLOAT for money
price FLOAT  -- Rounding errors!

Date/Time Types

DATE        -- 2025-10-31
TIME        -- 14:30:00
DATETIME    -- 2025-10-31 14:30:00
TIMESTAMP   -- Auto timezone conversion

-- Always store in UTC
created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

Boolean

-- PostgreSQL
is_active BOOLEAN DEFAULT TRUE

-- MySQL
is_active TINYINT(1) DEFAULT 1

When to Create Indexes

Always Index	Reason
Foreign keys	Speed up JOINs
WHERE clause columns	Speed up filtering
ORDER BY columns	Speed up sorting
Unique constraints	Enforced uniqueness

-- Foreign key index
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_customer ON orders(customer_id);

-- Query pattern index
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_status_date ON orders(status, created_at);

Index Types

Type	Best For	Example
B-Tree	Ranges, equality	`price > 100`
Hash	Exact matches only	`email = 'x@y.com'`
Full-text	Text search	`MATCH AGAINST`
Partial	Subset of rows	`WHERE is_active = true`

Composite Index Order

CREATE INDEX idx_customer_status ON orders(customer_id, status);

-- Uses index (customer_id first)
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE customer_id = 123;
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE customer_id = 123 AND status = 'pending';

-- Does NOT use index (status alone)
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE status = 'pending';

Rule: Most selective column first, or column most queried alone.

Index Pitfalls

Pitfall	Problem	Solution
Over-indexing	Slow writes	Only index what's queried
Wrong column order	Unused index	Match query patterns
Missing FK indexes	Slow JOINs	Always index FKs

Primary Keys

-- Auto-increment (simple)
id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY

-- UUID (distributed systems)
id CHAR(36) PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT (UUID())

-- Composite (junction tables)
PRIMARY KEY (student_id, course_id)

Foreign Keys

FOREIGN KEY (customer_id) REFERENCES customers(id)
  ON DELETE CASCADE     -- Delete children with parent
  ON DELETE RESTRICT    -- Prevent deletion if referenced
  ON DELETE SET NULL    -- Set to NULL when parent deleted
  ON UPDATE CASCADE     -- Update children when parent changes

Strategy	Use When
CASCADE	Dependent data (order_items)
RESTRICT	Important references (prevent accidents)
SET NULL	Optional relationships

Other Constraints

-- Unique
email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL

-- Composite unique
UNIQUE (student_id, course_id)

-- Check
price DECIMAL(10,2) CHECK (price >= 0)
discount INT CHECK (discount BETWEEN 0 AND 100)

-- Not null
name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL

One-to-Many

CREATE TABLE orders (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  customer_id INT NOT NULL REFERENCES customers(id)
);

CREATE TABLE order_items (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  order_id INT NOT NULL REFERENCES orders(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
  product_id INT NOT NULL,
  quantity INT NOT NULL
);

Many-to-Many

-- Junction table
CREATE TABLE enrollments (
  student_id INT REFERENCES students(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
  course_id INT REFERENCES courses(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
  enrolled_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  PRIMARY KEY (student_id, course_id)
);

Self-Referencing

CREATE TABLE employees (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  manager_id INT REFERENCES employees(id)
);

Polymorphic

-- Approach 1: Separate FKs (stronger integrity)
CREATE TABLE comments (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  content TEXT NOT NULL,
  post_id INT REFERENCES posts(id),
  photo_id INT REFERENCES photos(id),
  CHECK (
    (post_id IS NOT NULL AND photo_id IS NULL) OR
    (post_id IS NULL AND photo_id IS NOT NULL)
  )
);

-- Approach 2: Type + ID (flexible, weaker integrity)
CREATE TABLE comments (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  content TEXT NOT NULL,
  commentable_type VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  commentable_id INT NOT NULL
);

Embedding vs Referencing

Factor	Embed	Reference
Access pattern	Read together	Read separately
Relationship	1:few	1:many
Document size	Small	Approaching 16MB
Update frequency	Rarely	Frequently

Embedded Document

{
  "_id": "order_123",
  "customer": {
    "id": "cust_456",
    "name": "Jane Smith",
    "email": "jane@example.com"
  },
  "items": [
    { "product_id": "prod_789", "quantity": 2, "price": 29.99 }
  ],
  "total": 109.97
}

Referenced Document

{
  "_id": "order_123",
  "customer_id": "cust_456",
  "item_ids": ["item_1", "item_2"],
  "total": 109.97
}

MongoDB Indexes

// Single field
db.users.createIndex({ email: 1 }, { unique: true });

// Composite
db.orders.createIndex({ customer_id: 1, created_at: -1 });

// Text search
db.articles.createIndex({ title: "text", content: "text" });

// Geospatial
db.stores.createIndex({ location: "2dsphere" });

Migration Best Practices

Practice	WHY
Always reversible	Need to rollback
Backward compatible	Zero-downtime deploys
Schema before data	Separate concerns
Test on staging	Catch issues early

Adding a Column (Zero-Downtime)

-- Step 1: Add nullable column
ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN phone VARCHAR(20);

-- Step 2: Deploy code that writes to new column

-- Step 3: Backfill existing rows
UPDATE users SET phone = '' WHERE phone IS NULL;

-- Step 4: Make required (if needed)
ALTER TABLE users MODIFY phone VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL;

Renaming a Column (Zero-Downtime)

-- Step 1: Add new column
ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN email_address VARCHAR(255);

-- Step 2: Copy data
UPDATE users SET email_address = email;

-- Step 3: Deploy code reading from new column
-- Step 4: Deploy code writing to new column

-- Step 5: Drop old column
ALTER TABLE users DROP COLUMN email;

Migration Template

-- Migration: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS_description.sql

-- UP
BEGIN;
ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN phone VARCHAR(20);
CREATE INDEX idx_users_phone ON users(phone);
COMMIT;

-- DOWN
BEGIN;
DROP INDEX idx_users_phone ON users;
ALTER TABLE users DROP COLUMN phone;
COMMIT;

Query Analysis

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM orders
WHERE customer_id = 123 AND status = 'pending';

Look For	Meaning
type: ALL	Full table scan (bad)
type: ref	Index used (good)
key: NULL	No index used
rows: high	Many rows scanned

N+1 Query Problem

# BAD: N+1 queries
orders = db.query("SELECT * FROM orders")
for order in orders:
    customer = db.query(f"SELECT * FROM customers WHERE id = {order.customer_id}")

# GOOD: Single JOIN
results = db.query("""
    SELECT orders.*, customers.name
    FROM orders
    JOIN customers ON orders.customer_id = customers.id
""")

Optimization Techniques

Technique	When to Use
Add indexes	Slow WHERE/ORDER BY
Denormalize	Expensive JOINs
Pagination	Large result sets
Caching	Repeated queries
Read replicas	Read-heavy load
Partitioning	Very large tables

Extension Points

Database-Specific Patterns: Add MySQL vs PostgreSQL vs SQLite variations
Advanced Patterns: Time-series, event sourcing, CQRS, multi-tenancy
ORM Integration: TypeORM, Prisma, SQLAlchemy patterns
Monitoring: Query performance tracking, slow query alerts

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