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Drizzle ORM Overview

Introduction

Drizzle is a lightweight TypeScript ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) for SQL databases. Designed for type safety and developer experience, it provides:

  • Type-safe SQL query builder
  • Schema declaration in TypeScript
  • Automatic migrations
  • Minimal runtime overhead
  • Support for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and Cloudflare D1

Key Features

1. Type-Safe SQL

// Example query
const users = await db.select().from(usersTable).where(eq(usersTable.age, 25));
// users is typed as User[]

2. Schema Declaration

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

const usersTable = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  email: text('email').unique()
});

3. Migrations

# Generate migrations
npx drizzle-kit generate:pg

4. Raw SQL Support

await db.execute(sql`SELECT * FROM users WHERE age > ${18}`);

Comparison with Prisma

Feature Drizzle Prisma
Type Safety Query-level types Model-level types
Schema Definition TypeScript-first Prisma Schema Language
Runtime Size 15-20KB 2-3MB
Query Builder SQL-like syntax Object-based syntax
Transactions Explicit Interactive/Implicit

Basic Usage

  1. Installation
npm install drizzle-orm postgres
npm install -D drizzle-kit
  1. Define Schema
// schema.ts
export const postsTable = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  content: text('content')
});
  1. Query Data
const results = await db
  .select({ 
    postTitle: postsTable.title,
    author: usersTable.name 
  })
  .from(postsTable)
  .leftJoin(usersTable, eq(postsTable.authorId, usersTable.id));

When to Use Drizzle

  • Need direct SQL control with type safety
  • Building lightweight applications
  • Prefer TypeScript-first approach
  • Require minimal abstraction layer

Official Documentation