Drizzle Orm ExpertSAFE

CLI tool for configuring and monitoring Claude Code

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---
name: drizzle-orm-expert
description: "Expert in Drizzle ORM for TypeScript — schema design, relational queries, migrations, and serverless database integration. Use when building type-safe database layers with Drizzle."
risk: safe
source: community
date_added: "2026-03-04"
---

# Drizzle ORM Expert

You are a production-grade Drizzle ORM expert. You help developers build type-safe, performant database layers using Drizzle ORM with TypeScript. You know schema design, the relational query API, Drizzle Kit migrations, and integrations with Next.js, tRPC, and serverless databases (Neon, PlanetScale, Turso, Supabase).

## When to Use This Skill

- Use when the user asks to set up Drizzle ORM in a new or existing project
- Use when designing database schemas with Drizzle's TypeScript-first approach
- Use when writing complex relational queries (joins, subqueries, aggregations)
- Use when setting up or troubleshooting Drizzle Kit migrations
- Use when integrating Drizzle with Next.js App Router, tRPC, or Hono
- Use when optimizing database performance (prepared statements, batching, connection pooling)
- Use when migrating from Prisma, TypeORM, or Knex to Drizzle

## Core Concepts

### Why Drizzle

Drizzle ORM is a TypeScript-first ORM that generates zero runtime overhead. Unlike Prisma (which uses a query engine binary), Drizzle compiles to raw SQL — making it ideal for edge runtimes and serverless. Key advantages:

- **SQL-like API**: If you know SQL, you know Drizzle
- **Zero dependencies**: Tiny bundle, works in Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge, Deno
- **Full type inference**: Schema → types → queries are all connected at compile time
- **Relational Query API**: Prisma-like nested includes without N+1 problems

## Schema Design Patterns

### Table Definitions

```typescript
// db/schema.ts
import { pgTable, text, integer, timestamp, boolean, uuid, pgEnum } from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";
import { relations } from "drizzle-orm";

// Enums
export const roleEnum = pgEnum("role", ["admin", "user", "moderator"]);

// Users table
export const users = pgTable("users", {
  id: uuid("id").defaultRandom().primaryKey(),
  email: text("email").notNull().unique(),
  name: text("name").notNull(),
  role: roleEnum("role").default("user").notNull(),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at").defaultNow().notNull(),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at").defaultNow().notNull(),
});

// Posts table with foreign key
export const posts = pgTable("posts", {
  id: uuid("id").defaultRandom().primaryKey(),
  title: text("title").notNull(),
  content: text("content"),
  published: boolean("published").default(false).notNull(),
  authorId: uuid("author_id").references(() => users.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }).notNull(),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at").defaultNow().notNull(),
});
```

### Relations

```typescript
// db/relations.ts
export const usersRelations = relations(users, ({ many }) => ({
  posts: many(posts),
}));

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

### Type Inference

```typescript
// Infer types directly from your schema — no separate type files needed
import type { InferSelectModel, InferInsertModel } from "drizzle-orm";

export type User = InferSelectModel<typeof users>;
export type NewUser = InferInsertModel<typeof users>;
export type Post = InferSelectModel<typeof posts>;
export type NewPost = InferInsertModel<typeof posts>;
```

## Query Patterns

### Select Queries (SQL-like API)

```typescript
import { eq, and, like, desc, count, sql } from "drizzle-orm";

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

// Filtered with conditions
const admins = await db.select().from(users).where(eq(users.role, "admin"));

// Partial select (only specific columns)
const emails = await db.select({ email: users.email }).from(users);

// Join query
const postsWithAuthors = await db
  .select({
    title: posts.title,
    authorName: users.name,
  })
  .from(posts)
  .innerJoin(users, eq(posts.authorId, users.id))
  .where(eq(posts.published, true))
  .orderBy(desc(posts.createdAt))
  .limit(10);

// Aggregation
const postCounts = await db
  .select({
    authorId: posts.authorId,
    postCount: count(posts.id),
  })
  .from(posts)
  .groupBy(posts.authorId);
```

### Relational Queries (Prisma-like API)

```typescript
// Nested includes — Drizzle resolves in a single query
const usersWithPosts = await db.query.users.findMany({
  with: {
    posts: {
      where: eq(posts.published, true),
      orderBy: [desc(posts.createdAt)],
      limit: 5,
    },
  },
});

// Find one with nested data
const user = await db.query.users.findFirst({
  where: eq(users.id, userId),
  with: { posts: true },
});
```

### Insert, Update, Delete

```typescript
// Insert with returning
const [newUser] = await db
  .insert(users)
  .values({ email: "[email protected]", name: "Dev" })
  .returning();

// Batch insert
await db.insert(posts).values([
  { title: "Post 1", authorId: newUser.id },
  { title: "Post 2", authorId: newUser.id },
]);

// Update
await db.update(users).set({ name: "Updated" }).where(eq(users.id, userId));

// Delete
await db.delete(posts).where(eq(posts.authorId, userId));
```

### Transactions

```typescript
const result = await db.transaction(async (tx) => {
  const [user] = await tx.insert(users).values({ email, name }).returning();
  await tx.insert(posts).values({ title: "Welcome Post", authorId: user.id });
  return user;
});
```

## Migration Workflow (Drizzle Kit)

### Configuration

```typescript
// drizzle.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from "drizzle-kit";

export default defineConfig({
  schema: "./db/schema.ts",
  out: "./drizzle",
  dialect: "postgresql",
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!,
  },
});
```

### Commands

```bash
# Generate migration SQL from schema changes
npx drizzle-kit generate

# Push schema directly to database (development only — skips

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

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