Using an ORM to access your Postgres database

Vercel Postgres provides an SDK, but we recommend using an ORM for larger applications.

• Kysely
• Prisma
• Drizzle

To get started using Vercel Postgres with your favorite ORM, follow the instructions in our Postgres quickstart.

If your ORM is featured on this page, read the corresponding section for the most optimal configuration instructions.

Kysely is a type-safe and autocomplete-friendly TypeScript SQL query builder. Use our Kysely template to deploy a Next.js project that connects to Vercel Postgres with Kysely now.

To use Kysely, follow these steps:

1. Install the Kysely package:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm i kysely @vercel/postgres-kysely

2. Use the createKysely method from @vercel/postgres-kysely to create a client with a pooled connection

   import { createKysely } from '@vercel/postgres-kysely';
    
   interface Database {
     person: PersonTable;
     pet: PetTable;
     movie: MovieTable;
   }
    
   const db = createKysely<Database>();
    
   await db
     .insertInto('pet')
     .values({ name: 'Catto', species: 'cat', owner_id: id })
     .execute();
    
   const person = await db
     .selectFrom('person')
     .innerJoin('pet', 'pet.owner_id', 'person.id')
     .select(['first_name', 'pet.name as pet_name'])
     .where('person.id', '=', id)
     .executeTakeFirst();

Kysely supports all PostgreSQL commands. See Kysely's docs for a full reference of the methods used to send the commands.

Prisma is a next-gen ORM that includes a type-safe query builder, migration system, and database management interface. Use our Prisma template to deploy a Next.js project that connects to Vercel Postgres with Prisma now.

To use Vercel Postgres with Prisma, you must:

1. Follow the instructions in our Postgres quickstart

2. Install Prisma client and Prisma CLI:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm i prisma @prisma/client

3. Use your environment variables in your schema.prisma file as shown below:

   schema.prisma

   generator client {
     provider = "prisma-client-js"
   }
    
   datasource db {
     provider = "postgresql"
     // Uses connection pooling
     url = env("POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL")
     // Uses direct connection, ⚠️ make sure to keep this to `POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING`
     // or you'll have dangling databases from migrations
     directUrl = env("POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING")
   }
    
   model User {
     id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
     name      String
     email     String   @unique
     image     String
     createdAt DateTime @default(now())
   }

4. Use @prisma/client to query your Vercel Postgres database

   import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
    
   const prisma = new PrismaClient();
    
   export default async function prismaExample() {
     const newUser = await prisma.user.create({
       data: {
         name: 'Elliott',
         email: 'xelliottx@example-user.com',
       },
     });
    
     const users = await prisma.user.findMany();
   }

5. Whenever you make changes to your prisma schema, you must run a migration, then run prisma generate to update the generated type generations, which live in the node_modules/.prisma/client directory. You can do this by adding the following script to your package.json:

   package.json

   {
     "scripts": {
       "vercel-build": "prisma generate && prisma migrate deploy && next build"
     }
   }

When you connect with Prisma using the POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL environment variable, the parameters connect_timeout=10 and pgbouncer=true will be set.

See the Prisma docs to learn more.

See the Prisma Migrate docs to migrate your database.

Drizzle is a TypeScript ORM that enables developers to build type-safe SQL queries. It relies on zero dependencies, and uses a SQL-like syntax to offer a lower learning curve than other ORMs. Use our Drizzle template to deploy a Next.js project that connects to Vercel Postgres with Drizzle now.

To use Drizzle with Vercel Postgres, you must:

1. Follow the instructions in the Postgres quickstart

2. Install the drizzle-orm package to write queries, and the drizzle-kit package to define your schema and manage migrations:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm i drizzle-orm

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm i -D drizzle-kit

3. Create a schema.ts file for your database tables:

   drizzle/schema.ts

   TypeScript

   TypeScriptJavaScript

   import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/vercel-postgres';
   import { sql } from '@vercel/postgres';
   import {
     pgTable,
     serial,
     text,
     timestamp,
     uniqueIndex,
   } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
    
   export const UsersTable = pgTable(
     'users',
     {
       id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
       name: text('name').notNull(),
       email: text('email').notNull(),
       image: text('image').notNull(),
       createdAt: timestamp('createdAt').defaultNow().notNull(),
     },
     (users) => {
       return {
         uniqueIdx: uniqueIndex('unique_idx').on(users.email),
       };
     },
   );

4. Install the @next/env package to load the environment variables outside of the Next.js runtime:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm i @next/env

   Next.js (/app)

   Next.js (/pages)

   Other frameworks

   drizzle/envConfig.ts

   TypeScript

   TypeScriptJavaScript

   import { loadEnvConfig } from '@next/env';
    
   const projectDir = process.cwd();
   loadEnvConfig(projectDir);

5. Create a drizzle.config.js file in the root of your project, import the environment variables config, add the path to your schema file, and your Vercel POSTGRES_URL connection string:

   drizzle.config.ts

   TypeScript

   TypeScriptJavaScript

   import '@/drizzle/envConfig';
   import { defineConfig } from 'drizzle-kit';
    
   export default defineConfig({
     schema: './drizzle/schema.ts',
     driver: 'pg',
     dbCredentials: {
       connectionString: process.env.POSTGRES_URL!,
     },
   });

6. Use the drizzle-kit CLI to generate your tables:

   Terminal

   npx drizzle-kit push:pg

After running this command, you can view your tables in your Vercel dashboard, under the Storage tab. Follow the Drizzle-Kit docs to migrate and seed your database, and learn how to use the Drizzle-Studio.

7. Lastly, create a new client to query your database:

   drizzle/db.ts

   TypeScript

   TypeScriptJavaScript

   import '@/drizzle/envConfig';
   import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/vercel-postgres';
   import { sql } from '@vercel/postgres';
   import * as schema from './schema';
    
   export const db = drizzle(sql, { schema });
    
   export const getUsers = async () => {
     return db.query.users.findMany();
   };