How to define custom types

Drizzle ORM has a big set of predefined column types for different SQL databases. But still there are additional types that are not supported by Drizzle ORM (yet). That could be native pg types or extension types

Here are some instructions on how to create and use your own types with Drizzle ORM

Abstract view on column builder pattern in Drizzle ORM

Each type creation should use 2 classes:

ColumnBuilder - class, that is responsible for generating whole set of needed fields for column creation
Column - class, that is representing Columns itself, that is used in query generation, migration mapping, etc.

Each module has it's own class, representing ColumnBuilder or Column:
For pg -> PgColumnBuilder and PgColumn
For mysql -> MySqlColumnBuilder and MySqlColumn
For sqlite -> SQLiteColumnBuilder and SQLiteColumn

Builder class explanation - (postgresql text data type example)

Builder class is responsible for storing TS return type for specific database datatype and override build function to return ready to use column in table
TData - extends return type for column. Current example will infer string type for current datatype used in schema definition

export class PgTextBuilder<TData extends string = string>
	extends PgColumnBuilder<
		ColumnBuilderConfig<{ data: TData; driverParam: string }>
	>
{
	protected override $pgColumnBuilderBrand!: 'PgTextBuilder';
 
	build<TTableName extends string>(
		table: AnyPgTable<{ name: TTableName }>,
	): PgText<TTableName, TData> {
		return new PgText(table, this.config);
	}
}

Warning $pgColumnBuilderBrand should be changed and be equal to class name for new data type builder

Column class explanation - (postgresql text data type example)

Column class has set of types/functions, that could be overridden to get needed behavior for custom type

TData - extends return type for column. Current example will infer string type for current datatype used in schema definition
getSQLType() - function, that shows datatype name in database and will be used in migration generation
mapFromDriverValue() - interceptor between database and select query execution. If you want to modify/map/change value for specific data type, it could be done here

Usage example for jsonb type

override mapToDriverValue(value: TData): string {
	return JSON.stringify(value);
}

mapToDriverValue - interceptor between user input for insert/update queries and database query. If you want to modify/map/change value for specific data type, it could be done here

Usage example for int type

override mapFromDriverValue(value: number | string): number {
	if (typeof value === 'string') {
		return parseInt(value);
	}
	return value;
}

Column class example

export class PgText<TTableName extends string, TData extends string>
	extends PgColumn<ColumnConfig<{ tableName: TTableName; data: TData; driverParam: string }>> {
	protected override $pgColumnBrand!: 'PgText';
 
	constructor(table: AnyPgTable<{ name: TTableName }>, builder: PgTextBuilder<TData>['config']) {
		super(table, builder);
	}
 
	getSQLType(): string {
		return 'text';
	}
 
	override mapFromDriverValue(value: string): TData {
		return value as TData
	}
 
	override mapToDriverValue(value: TData): string {
		return value
	}
}

Warning $pgColumnBrand should be changed and be equal to class name for new data type

Full text data type for PostgreSQL example

For more postgres data type examples you could check here (opens in a new tab)

import { ColumnConfig } from 'drizzle-orm';
import { ColumnBuilderConfig } from 'drizzle-orm/column-builder';
import { AnyPgTable } from '~/table';
 
import { PgColumn, PgColumnBuilder } from './common';
 
export class PgTextBuilder<TData extends string = string>
	extends PgColumnBuilder<
		ColumnBuilderConfig<{ data: TData; driverParam: string }>
	>
{
	protected override $pgColumnBuilderBrand!: 'PgTextBuilder';
 
	build<TTableName extends string>(
		table: AnyPgTable<{ name: TTableName }>,
	): PgText<TTableName, TData> {
		return new PgText(table, this.config);
	}
}
 
export class PgText<TTableName extends string, TData extends string>
	extends PgColumn<
		ColumnConfig<{ tableName: TTableName; data: TData; driverParam: string }>
	>
{
	protected override $pgColumnBrand!: 'PgText';
 
	constructor(
		table: AnyPgTable<{ name: TTableName }>,
		builder: PgTextBuilder<TData>['config'],
	) {
		super(table, builder);
	}
 
	getSQLType(): string {
		return 'text';
	}
}
 
export function text<T extends string = string>(
	name: string,
): PgTextBuilder<T> {
	return new PgTextBuilder(name);
}

Custom data type example

Note We will check example on pg module, but current pattern applies to all dialects, that are currently supported by Drizzle ORM

Setting up CITEXT datatype

Note This type is available only with extensions and used for example, just to show how you could setup any data type you want. Extension support will come soon

CITEXT data type example

export class PgCITextBuilder<TData extends string = string> extends PgColumnBuilder<
	ColumnBuilderConfig<{ data: TData; driverParam: string }>
> {
  protected $pgColumnBuilderBrand: string = 'PgCITextBuilder';
  
	build<TTableName extends string>(table: AnyPgTable<{ name: TTableName }>): PgCIText<TTableName, TData> {
		return new PgCIText(table, this.config);
	}
}
 
export class PgCIText<TTableName extends string, TData extends string>
	extends PgColumn<ColumnConfig<{ tableName: TTableName; data: TData; driverParam: string }>>
{
	protected override $pgColumnBrand!: 'PgCIText';
 
	constructor(table: AnyPgTable<{ name: TTableName }>, builder: PgCITextBuilder<TData>['config']) {
		super(table, builder);
	}
 
	getSQLType(): string {
		return 'citext';
	}
}
 
export function citext<T extends string = string>(name: string): PgCITextBuilder<T> {
	return new PgCITextBuilder(name);
}

Usage example

const table = pgTable('table', {
	id: integer('id').primaryKey(),
	ciname: citext('ciname')
})

Contributing by adding new custom types in Drizzle ORM

You could add your created custom data types to Drizzle ORM, so everyone can use it.

Each data type should be placed in separate file in columns folder and PR open with tag new-data-type:pg | new-data-type:sqlite | new-data-type:mysql

For more Contribution information - please check CONTRIBUTING.md (opens in a new tab)