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kysely
Write type-safe SQL with Kysely query builder. Use when a user asks to write raw SQL with TypeScript safety, build queries without an ORM, use a lightweight SQL builder, or migrate from Knex with type safety.
#kysely#sql#query-builder#typescript#database
terminal-skillsv1.0.0
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
Usage
$
✓ Installed kysely v1.0.0
Getting Started
- Install the skill using the command above
- Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
- Reference the skill in your prompt
- The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically
Example Prompts
- "Analyze the sales data in revenue.csv and identify trends"
- "Create a visualization comparing Q1 vs Q2 performance metrics"
Documentation
Overview
Kysely is a type-safe TypeScript SQL query builder. Unlike ORMs, it doesn't abstract away SQL — it gives you full SQL power with TypeScript autocompletion and type checking. Every query is validated at compile time. Zero overhead: Kysely generates SQL strings, nothing more.
Instructions
Step 1: Define Types
typescript
// db/types.ts — Database type definitions
import { Generated, Insertable, Selectable, Updateable } from 'kysely'
interface Database {
users: UsersTable
posts: PostsTable
comments: CommentsTable
}
interface UsersTable {
id: Generated<number>
name: string
email: string
created_at: Generated<Date>
}
interface PostsTable {
id: Generated<number>
title: string
body: string
author_id: number
published: boolean
created_at: Generated<Date>
}
// Helper types for insert/update (Generated fields are optional)
type NewUser = Insertable<UsersTable>
type UserUpdate = Updateable<UsersTable>
type User = Selectable<UsersTable>
Step 2: Queries
typescript
// db/queries.ts — Type-safe SQL queries
import { Kysely, PostgresDialect, sql } from 'kysely'
import { Pool } from 'pg'
const db = new Kysely<Database>({
dialect: new PostgresDialect({ pool: new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL }) }),
})
// Select with joins — fully typed result
const postsWithAuthor = await db
.selectFrom('posts')
.innerJoin('users', 'users.id', 'posts.author_id')
.select(['posts.id', 'posts.title', 'users.name as author_name'])
.where('posts.published', '=', true)
.orderBy('posts.created_at', 'desc')
.limit(20)
.execute()
// postsWithAuthor is { id: number, title: string, author_name: string }[]
// Subquery
const activeAuthors = await db
.selectFrom('users')
.select(['users.name', 'users.email'])
.where('users.id', 'in',
db.selectFrom('posts')
.select('posts.author_id')
.where('posts.published', '=', true)
.groupBy('posts.author_id')
)
.execute()
// Insert
const newUser = await db
.insertInto('users')
.values({ name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@example.com' })
.returningAll()
.executeTakeFirstOrThrow()
// Transaction
await db.transaction().execute(async (trx) => {
const user = await trx.insertInto('users')
.values({ name: 'Bob', email: 'bob@example.com' })
.returningAll()
.executeTakeFirstOrThrow()
await trx.insertInto('posts')
.values({ title: 'First Post', body: 'Hello!', author_id: user.id, published: true })
.execute()
})
Step 3: Migrations
typescript
// migrations/001_create_users.ts — Kysely migration
import { Kysely, sql } from 'kysely'
export async function up(db: Kysely<any>) {
await db.schema
.createTable('users')
.addColumn('id', 'serial', (col) => col.primaryKey())
.addColumn('name', 'varchar(255)', (col) => col.notNull())
.addColumn('email', 'varchar(255)', (col) => col.notNull().unique())
.addColumn('created_at', 'timestamp', (col) => col.defaultTo(sql`now()`).notNull())
.execute()
}
export async function down(db: Kysely<any>) {
await db.schema.dropTable('users').execute()
}
Guidelines
- Kysely is a query builder, not an ORM — no relations, no lazy loading, no magic. Just SQL with types.
- Use Kysely when you want SQL control with type safety. Use Drizzle or Prisma when you want ORM features.
- Kysely works with serverless databases (Neon, PlanetScale) via custom dialects.
- The
Insertable/Updateabletypes automatically makeGeneratedfields optional.
Information
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Author
- terminal-skills
- Category
- Data & AI
- License
- Apache-2.0