Drizzle ORM Migrations: drizzle-kit generate, the Journal and migrate
How Drizzle migrations work: drizzle-kit generate, the SQL files, snapshots and meta/_journal.json, applying them with migrate, and when to use push instead.
The SQL files drizzle-kit generate produces, together with the meta/_journal.json journal. SchemaDrawer runs drizzle-orm 0.45 with drizzle-kit 0.31 output against a throw-away database of the engine you choose and returns an SVG of the schema it produces.
Upload the folder drizzle-kit generate wrote: the numbered .sql files and the meta/ directory with _journal.json. There must be exactly one journal in the upload, and every SQL file next to it must be listed in the journal, otherwise the upload is refused rather than drawn incomplete. Snapshot files may come along.
The sample below is the PetClinic schema written for Drizzle ORM, one of the sets SchemaDrawer's own tests draw on every engine:
drizzle/ ├── meta/ │ └── _journal.json ├── 0000_create_owners_and_pets.sql ├── 0001_create_vets.sql └── 0002_create_visits.sql
SQL files plus meta/_journal.json.
migrate() from drizzle-orm with a configuration generated for the chosen engine. The database is a fresh PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle or SQLite container in the version you ask for; nothing of yours is touched.
PostgreSQL 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 MySQL 8.0, 8.4, 9 MariaDB 10.6, 11.4, 11.8, 12 SQL Server Oracle SQLite
Not offered for Drizzle ORM: SQL Server, Oracle. The tool ships no driver for them, so nothing could run.
migrationType=DRIZZLEOwners, pets, types, vets, specialties and visits: the same seven tables every sample set on this site creates. These are the exact files the tests upload.
CREATE TABLE owners
(
id INT NOT NULL,
first_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
address VARCHAR(255),
city VARCHAR(80),
telephone VARCHAR(20),
CONSTRAINT pk_owners PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
--> statement-breakpoint
CREATE TABLE types
(
id INT NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(80) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_types PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
--> statement-breakpoint
CREATE TABLE pets
(
id INT NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
birth_date DATE,
type_id INT NOT NULL,
owner_id INT NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_pets PRIMARY KEY (id),
CONSTRAINT fk_pets_types FOREIGN KEY (type_id) REFERENCES types (id),
CONSTRAINT fk_pets_owners FOREIGN KEY (owner_id) REFERENCES owners (id)
);
CREATE TABLE vets
(
id INT NOT NULL,
first_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
last_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_vets PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
--> statement-breakpoint
CREATE TABLE specialties
(
id INT NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(80) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_specialties PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
--> statement-breakpoint
CREATE TABLE vet_specialties
(
vet_id INT NOT NULL,
specialty_id INT NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_vet_specialties PRIMARY KEY (vet_id, specialty_id),
CONSTRAINT fk_vet_specialties_vets FOREIGN KEY (vet_id) REFERENCES vets (id),
CONSTRAINT fk_vet_specialties_specialties FOREIGN KEY (specialty_id) REFERENCES specialties (id)
);
CREATE TABLE visits
(
id INT NOT NULL,
pet_id INT NOT NULL,
visit_date DATE,
description VARCHAR(255),
CONSTRAINT pk_visits PRIMARY KEY (id),
CONSTRAINT fk_visits_pets FOREIGN KEY (pet_id) REFERENCES pets (id)
);
{
"version": "7",
"dialect": "postgresql",
"entries": [
{
"idx": 0,
"version": "7",
"when": 1758400000000,
"tag": "0000_create_owners_and_pets",
"breakpoints": true
},
{
"idx": 1,
"version": "7",
"when": 1758400001000,
"tag": "0001_create_vets",
"breakpoints": true
},
{
"idx": 2,
"version": "7",
"when": 1758400002000,
"tag": "0002_create_visits",
"breakpoints": true
}
]
}
Every variant of the sample produces these seven tables. This diagram was drawn from the Flyway variant on PostgreSQL 18; on MySQL the types read INT and VARCHAR, on Oracle the names are upper case.
One multipart request queues the drawing; poll the job until it succeeds and download the SVG. Or let the GitHub Action do it and open a pull request with the diagram.
curl -X POST https://schemadrawer.com/api/v1/drawing \
-H "Request-Id: $(uuidgen)" \
-F "userId=5f0c1d2e-3a4b-4c5d-8e6f-7a8b9c0d1e2f" \
-F "migrationType=DRIZZLE" \
-F "databaseType=POSTGRESQL" \
-F "version=18" \
-F "files=@drizzle/0000_create_owners_and_pets.sql" \
-F "files=@drizzle/0001_create_vets.sql" \
-F "files=@drizzle/0002_create_visits.sql" \
-F "files=@drizzle/meta/_journal.json;filename=meta/_journal.json"
# {"jobId":"0b6e2f4c-8d1a-4c3e-9f7a-2a5b6c7d8e9f"}
Then poll GET https://schemadrawer.com/api/v1/drawing/{jobId} until status is SUCCESS and fetch diagramUrl. Details in the getting started guide and the API reference.
- uses: schemadrawercom/action@v1
with:
sql-directory: drizzle
output-path: docs/schema-diagram.svg
migration-type: DRIZZLE
database-type: POSTGRESQL
database-version: '18'
github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
The action uploads the directory, waits for the diagram and opens a pull request with the SVG. See the action reference.
__drizzle_migrations table is left out of the diagram.How Drizzle migrations work: drizzle-kit generate, the SQL files, snapshots and meta/_journal.json, applying them with migrate, and when to use push instead.
How five Node.js tools write, track and run database migrations, with a real migration file for each, a comparison table and advice on which one fits your project.
Editing applied migrations, environment-specific scripts, ORM auto-DDL in production, untested rollbacks: ten habits that break deployments, with a fix for each.
Upload the migration directory, get an SVG back. Free while we build it.