NestJS Framework with Drizzle ORM

Overview

Provides NestJS patterns with Drizzle ORM for building production-ready server-side applications. Covers CRUD modules, JWT authentication, database operations, migrations, testing, microservices, and GraphQL integration.

When to Use

• Building REST APIs or GraphQL servers with NestJS
• Setting up authentication and authorization with JWT
• Implementing database operations with Drizzle ORM
• Creating microservices with TCP/Redis transport
• Writing unit and integration tests
• Running database migrations with drizzle-kit

Instructions

1. Install dependencies:

   npm i drizzle-orm pg && npm i -D drizzle-kit tsx

2. Define schema: Create

   src/db/schema.ts

   with Drizzle table definitions
3. Create DatabaseService: Inject Drizzle client as a NestJS provider
4. Build CRUD module: Controller → Service → Repository pattern
5. Add validation: Use class-validator DTOs with ValidationPipe
6. Implement guards: Create JWT/Roles guards for route protection
7. Write tests: Use

   @nestjs/testing

   with mocked repositories
8. Run migrations:

   npx drizzle-kit generate

   → Verify SQL →

   npx drizzle-kit migrate

Examples

Complete CRUD Module with Drizzle

// src/db/schema.ts
export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  email: text('email').notNull().unique(),
  createdAt: timestamp('created_at').defaultNow(),
});

// src/users/dto/create-user.dto.ts
export class CreateUserDto {
  @IsString() @IsNotEmpty() name: string;
  @IsEmail() email: string;
}

// src/users/user.repository.ts
@Injectable()
export class UserRepository {
  constructor(private db: DatabaseService) {}

  async findAll() {
    return this.db.database.select().from(users);
  }

  async create(data: typeof users.$inferInsert) {
    return this.db.database.insert(users).values(data).returning();
  }
}

// src/users/users.service.ts
@Injectable()
export class UsersService {
  constructor(private repo: UserRepository) {}

  async create(dto: CreateUserDto) {
    return this.repo.create(dto);
  }
}

// src/users/users.controller.ts
@Controller('users')
export class UsersController {
  constructor(private service: UsersService) {}

  @Post()
  create(@Body() dto: CreateUserDto) {
    return this.service.create(dto);
  }
}

// src/users/users.module.ts
@Module({
  controllers: [UsersController],
  providers: [UsersService, UserRepository, DatabaseService],
  exports: [UsersService],
})
export class UsersModule {}

JWT Authentication Guard

@Injectable()
export class JwtAuthGuard implements CanActivate {
  constructor(private jwtService: JwtService) {}

  canActivate(context: ExecutionContext) {
    const token = context.switchToHttp().getRequest()
      .headers.authorization?.split(' ')[1];
    if (!token) return false;
    try {
      const decoded = this.jwtService.verify(token);
      context.switchToHttp().getRequest().user = decoded;
      return true;
    } catch {
      return false;
    }
  }
}

Database Transactions

async transferFunds(fromId: number, toId: number, amount: number) {
  return this.db.database.transaction(async (tx) => {
    await tx.update(accounts)
      .set({ balance: sql`${accounts.balance} - ${amount}` })
      .where(eq(accounts.id, fromId));
    await tx.update(accounts)
      .set({ balance: sql`${accounts.balance} + ${amount}` })
      .where(eq(accounts.id, toId));
  });
}

Unit Testing with Mocks

describe('UsersService', () => {
  let service: UsersService;
  let repo: jest.Mocked<UserRepository>;

  beforeEach(async () => {
    const module = await Test.createTestingModule({
      providers: [
        UsersService,
        { provide: UserRepository, useValue: { findAll: jest.fn(), create: jest.fn() } },
      ],
    }).compile();
    service = module.get(UsersService);
    repo = module.get(UserRepository);
  });

  it('should create user', async () => {
    const dto = { name: 'John', email: 'john@example.com' };
    repo.create.mockResolvedValue({ id: 1, ...dto, createdAt: new Date() });
    expect(await service.create(dto)).toMatchObject(dto);
  });
});

Constraints and Warnings

• DTOs required: Always use DTOs with class-validator, never accept raw objects
• Transactions: Keep transactions short; avoid nested transactions
• Guards order: JWT guard must run before Roles guard
• Environment variables: Never hardcode DATABASE_URL or JWT_SECRET
• Migrations: Run

  drizzle-kit generate

  after schema changes before deploying
• Circular dependencies: Use

  forwardRef()

  carefully; prefer module restructuring

Best Practices

• Validate all inputs with global

  ValidationPipe

• Use transactions for multi-table operations
• Document APIs with OpenAPI/Swagger decorators

References

Advanced patterns and detailed examples available in:

• references/reference.md

  - Core patterns, guards, interceptors, microservices, GraphQL

• references/drizzle-reference.md

  - Drizzle ORM installation, configuration, queries

• references/workflow-optimization.md

  - Development workflows, parallel execution strategies