Query Builder Generator

The EdgeDB query builder provides a code-first way to write fully-typed EdgeQL queries with TypeScript. We recommend it for TypeScript users, or anyone who prefers writing queries with code.

Copy

import * as edgedb from "edgedb";
import e from "./dbschema/edgeql-js";

const client = edgedb.createClient();

async function run() {
  const query = e.select(e.Movie, ()=>({
    id: true,
    title: true,
    actors: { name: true }
  }));

  const result = await query.run(client)
  /*
    {
      id: string;
      title: string;
      actors: { name: string; }[];
    }[]
  */
}

run();

Is it an ORM?

No—it’s better! Like any modern TypeScript ORM, the query builder gives you full typesafety and autocompletion, but without the power and performance tradeoffs. You have access to the full power of EdgeQL and can write EdgeQL queries of arbitrary complexity. And since EdgeDB compiles each EdgeQL query into a single, highly-optimized SQL query, your queries stay fast, even when they’re complex.

Why use the query builder?

Type inference! If you’re using TypeScript, the result type of all queries is automatically inferred for you. For the first time, you don’t need an ORM to write strongly typed queries.

Auto-completion! You can write queries full autocompletion on EdgeQL keywords, standard library functions, and link/property names.

Type checking! In the vast majority of cases, the query builder won’t let you construct invalid queries. This eliminates an entire class of bugs and helps you write valid queries the first time.

Close to EdgeQL! The goal of the query builder is to provide an API that is as close as possible to EdgeQL itself while feeling like idiomatic TypeScript.

Installation

To get started, install the following packages.

If you’re using Deno, you can skip this step.

Install the edgedb package.

Copy

npm install edgedb       # npm users

Copy

yarn add edgedb          # yarn users

Copy

bun add edgedb           # bun users

Then install @edgedb/generate as a dev dependency.

Copy

npm install @edgedb/generate --save-dev      # npm users

Copy

yarn add @edgedb/generate --dev              # yarn users

Copy

bun add --dev @edgedb/generate               # bun users

Generation

The following command will run the edgeql-js query builder generator.

Node.js

Deno

Bun

Copy

npx @edgedb/generate edgeql-js

Copy

deno run --allow-all --unstable https://deno.land/x/edgedb/generate.ts edgeql-js

Copy

bunx @edgedb/generate edgeql-js

Deno users

Create these two files in your project root:

importMap.json

Copy

{
  "imports": {
    "edgedb": "https://deno.land/x/edgedb/mod.ts",
    "edgedb/": "https://deno.land/x/edgedb/"
  }
}

deno.js

Copy

{
  "importMap": "./importMap.json"
}

The generation command is configurable in a number of ways.

--output-dir <path>: Sets the output directory for the generated files.
--target <ts|cjs|esm|mts>: What type of files to generate.
--force-overwrite: To avoid accidental changes, you’ll be prompted to confirm whenever the --target has changed from the previous run. To avoid this prompt, pass --force-overwrite.

The generator also supports all the connection flags supported by the EdgeDB CLI. These aren’t necessary when using a project or environment variables to configure a connection.

Generators work by connecting to the database to get information about the current state of the schema. Make sure you run the generators again any time the schema changes so that the generated code is in-sync with the current state of the schema.

Expressions

Throughout the documentation, we use the term “expression” a lot. This is a catch-all term that refers to any query or query fragment you define with the query builder. They all conform to an interface called Expression with some common functionality.

Most importantly, any expression can be executed with the .run() method, which accepts a Client instead as the first argument. The result is Promise<T>, where T is the inferred type of the query.

Copy

await e.str("hello world").run(client);
// => "hello world"

await e.set(e.int64(1), e.int64(2), e.int64(3)).run(client);
// => [1, 2, 3]

await e
  .select(e.Movie, () => ({
    title: true,
    actors: { name: true },
  }))
  .run(client);
// => [{ title: "The Avengers", actors: [...]}]

Note that the .run method accepts an instance of Client() (or Transaction) as it’s first argument. See Creating a Client for details on creating clients. The second argument is for passing $parameters, more on that later.

Copy

.run(client: Client | Transaction, params: Params): Promise<T>

Converting to EdgeQL

You can extract an EdgeQL representation of any expression calling the .toEdgeQL() method. Below is a number of expressions and the EdgeQL they produce. (The actual EdgeQL the create may look slightly different, but it’s equivalent.)

Copy

e.str("hello world").toEdgeQL();
// => select "hello world"

e.set(e.int64(1), e.int64(2), e.int64(3)).toEdgeQL();
// => select {1, 2, 3}

e.select(e.Movie, () => ({
  title: true,
  actors: { name: true }
})).toEdgeQL();
// => select Movie { title, actors: { name }}

Extracting the inferred type

The query builder automatically infers the TypeScript type that best represents the result of a given expression. This inferred type can be extracted with the $infer type helper.

Copy

import e, { type $infer } from "./dbschema/edgeql-js";

const query = e.select(e.Movie, () => ({ id: true, title: true }));
type result = $infer<typeof query>;
// { id: string; title: string }[]

Cheatsheet

Below is a set of examples to get you started with the query builder. It is not intended to be comprehensive, but it should provide a good starting point.

Modify the examples below to fit your schema, paste them into script.ts, and execute them with the npx command from the previous section! Note how the signature of result changes as you modify the query.

Insert an object

Copy

const query = e.insert(e.Movie, {
  title: 'Doctor Strange 2',
  release_year: 2022
});

const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: string }
// by default INSERT only returns the id of the new object

Transaction

We can also run the same query as above, build with the query builder, in a transaction.

Copy

const query = e.insert(e.Movie, {
  title: 'Doctor Strange 2',
  release_year: 2022
});

await client.transaction(async (tx) => {
  const result = await query.run(tx);
  // { id: string }
});

Select objects

Copy

const query = e.select(e.Movie, () => ({
  id: true,
  title: true,
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: string; title: string; }[]

To select all properties of an object, use the spread operator with the special * property:

Copy

const query = e.select(e.Movie, () => ({
  ...e.Movie['*']
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
/*
  {
    id: string;
    title: string;
    release_year: number | null;  # optional property
  }[]
*/

Nested shapes

Copy

const query = e.select(e.Movie, () => ({
  id: true,
  title: true,
  actors: {
    name: true,
  }
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
/*
  {
    id: string;
    title: string;
    actors: { name: string; }[];
  }[]
*/

Filtering

Pass a boolean expression as the special key filter to filter the results.

Copy

const query = e.select(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  id: true,
  title: true,
  // special "filter" key
  filter: e.op(movie.release_year, ">", 1999)
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: string; title: number }[]

Since filter is a reserved keyword in EdgeQL, the special filter key can live alongside your property keys without a risk of collision.

The e.op function is used to express EdgeQL operators. It is documented in more detail below and on the Functions and operators page.

Select a single object

To select a particular object, use the filter_single key. This tells the query builder to expect a singleton result.

Copy

const query = e.select(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  id: true,
  title: true,
  release_year: true,

  filter_single: e.op(
    movie.id,
    "=",
    e.uuid("2053a8b4-49b1-437a-84c8-e1b0291ccd9f")
  },
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: string; title: string; release_year: number | null }

For convenience filter_single also supports a simplified syntax that eliminates the need for e.op when used on exclusive properties:

Copy

e.select(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  id: true,
  title: true,
  release_year: true,

  filter_single: { id: "2053a8b4-49b1-437a-84c8-e1b0291ccd9f" },
}));

This also works if an object type has a composite exclusive constraint:

Copy

/*
  type Movie {
    ...
    constraint exclusive on (.title, .release_year);
  }
*/

e.select(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  title: true,
  filter_single: {
    title: "The Avengers",
    release_year: 2012
  },
}));

Ordering and pagination

The special keys order_by, limit, and offset correspond to equivalent EdgeQL clauses.

Copy

const query = e.select(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  id: true,
  title: true,

  order_by: movie.title,
  limit: 10,
  offset: 10
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: true; title: true }[]

Operators

Note that the filter expression above uses e.op function, which is how to use operators like =, >=, ++, and and.

Copy

// prefix (unary) operators
e.op("not", e.bool(true));      // not true
e.op("exists", e.set("hi"));    // exists {"hi"}

// infix (binary) operators
e.op(e.int64(2), "+", e.int64(2)); // 2 + 2
e.op(e.str("Hello "), "++", e.str("World!")); // "Hello " ++ "World!"

// ternary operator (if/else)
e.op(e.str("😄"), "if", e.bool(true), "else", e.str("😢"));
// "😄" if true else "😢"

Update objects

Copy

const query = e.update(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  filter_single: { title: "Doctor Strange 2" },
  set: {
    title: "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness",
  },
}));

const result = await query.run(client);

Delete objects

Copy

const query = e.delete(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  filter: e.op(movie.title, 'ilike', "the avengers%"),
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: string }[]

Delete multiple objects using an array of properties:

Copy

const titles = ["The Avengers", "Doctor Strange 2"];
const query = e.delete(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  filter: e.op(
    movie.title,
    "in",
    e.array_unpack(e.literal(e.array(e.str), titles))
  )
}));
const result = await query.run(client);
// { id: string }[]

Note that we have to use array_unpack to cast our array<str> into a set<str> since the in operator works on sets. And we use literal to create a custom literal since we’re inlining the titles array into our query.

Here’s an example of how to do this with params:

Copy

const query = e.params({ titles: e.array(e.str) }, ({ titles }) =>
  e.delete(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
    filter: e.op(movie.title, "in", e.array_unpack(titles)),
  }))
);

const result = await query.run(client, {
  titles: ["The Avengers", "Doctor Strange 2"],
});
// { id: string }[]

Compose queries

All query expressions are fully composable; this is one of the major differentiators between this query builder and a typical ORM. For instance, we can select an insert query in order to fetch properties of the object we just inserted.

Copy

const newMovie = e.insert(e.Movie, {
  title: "Iron Man",
  release_year: 2008
});

const query = e.select(newMovie, () => ({
  title: true,
  release_year: true,
  num_actors: e.count(newMovie.actors)
}));

const result = await query.run(client);
// { title: string; release_year: number; num_actors: number }

Or we can use subqueries inside mutations.

Copy

// select Doctor Strange
const drStrange = e.select(e.Movie, (movie) => ({
  filter_single: { title: "Doctor Strange" }
}));

// select actors
const actors = e.select(e.Person, (person) => ({
  filter: e.op(
    person.name,
    "in",
    e.set("Benedict Cumberbatch", "Rachel McAdams")
  )
}));

// add actors to cast of drStrange
const query = e.update(drStrange, () => ({
  actors: { "+=": actors }
}));

const result = await query.run(client);

Parameters

Copy

const query = e.params({
  title: e.str,
  release_year: e.int64,
},
(params) => {
  return e.insert(e.Movie, {
    title: params.title,
    release_year: params.release_year,
  }))
};

const result = await query.run(client, {
  title: "Thor: Love and Thunder",
  release_year: 2022,
});
// { id: string }

Continue reading for more complete documentation on how to express any EdgeQL query with the query builder.

Globals

Reference global variables.

Copy

e.global.user_id;
e.default.global.user_id;  // same as above
e.my_module.global.some_value;

Other modules

Reference entities in modules other than default.

The Vampire type in a module named characters:

Copy

e.characters.Vampire;

As shown in “Globals,” a global some_value in a module my_module:

Copy

e.my_module.global.some_value;

Query Builder Generator​

Why use the query builder?​

Installation​

Generation​

Expressions​

Converting to EdgeQL​

Extracting the inferred type​

Cheatsheet​

Insert an object​

Transaction​

Select objects​

Nested shapes​

Filtering​

Select a single object​

Ordering and pagination​

Operators​

Update objects​

Delete objects​

Compose queries​

Parameters​

Globals​

Other modules​

Query Builder Generator

Why use the query builder?

Installation

Generation

Expressions

Converting to EdgeQL

Extracting the inferred type

Cheatsheet

Insert an object

Transaction

Select objects

Nested shapes

Filtering

Select a single object

Ordering and pagination

Operators

Update objects

Delete objects

Compose queries

Parameters

Globals

Other modules