> This page location: Frontend & Frameworks > ORMs > Better Drizzle
> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

> Summary: Better Drizzle connection guide for Neon Postgres walks through setting up better-drizzle with node-postgres driver. Learn how to configure a Better Drizzle client, define schema relations, seed data, run CRUD queries, use plugins, and manage transactions with savepoints.

# Connect from Better Drizzle to Neon

Learn how to connect to Neon from Better Drizzle

**What you will learn:**

- How to set up better-drizzle with Neon Postgres
- How to define schemas, seed, and query your database
- How to use plugins, hooks, and transactions in better-drizzle

**Related resources**

- [better-drizzle documentation](https://better-drizzle.com/docs)
- [better-drizzle GitHub](https://github.com/almeidazs/better-drizzle)
- [Neon Drizzle setup guide](https://neon.com/docs/guides/drizzle)

[better-drizzle](https://better-drizzle.com) is a thin wrapper around [Drizzle ORM](https://orm.drizzle.team) that gives every table a consistent, type-safe API without replacing Drizzle itself. If you are already using Drizzle with Neon, better-drizzle removes the repetitive query glue you would otherwise rewrite in every service while staying close to the metal.

better-drizzle is **sponsored by Neon**, and is maintained by [Hiago Almeida](https://github.com/almeidazs).

## What better-drizzle adds

better-drizzle wraps your existing Drizzle client and generates one delegate per table. You get:

- **Consistent CRUD**: `findMany`, `findFirst`, `findUnique`, `create`, `update`, `delete`, `upsert`, and `upsertMany` on every table
- **Typed relation loading**: `include` and `select` with full type inference from your Drizzle schema
- **Nested relation filters**: `some`, `every`, `none`, and `is` for filtering by related rows
- **Unified pagination**: Offset and cursor pagination returning the same `{ data, pagination }` shape
- **Lifecycle hooks**: Cross-cutting concerns like audit trails, tracing, and metrics without sprinkling them through every call
- **First-class plugins**: Timestamps, soft delete, and custom behavior packaged as reusable plugins
- **Transactions with savepoints**: Nested transactions, rollback, `afterCommit` callbacks, and automatic retries

All of this compiles down to Drizzle queries. You still define your schema in Drizzle, choose your driver, and drop to raw SQL whenever you need to.

To connect a TypeScript/Node.js project to Neon using better-drizzle, follow these steps:

## Create a TypeScript/Node.js project

Create a new directory for your project and navigate into it:

```bash
mkdir better-drizzle-demo
cd better-drizzle-demo
```

Initialize a new Node.js project with a `package.json` file:

```bash
npm init -y
```

## Create a Neon project

If you do not have one already, create a Neon project.

1. Navigate to the [Projects](https://console.neon.tech/app/projects) page in the Neon Console.
2. Click **New Project**.
3. Specify your project settings and click **Create Project**.

## Get your connection string

Find your database connection string by clicking the **Connect** button on your **Project Dashboard** to open the **Connect to your database** modal. Select a branch, a user, and the database you want to connect to. A connection string is constructed for you.
![Connection details modal](https://neon.com/docs/connect/connection_details.png)
The connection string includes the user name, password, hostname, and database name.

Create a `.env` file in your project's root directory and add the connection string to it. Your `.env` file should look like this:

```text
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://[user]:[password]@[neon_hostname]/[dbname]?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require"
```

## Install dependencies

Install the dependencies:

```bash
npm install better-drizzle pg drizzle-orm
npm install -D drizzle-kit@0.21.4 @types/pg @types/node dotenv
```

**Note: Drizzle Kit Compatibility**

better-drizzle is compatible with `drizzle-kit@0.21.4` and Drizzle ORM versions up to `^0.30.0`.

## Configure Drizzle Kit

Drizzle Kit uses a configuration file to manage schema and migrations. Create a `drizzle.config.ts` file in your project root:

```typescript filename="drizzle.config.ts"
import 'dotenv/config';
import { defineConfig } from 'drizzle-kit';

if (!process.env.DATABASE_URL) {
  throw new Error('DATABASE_URL is not set in the .env file');
}

export default defineConfig({
  schema: './src/schema.ts',
  out: './drizzle',
  dialect: 'postgresql',
  dbCredentials: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  },
});
```

## Define your schema and relations

better-drizzle reads your Drizzle schema (including relations) to generate each table's typed API. The relations you define power `include`, `select`, and nested relation filters.

Create a `src/schema.ts` file with two tables: `users` and `posts`. Each user can have many posts, and each post belongs to one user.

```typescript filename="src/schema.ts"
import { relations } from 'drizzle-orm';
import { boolean, integer, pgTable, serial, text } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';

export const users = pgTable('users', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  email: text('email').notNull().unique(),
  name: text('name').notNull(),
  active: boolean('active').notNull().default(true),
});

export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  authorId: integer('author_id')
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  published: boolean('published').notNull().default(false),
});

export const usersRelations = relations(users, ({ many }) => ({
  posts: many(posts),
}));

export const postsRelations = relations(posts, ({ one }) => ({
  author: one(users, {
    fields: [posts.authorId],
    references: [users.id],
  }),
}));

export const schema = {
  users,
  usersRelations,
  posts,
  postsRelations,
};
```

## Initialize the Better Drizzle client

Create a standard Drizzle client and wrap it with `better()` to get the Better client. Create a `src/db.ts` file:

```typescript filename="src/db.ts"
import { better } from 'better-drizzle';
import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/node-postgres';
import { Pool } from 'pg';
import { schema } from './schema';
import 'dotenv/config';

const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL! });
const db = drizzle(pool, { schema });

export const client = better(db, { schema });
```

## Generate migrations

Generate your migration files using Drizzle Kit:

```bash
npx drizzle-kit generate
```

## Apply migrations

Apply the generated SQL migrations to your Neon database:

```bash
npx drizzle-kit migrate
```

## Seed the database

Create a `src/seed.ts` file to populate the database with some users and posts:

```typescript filename="src/seed.ts"
import { client } from './db';

async function seed() {
  await client.users.upsertMany({
    data: [
      { email: 'alice@example.com', name: 'Alice', active: true },
      { email: 'bob@example.com', name: 'Bob', active: false },
      { email: 'charlie@example.com', name: 'Charlie', active: true },
    ],
    target: ['email'],
    update: ['name'],
  });

  const alice = await client.users.findUnique({
    where: { email: 'alice@example.com' },
  });

  const bob = await client.users.findUnique({
    where: { email: 'bob@example.com' },
  });

  await client.posts.createMany({
    data: [
      { authorId: alice!.id, title: 'Hello World', published: true },
      { authorId: alice!.id, title: 'better-drizzle is great', published: true },
      { authorId: alice!.id, title: 'Neon Postgres rocks', published: true },
      { authorId: bob!.id, title: 'Secret draft', published: false },
    ],
  });

  console.log('Seeded 3 users and 4 posts.');
}

seed();
```

Run the seed script:

```bash
npx tsx src/seed.ts
```

## Query with better-drizzle

### Reads with typed relations

Each table gets a delegate (`client.users`, `client.posts`) with methods that are fully typed against your schema.

List active users with their three most recent published posts:

```typescript
const users = await client.users.findMany({
  where: { active: true },
  include: {
    posts: {
      where: { published: true },
      select: { id: true, title: true },
      orderBy: [{ id: 'desc' }],
      take: 3,
    },
  },
  orderBy: [{ id: 'desc' }],
  take: 20,
});
```

The query returns active users with their published posts nested under each user:

```json title="Output"
[
  {
    "id": 3,
    "email": "charlie@example.com",
    "name": "Charlie",
    "active": true,
    "posts": []
  },
  {
    "id": 1,
    "email": "alice@example.com",
    "name": "Alice",
    "active": true,
    "posts": [
      { "id": 3, "title": "Neon Postgres rocks" },
      { "id": 2, "title": "better-drizzle is great" },
      { "id": 1, "title": "Hello World" }
    ]
  }
]
```

**Note: select vs include**

By default, queries return all table columns.

- Use **`include`** to return all columns _plus_ nested relations (e.g., `include: { posts: true }`).
- Use **`select`** to return _only_ the specified columns and drop everything else (e.g., `select: { id: true, title: true }`).

`select` and `include` are mutually exclusive at the same query level, but you can nest a `select` inside an `include` to narrow the fields of a related table (as shown in the active users query above).

Find a single user by a unique field:

```typescript
const alice = await client.users.findUnique({
  where: { email: 'alice@example.com' },
});
```

Filter posts by conditions on their related author with nested relation filters:

```typescript
const posts = await client.posts.findMany({
  where: {
    published: true,
    author: { is: { active: true } },
  },
  select: {
    id: true,
    title: true,
    author: { select: { id: true, name: true } },
  },
  orderBy: [{ id: 'desc' }],
  take: 20,
});
```

> The `author: { is: { active: true } }` filter keeps only posts where the author is active, excluding Bob's posts since he is inactive:

### Writes with skipDuplicates and upsertMany

Create a new user, skipping if the email already exists

```typescript
const maybeCreated = await client.users.create({
  data: {
    email: 'better@example.com',
    name: 'better',
    active: true,
  },
  skipDuplicates: ['email'],
});

if (!maybeCreated) {
  console.log('User already existed');
}
```

Bulk upsert multiple users in a single batch operation:

```typescript
await client.users.upsertMany({
  data: [
    { email: 'alice@example.com', name: 'Alice Updated', active: true },
    { email: 'bob@example.com', name: 'Bob Updated', active: true },
  ],
  target: ['email'],
  update: ['name', 'active'],
  select: { id: true, name: true },
});
```

### Pagination: one shape for offset and cursor

```typescript
import { PaginationType } from 'better-drizzle';

// Offset pagination
const page1 = await client.users.paginate({
  type: PaginationType.Offset,
  where: { active: true },
  select: { id: true, name: true },
  orderBy: [{ id: 'desc' }],
  skip: 0,
  limit: 10,
});
```

Both offset and cursor pagination return the same `{ data, pagination }` shape:

```json title="Output"
{
  "data": [
    { "id": 3, "name": "Charlie" },
    { "id": 1, "name": "Alice" }
  ],
  "pagination": { "count": 2, "hasNext": false, "hasPrevious": false }
}
```

Cursor pagination uses the last item's cursor to fetch the next page:

```typescript
const page2 = await client.users.paginate({
  type: PaginationType.Cursor,
  where: { active: true },
  select: { id: true, name: true },
  after: { id: page1.data[page1.data.length - 1]?.id },
  limit: 10,
  orderBy: [{ id: 'desc' }],
});
```

### Count and exists

```typescript
const activeCount = await client.users.count({
  where: { active: true },
});

const exists = await client.users.exists({
  where: { id: 1 },
});
```

## Use plugins for cross-cutting behavior

Plugins can manage timestamps, soft deletes, and custom behavior.

### Timestamps

Auto-manage `createdAt` and `updatedAt` columns on every write:

```bash
npm install @better-drizzle/timestamps
```

```typescript filename="src/db.ts"
import { timestamps } from '@better-drizzle/timestamps';

const client = better(db, {
  schema,
  plugins: [
    timestamps({
      createdAt: 'createdAt',
      updatedAt: 'updatedAt',
    }),
  ],
});
```

**Important: Timestamps plugin**

Use the column names defined in your Drizzle schema rather than the raw PostgreSQL column names. For example, if your schema specifies `createdAt` and `updatedAt`, those are the names you should reference in the plugin configuration - not the database's `created_at` and `updated_at`.

The plugin automatically sets `createdAt` on row creation and updates `updatedAt` on every update. Ensure your schema has the `createdAt` and `updatedAt` columns defined as timestamps. For example:

```typescript filename="src/schema.ts"
import { relations } from "drizzle-orm";
import { boolean, integer, pgTable, serial, text, timestamp } from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";

export const users = pgTable("users", {
  id: serial("id").primaryKey(),
  email: text("email").notNull().unique(),
  name: text("name").notNull(),
  active: boolean("active").notNull().default(true),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at"),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at"),
});

export const posts = pgTable("posts", {
  id: serial("id").primaryKey(),
  authorId: integer("author_id")
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id),
  title: text("title").notNull(),
  published: boolean("published").notNull().default(false),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at"),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at"),
});
```

### Soft delete

To use soft deletes, add a `deletedAt` column to your schema:

```typescript filename="src/schema.ts"
export const posts = pgTable('posts', {
  id: serial('id').primaryKey(),
  authorId: integer('author_id')
    .notNull()
    .references(() => users.id),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  published: boolean('published').notNull().default(false),
  deletedAt: timestamp('deleted_at'),
});
```

Install and configure the `@better-drizzle/soft-delete` plugin:

```bash
npm install @better-drizzle/soft-delete
```

```typescript filename="src/db.ts"
import { softDelete } from '@better-drizzle/soft-delete';

const client = better(db, {
  schema,
  plugins: [
    softDelete({
      column: 'deletedAt',
      defaults: { mode: 'soft', visibility: 'without' },
    }),
  ],
});

// Soft-deletes the row instead of removing it
await client.posts.delete({ where: { id: 1 } });

// Get only deleted posts
await client.posts.findMany({ deleted: 'only' });

// Restore a soft-deleted row
await client.posts.restore({ where: { id: 1 } });
```

## Add lifecycle hooks

Observe operations for auditing, metrics, or custom metadata:

```typescript filename="db.ts"
const client = better(db, {
  schema,
  hooks: {
    beforeCreate(ctx) {
      console.log('beforeCreate', ctx.action, ctx.table);
    },
    afterCreate(ctx) {
      console.log('afterCreate', ctx.row);
    },
    beforeQuery(ctx) {
      console.log('beforeQuery', ctx.action, ctx.args.where);
    },
    afterQuery(ctx) {
      console.log('afterQuery', ctx.action, ctx.result);
    },
  },
});
```

The example above shows create and query hooks, but Better Drizzle also supports `beforeUpdate` / `afterUpdate`, `beforeDelete` / `afterDelete`, transaction hooks (`beforeTransaction`, `afterTransactionCommit`, `afterTransactionRollback`, `onTransactionError`), raw SQL hooks (`beforeRaw`, `afterRaw`, `onRawError`), and a catch-all `onError`. See the [hooks docs](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/advanced/hooks) for details.

Hook callbacks receive `ctx.meta`, ideal for logging request IDs, tenant IDs, or user context in a server environment.

## Transactions with savepoints

Transactions run on the client, with the callback receiving a Better client bound to the transaction context:

```typescript
const user = await client.transaction(async (tx) => {
  const created = await tx.users.create({
    data: { email: 'new@example.com', name: 'New User', active: true },
  });

  await tx.posts.create({
    data: { authorId: created.id, title: 'Hello World', published: true },
  });

  tx.afterCommit(() => {
    console.log('Committed user', created.email);
  });

  return created;
});
```

Nested transactions use **savepoints** that roll back independently of the outer transaction:

```typescript
await client.transaction(async (tx) => {
  await tx.users.create({
    data: { email: 'a@test.com', name: 'Alice', active: true },
  });

  try {
    await tx.transaction(async (nested) => {
      await nested.users.create({
        data: { email: 'b@test.com', name: 'Bob', active: true },
      });
      nested.rollback('duplicate email, rolling back nested savepoint');
    });
  } catch {
    // Only the nested savepoint was rolled back
  }

  await tx.users.create({
    data: { email: 'c@test.com', name: 'Charlie', active: true },
  });
});
```

### Automatic retries

Opt into transaction retries for transient failures like deadlocks:

```typescript
await client.transaction(
  async (tx) => {
    await tx.users.create({
      data: { email: 'retry@example.com', name: 'Retry', active: true },
    });
  },
  {
    retries: {
      attempts: 3,
      on: ['deadlock', 'serializationFailure'],
      delayMs: (attempt) => attempt * 25,
    },
  },
);
```

## Summary

better-drizzle provides a type-safe, boilerplate-free API on top of Drizzle ORM, providing features like auto-pagination, soft deletes, lifecycle hooks, and nested transactions.

## Other features

To explore more advanced capabilities of better-drizzle, refer to the following topics in the official documentation:

- **Querying & Reads**: [Reads & Filters](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/querying/filters), [Selecting fields](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/querying/selecting-fields), [Relations](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/querying/relations), and [Pagination](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/querying/pagination)
- **Writing & CRUD**: [CRUD Operations](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/writing/crud) and [Throwing Results](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/writing/throwing-results)
- **Core Concepts**: [Transactions](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/advanced/transactions), [Hooks](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/advanced/hooks), and [Error Handling](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/advanced/error-handling)
- **Plugins**: [Plugins Overview](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/plugins/overview) and [Writing Custom Plugins](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/plugins/writing-plugins)
- **Advanced Patterns**: [Service-layer Patterns](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/guides/service-patterns) and [Dynamic Repositories](https://better-drizzle.com/docs/guides/dynamic-repositories)

## Resources

- [better-drizzle documentation](https://better-drizzle.com/docs)
- [better-drizzle GitHub repository](https://github.com/almeidazs/better-drizzle)
- [Neon Drizzle setup guide](https://neon.com/docs/guides/drizzle)
- [Schema migration with Neon and Drizzle](https://neon.com/docs/guides/drizzle-migrations)

---

## Related docs (ORMs)

- [Django (Django ORM)](https://neon.com/docs/guides/django)
- [Drizzle](https://neon.com/docs/guides/drizzle)
- [Elixir Ecto](https://neon.com/docs/guides/elixir-ecto)
- [Kysely](https://neon.com/docs/guides/kysely)
- [Knex](https://neon.com/docs/guides/knex)
- [Laravel (Eloquent)](https://neon.com/docs/guides/laravel)
- [Prisma](https://neon.com/docs/guides/prisma)
- [Ruby on Rails (ActiveRecord)](https://neon.com/docs/guides/ruby-on-rails)
- [SQLAlchemy](https://neon.com/docs/guides/sqlalchemy)
- [Tortoise ORM](https://neon.com/docs/guides/tortoise-orm)
- [TypeORM](https://neon.com/docs/guides/typeorm)

---

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