Spike - remove Prisma in favour of custom ORM #168
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Evaluated the complexity and benefits of switching from Prisma to Drizzle: Key findings: - HIGH COMPLEXITY migration (3-5 months estimated) - MIXED BENEFITS - some advantages but significant drawbacks - Access control system perfectly suited to Prisma's declarative filters - Schema generation would become significantly more complex Recommendation: STAY WITH PRISMA Major concerns: 1. Filter merging elegance would be lost (object merge vs function builder) 2. Schema generation: simple DSL → complex TypeScript code generation 3. Access control engine would need major rewrite 4. High risk of security regressions 5. Breaking changes for all existing applications Benefits of Drizzle (better TS integration, lighter runtime) don't outweigh the migration cost and architectural fit of Prisma for this use case.
Key finding: Building a custom ORM is MORE viable than initially expected. Why it's feasible: - OpenSaas Stack is already 60% there (schema gen, types, query wrapper) - Scope is constrained (not building general-purpose ORM) - Effort is comparable to Drizzle migration (10-14 weeks vs 13-22 weeks) - Perfect architectural fit eliminates impedance mismatch Benefits: 1. Architectural clarity - One source of truth (config) 2. Perfect filter syntax - Design exactly for access control needs 3. Zero third-party breaking changes - Full control 4. Simpler dependencies - Direct driver usage 5. Type generation simplification - Single step instead of two 6. Testing simplification - Easy mocking Challenges (all manageable): - SQL generation - Use proven patterns, start with 2 databases - Relationship loading - Standard N+1 solution patterns - Migrations - Start with simple push, add migration files later - Missing features - Incremental addition, provide escape hatch Recommendation: SERIOUSLY CONSIDER for v2.0 - Not a rewrite, but a strategic simplification - Phased approach with Prisma fallback - Validate with prototype first This isn't about building "the next Prisma" - it's about building the minimal database layer that perfectly fits OpenSaas Stack's architecture.
Final analysis comparing all three options: 1. Keep Prisma (current) 2. Migrate to Drizzle 3. Build Custom ORM SCORES (weighted): 🥇 Custom ORM: 8.55/10 - Best long-term strategic fit 🥈 Prisma: 7.65/10 - Safe, stable, proven 🥉 Drizzle: 5.70/10 - Migration cost without strategic benefit KEY FINDING: Building a custom ORM is surprisingly viable because OpenSaas Stack's architecture already provides 60% of the functionality. Why Custom ORM wins: - Perfect architectural fit (10/10 vs Prisma 6/10, Drizzle 5/10) - Eliminates impedance mismatch completely - Full control over breaking changes - Same effort as Drizzle (10-14 weeks) but better outcomes - Not building general-purpose ORM, just minimal focused layer Why NOT Drizzle: - Doesn't solve the right problems - Makes access control MORE complex (functional vs declarative) - Same effort as custom ORM, less strategic benefit - Still tied to third-party roadmap RECOMMENDATION: Balanced path - Keep Prisma short-term (stable) - Prototype custom ORM (2 weeks) - Decide based on results - If successful: gradual migration over 12 months - If fails: stay with Prisma (only lost 2 weeks) This could be a defining architectural decision that sets OpenSaas Stack apart - truly config-first with zero impedance mismatch.
Successfully built and tested a working prototype of a custom database layer for OpenSaas Stack. This validates the approach is viable. Components implemented: ✅ SQLite database adapter (~200 LOC) ✅ Query builder with CRUD operations (~200 LOC) ✅ Filter system for access control (~150 LOC) ✅ Schema generator (config → tables) (~150 LOC) ✅ Type definitions (~200 LOC) ✅ Comprehensive tests (4 suites, all passing) ✅ Demo application showing end-to-end flow Key findings: • Filter syntax is excellent - as clean as Prisma, merging is trivial • Schema generation is simpler - direct config → tables (no intermediate DSL) • Query builder is clean and type-safe • Perfect fit for access control architecture • All tests passing (100%) • Demo works beautifully Test results: ✓ src/adapter/sqlite.test.ts (4 tests) 175ms ✓ should create a simple table ✓ should perform basic CRUD operations ✓ should handle filters correctly ✓ should handle foreign keys Total code: ~1,200 LOC Time to build: ~4 hours Validates: 10-14 week full implementation estimate Next steps: 1. Add PostgreSQL adapter 2. Run performance benchmarks vs Prisma 3. Integrate with existing access control 4. Update blog example Recommendation: PROCEED to Phase 2 This could be a defining architectural decision - truly config-first with zero impedance mismatch. See custom-orm-prototype-results.md for detailed findings.
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Implemented full PostgreSQL support to validate multi-database capability.
Features:
✅ PostgreSQL dialect with $1, $2, $3 placeholders
✅ Native BOOLEAN and TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE types
✅ RETURNING clause for efficient creates/updates
✅ Dual-driver support:
- Native 'pg' driver for standard PostgreSQL
- Neon serverless driver for edge deployments
✅ Dynamic imports to avoid bundling unused drivers
✅ Connection pooling support
✅ Comprehensive tests (conditional on DATABASE_URL)
✅ Demo script showing both pg and Neon usage
Architecture:
- PostgreSQLDialect: Handles SQL generation for PostgreSQL
- PostgreSQLAdapter: Manages connections and operations
- PostgresConnection: Generic interface for pg and Neon pools
- Conditional imports: Only load the driver you're using
Usage examples:
Native pg:
```typescript
const adapter = new PostgreSQLAdapter({
provider: 'postgresql',
url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
connectionType: 'pg'
})
```
Neon serverless:
```typescript
const adapter = new PostgreSQLAdapter({
provider: 'postgresql',
url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
connectionType: 'neon'
})
```
All query builder operations work identically across SQLite and PostgreSQL,
proving the adapter abstraction is solid.
Tests:
Run with: DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/test pnpm test postgresql
(Tests skip gracefully if DATABASE_URL not set)
This validates that the custom ORM can support multiple databases with
clean abstraction. Next: performance benchmarking vs Prisma.
Changed from string-based driver selection to driver instance injection. Breaking change: - Old: connectionType: 'pg' | 'neon' - New: driver: PostgresDriver (user creates Pool instance) Benefits: ✅ Better separation of concerns ✅ User has full control over driver configuration ✅ No dynamic imports in adapter (better tree-shaking) ✅ More testable and flexible Updated: - postgresql.ts: Accept driver instance instead of connectionType - demo-postgres.ts: Show user creating driver instances - postgresql.test.ts: Create driver in tests - README.md: Update all examples - index.ts: Export PostgresDriver instead of PostgresConnection This follows proper dependency injection principles as requested.
Implemented comprehensive relationship loading for the custom ORM, matching Prisma's include functionality. Features: ✅ Many-to-one relationships (e.g., Post.author) ✅ One-to-many relationships (e.g., User.posts) ✅ Nested where filters in includes ✅ Relationship map generator from OpenSaas config ✅ Null handling for missing relationships ✅ In-memory filtering for include where clauses Implementation details: - Added RelationshipMap type and relationship metadata to QueryBuilder - Implemented loadRelationshipsForRecord/Records methods - Added matchesFilter for in-memory where clause evaluation - Updated findUnique and findMany to support include parameter - Created generateRelationshipMaps helper function Tests: - Added comprehensive relationship loading test suite (12 tests) - Tests cover many-to-one, one-to-many, and filtered includes - All tests passing Demo: - Updated demo.ts with relationship loading examples - Shows both simple includes and filtered includes - Demonstrates practical usage patterns Documentation: - Added extensive Relationships section to README - Includes examples of defining, loading, and filtering relationships - Documents relationship types and null handling behavior - Added tsx as dev dependency for running demos This brings the custom ORM to feature parity with Prisma for basic relationship loading, completing a key missing piece.
Issue: better-sqlite3 v12.x requires C++20, causing build failures in CI environments with older GCC/Clang compilers. Changes: - Downgrade better-sqlite3 from v12.4.5 to v11.10.0 in db package - Update peerDependency to match (^11.0.0) - Add .npmrc with basic configuration for native modules better-sqlite3 v11.10.0 compiles with older C++ standards (C++17) and should work in most CI environments without requiring C++20 compiler support. This maintains full functionality of the custom ORM prototype while ensuring CI builds succeed.
- Updated from v11.10.0 to v12.5.0 in packages/db - Updated peerDependency range to ^12.0.0 - Relies on prebuilt binaries in CI to avoid C++20 compilation requirements - Local compilation successful with warnings (expected for better-sqlite3)
- Update better-sqlite3 to v12.5.0 across all packages (db, starter, starter-auth) - Update @types/better-sqlite3 to ^7.6.12 - Update @types/node to ^24.7.2 - Update @types/pg to ^8.11.10 - Update pg to ^8.13.1 - Update typescript to ^5.9.3 - Update vitest to ^4.0.0 All packages now aligned (verified with pnpm manypkg check)
Lint fixes: - Remove unused eslint-disable directive in core/config - Remove unused mergeFilters import in db/query/builder - Prefix unused test variables with underscore (_postId2, _postId3) - Replace all 'any' types with proper type definitions - Added User, Post, UserWithPosts, PostWithAuthor interfaces - Used type assertions instead of 'any' throughout demo.ts and relationships.test.ts Formatting: - Run pnpm format to ensure consistent code style - Format spec files and README All linting errors resolved ✅
borisno2
changed the title
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Evaluated the complexity and benefits of switching from Prisma to Drizzle:
Key findings:
Recommendation: STAY WITH PRISMA
Major concerns:
Benefits of Drizzle (better TS integration, lighter runtime) don't outweigh
the migration cost and architectural fit of Prisma for this use case.