zod

Install the dependencies

npm

yarn

pnpm

bun

npm i drizzle-orm@rc zod

yarn add drizzle-orm@rc zod

pnpm add drizzle-orm@rc zod

bun add drizzle-orm@rc zod

Select schema

Defines the shape of data queried from the database - can be used to validate API responses.

import { integer, sqliteTable, text } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { createSelectSchema } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';

const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  id: integer().primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
  name: text().notNull(),
  age: integer().notNull()
});

const userSelectSchema = createSelectSchema(users);

const rows = await db.select({ id: users.id, name: users.name }).from(users).limit(1);
const parsed: { id: number; name: string; age: number } = userSelectSchema.parse(rows[0]); // Error: `age` is not returned in the above query

const rows = await db.select().from(users).limit(1);
const parsed: { id: number; name: string; age: number } = userSelectSchema.parse(rows[0]); // Will parse successfully

Views are also supported.

import { sqliteView } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { gt } from 'drizzle-orm';
import { createSelectSchema } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';

const usersView = sqliteView('users_view').as((qb) => qb.select().from(users).where(gt(users.age, 18)));
const usersViewSchema = createSelectSchema(usersView);
const parsed: { id: number; name: string; age: number } = usersViewSchema.parse(...);

Insert schema

Defines the shape of data to be inserted into the database - can be used to validate API requests.

import { integer, sqliteTable, text } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { createInsertSchema } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';

const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  id: integer().primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
  name: text().notNull(),
  age: integer().notNull()
});

const userInsertSchema = createInsertSchema(users);

const user = { name: 'John' };
const parsed: { name: string, age: number } = userInsertSchema.parse(user); // Error: `age` is not defined

const user = { name: 'Jane', age: 30 };
const parsed: { name: string, age: number } = userInsertSchema.parse(user); // Will parse successfully
await db.insert(users).values(parsed);

Update schema

Defines the shape of data to be updated in the database - can be used to validate API requests.

import { integer, sqliteTable, text } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { createUpdateSchema } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';

const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  id: integer().primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
  name: text().notNull(),
  age: integer().notNull()
});

const userUpdateSchema = createUpdateSchema(users);

const user = { age: 35 };
const parsed: { name?: string | undefined, age?: number | undefined } = userUpdateSchema.parse(user); // Will parse successfully
await db.update(users).set(parsed).where(eq(users.name, 'Jane'));

Each create schema function accepts an additional optional parameter that you can used to extend, modify or completely overwite a field’s schema. Defining a callback function will extend or modify while providing a Zod schema will overwrite it.

import { integer, sqliteTable, text } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { createSelectSchema } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';
import { z } from 'zod/v4';

const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  id: integer().primaryKey(),
  name: text().notNull(),
  bio: text(),
  preferences: text({ mode: 'json' })
});

const userSelectSchema = createSelectSchema(users, {
  name: (schema) => schema.max(20), // Extends schema
  bio: (schema) => schema.max(1000), // Extends schema before becoming nullable/optional
  preferences: z.object({ theme: z.string() }) // Overwrites the field, including its nullability
});

const parsed: {
  id: number;
  name: string,
  bio: string | null;
  preferences: {
    theme: string;
  };
} = userSelectSchema.parse(...);

Factory functions

For more advanced use cases, you can use the createSchemaFactory function.

Use case: Using an extended Zod instance

import { integer, sqliteTable, text } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { createSchemaFactory } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';
import { z } from '@hono/zod-openapi'; // Extended Zod instance

const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  id: integer().primaryKey({ autoIncrement: true }),
  name: text().notNull(),
  age: integer().notNull()
});

const { createInsertSchema } = createSchemaFactory({ zodInstance: z });

const userInsertSchema = createInsertSchema(users, {
  // We can now use the extended instance
  name: (schema) => schema.openapi({ example: 'John' })
});

Use case: Type coercion

import { integer, sqliteTable } from 'drizzle-orm/sqlite-core';
import { createSchemaFactory } from 'drizzle-orm/zod';
import { z } from 'zod/v4';

const users = sqliteTable('users', {
  ...,
  createdAt: integer({ mode: 'timestamp' }).notNull()
});

const { createInsertSchema } = createSchemaFactory({
  // This configuration will only coerce dates. Set `coerce` to `true` to coerce all data types or specify others
  coerce: {
    date: true
  }
});

const userInsertSchema = createInsertSchema(users);
// The above is the same as this:
const userInsertSchema = z.object({
  ...,
  createdAt: z.coerce.date()
});

Data type reference

sqlite.integer({ mode: 'boolean' });

// Schema
z.boolean();

sqlite.integer({ mode: 'timestamp' });
sqlite.integer({ mode: 'timestamp_ms' });

// Schema
z.date();

sqlite.numeric();
sqlite.text({ mode: 'text' });

// Schema
z.string();

sqlite.numeric({ mode: 'number' });

// Schema
z.number().min(-9_007_199_254_740_991).max(9_007_199_254_740_991); // Javascript min. and max. safe integers

sqlite.numeric({ mode: 'bigint' });

// Schema
z.bigint().min(-9_223_372_036_854_775_808n).max(9_223_372_036_854_775_807n); // 64-bit integer lower and upper limit

sqlite.text({ mode: 'text', length: ... });

// Schema
z.string().max(length);

sqlite.text({ mode: 'text', enum: ... });

// Schema
z.enum(enum);

sqlite.real();

// Schema
z.number().min(-140_737_488_355_328).max(140_737_488_355_327); // 48-bit integer lower and upper limit

sqlite.integer({ mode: 'number' });

// Schema
z.number().min(-9_007_199_254_740_991).max(9_007_199_254_740_991).int(); // Javascript min. and max. safe integers

sqlite.blob({ mode: 'bigint' });

// Schema
z.bigint().min(-9_223_372_036_854_775_808n).max(9_223_372_036_854_775_807n); // 64-bit integer lower and upper limit

sqlite.blob({ mode: 'json' });
sqlite.text({ mode: 'json' });

// Schema
z.union([z.union([z.string(), z.number(), z.boolean(), z.null()]), z.record(z.any()), z.array(z.any())]);

sqlite.blob({ mode: 'buffer' });

// Schema
z.custom<Buffer>((v) => v instanceof Buffer);