Database & Migrations

Content Engine content types compile directly into standard PostgreSQL database tables via Drizzle ORM.

Prerequisites & Context

Before setting up database tables, you must have a content type definition (e.g. articleContentType) created using defineContentType in src/content/article.ts:

src/content/article.ts

import { defineContentType, field } from '@vitnode/core/content'

// 1. Client-safe definition (imported by both API and AdminCP)
export const articleContentType = defineContentType({
  id: 'example.article',
  tableName: 'example_articles',
  fields: {
    title: field.text({ required: true }),
    code: field.text({ required: true }),
  },
})

createContentModel(definition, options): A backend utility from @vitnode/core/content/server that converts a client-safe content definition into a server-side Drizzle ORM model.
articleContent: The compiled model object containing .table (raw Drizzle table), .service(c) (CRUD helper), and .schemas (Zod schemas).

Step-by-Step Database Setup

Step 1: Create Database Model File

Create your model file under src/database/articles.ts. Import createContentModel from @vitnode/core/content/server and your definition articleContentType:

src/database/articles.ts

import { createContentModel } from '@vitnode/core/content/server'
import { articleContentType } from '@/content/article'
import { example_categories } from './categories'

// Compile client definition into a server Drizzle model
export const articleContent = createContentModel(articleContentType, {
  references: {
    category: () => example_categories.id,
  },
})

// Export raw Drizzle table for migration discovery
export const example_articles = articleContent.table

Step 2: Add Database Indexes

Add single or composite indexes inside your content definition file src/content/article.ts:

src/content/article.ts

export const articleContentType = defineContentType({
  id: 'example.article',
  tableName: 'example_articles',
  fields: {
    title: field.text({ required: true }),
    code: field.text({ required: true }),
    status: field.enum({ values: ['draft', 'published'] }),
  },
  indexes: [
    { on: ['status', 'createdAt'] }, // Composite index
    { on: ['code'], unique: true }, // Unique constraint
  ], 
})

Step 3: Run Database Migrations

Compile your plugins and apply schema changes:

bun run build:plugins && bun run db:migrate

pnpm build:plugins && pnpm db:migrate

npm run build:plugins && npm run db:migrate

Automatic System Columns

When createContentModel compiles a model, it automatically includes standard system columns:

Column	Postgres Type	Description
`id`	`serial` / `integer`	Primary key identifier
`createdAt`	`timestamp`	Auto-populated creation timestamp
`updatedAt`	`timestamp`	Auto-updated modification timestamp

If publication is enabled, status and publishedAt columns are added.
If editorial is enabled, a version column is added for optimistic concurrency control.