1. dialects
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      • StoreConnection
      • BatchFailure
      • ProxyStatus
  1. dialects

Materialize Dialect

Overview#

Materialize is a streaming database: data arrives
through SOURCEs, is transformed by VIEWs, and is kept continuously up to
date in MATERIALIZED VIEWs and INDEXes that are recomputed incrementally as
their inputs change.
It speaks the PostgreSQL frontend/backend wire protocol, so
MaterializeDialect extends PostgresDialect and reuses the pg driver,
connection pooling, $n parameter binding, double-quoted identifier escaping,
streaming and every read-path builder unchanged.
That inheritance is why a dialect is the right shape here: Materialize's
reads are the product
. findAll-shaped reads compile through the inherited
buildSelectQuery with every value bound, so reading a materialized view
through this library never requires hand-written SQL.
PropertyValue
Dialect namematerialize
ExtendsPostgresDialect
Driverpg
Default port6875 (not 5432)
Cloud SDKnone
Local runtimeself-hosted; no image in this repo

Quick start#

Install#

$ npm install ts-prorm-orm pg
$ pnpm add ts-prorm-orm pg
$ yarn add ts-prorm-orm pg
$ bun add ts-prorm-orm pg
pg is the same driver the postgres dialect uses. pg-copy-streams is optional: only the features that need it load it.

Connect#

import { Prorm } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

export const db = new Prorm({
  dialect: 'materialize',
  host: 'abc123.us-east-1.aws.materialize.cloud',
  database: 'materialize',
  username: 'you@example.com',
  password: process.env.MZ_APP_PASSWORD,
  dialectOptions: {
    ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: true },
  },
});
import { Prorm } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

export const db = new Prorm({
  dialect: 'materialize',
  url: 'materialize://you%40example.com:secret@abc123.us-east-1.aws.materialize.cloud:6875/materialize',
  dialectOptions: {
    ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: true },
  },
});
A URL is folded into host, port, database, username and password before the dialect is built; any of those passed alongside it wins.

Define a model#

import { DataTypes } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

const User = db.define('User', {
  id: { type: DataTypes.INTEGER(), allowNull: false },
  email: { type: DataTypes.STRING(255), allowNull: false },
  name: { type: DataTypes.STRING(100) },
  meta: { type: DataTypes.JSONB() },
});

await db.sync(); // CREATE TABLE — see Generated SQL below
email is not declared unique: the engine has no enforced UNIQUE constraint. No primary key: the engine's tables have none. meta is JSONB, which the containment query below needs.

Query#

import { Op } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

await User.create({ id: 1, email: 'ada@example.com', name: 'Ada' });

const page = await User.findAll({
  where: { name: { [Op.like]: 'A%' } },
  order: [['id', 'ASC']],
  limit: 20,
  offset: 40,
});

Generated SQL#

Each block is the statement the model call above it hands the dialect's query(), captured with the driver stubbed out. The model layer inlines the values.

Create table#

db.sync() for the model in the Quick start:
CREATE TABLE

Insert, update and delete#

await User.create({ id: 1, email: 'ada@example.com', name: 'Ada' });
await User.update({ name: 'Grace' }, { where: { email: 'ada@example.com' } });
await User.destroy({ where: { id: 1 } });

Upsert#

[!WARNING] No upsert
Materialize has no ON CONFLICT clause — a table has no unique constraint for a conflict to be detected against. Upsert belongs on the way in: a source declared with ENVELOPE UPSERT keys the stream and keeps the latest value per key. For a table written by hand, DELETE the key and INSERT inside one transaction.

Pagination#

await User.findAll({
  where: { name: { [Op.like]: 'A%' } },
  order: [['id', 'ASC']],
  limit: 20,
  offset: 40,
});

JSON#

Containment on the meta column:
import { Op } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

await User.findAll({ where: { meta: { [Op.contains]: { plan: 'pro' } } } });

Transaction#

await db.transaction(async (t) => {
  await User.create({ id: 2, email: 'grace@example.com', name: 'Grace' }, { transaction: t });
  await User.update({ name: 'Grace Hopper' }, { where: { email: 'grace@example.com' }, transaction: t });
});
[!WARNING] No savepoints
Nested transactions need savepoints, and materialize has none. Run the work in a single transaction, or restructure it so nothing nests.
Type mapping for the portable descriptors: STRING → VARCHAR(255), auto-increment INTEGER → refused, BOOLEAN → BOOLEAN, DATE → TIMESTAMP, UUID → UUID, JSON → JSONB. The type comparison lines the major engines up side by side.

Connection#

import { Prorm } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

const db = new Prorm({
  dialect: 'materialize',
  host: 'xxx.materialize.cloud',
  port: 6875, // the default; no override needed
  username: 'you@example.com',
  password: process.env.MZ_APP_PASSWORD,
  database: 'materialize',
  dialectOptions: { ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: true } }, // Materialize Cloud requires TLS
});
Materialize Cloud authenticates with an app password as password, and
requires TLS.

What differs from Postgres#

MaterializeDialect extends PostgresDialect (postgres) and
overrides 84 of its methods (Object.getOwnPropertyNames(MaterializeDialect.prototype),
computed by the scratch test); everything else is inherited unchanged.
AreaOverridden
Connection and executionlisten, notify, startTransaction, unlisten
DML buildersbuildInsertQuery, buildUpsertQuery, formatDefaultValue
TypesbinaryTypeSql, buildColumnSql, canonicalTypeSql, collectionTypeSql, createEnumType, documentTypeSql, enumTypeSql, extensionTypeSql, getDataTypeSql, integerTypeSql, legacyInvalidTypeNames, legacyTypeReplaced, namedEnumTypes, networkTypeSql, numericTypeSql, rangeTypeSql, spatialTypeSql, temporalTypeSql, vectorTypeSql
DDL and schemaaddColumn, addForeignKey, addIndex, alterRefusal, attachPartition, buildCreateIndexSql, buildCreateMaterializedViewSql, buildCreateSinkSql, buildCreateSourceSql, buildCreateTableSql, changeColumn, createCluster, createDomain, createExtension, createIndex, createMaterializeIndex, createMaterializedView, createPartition, createPartitionedTable, createPolicy, createSavepointSQL, createSequence, createSink, createSource, createStoredProcedure, createTable, createTrigger, detachPartition, disableRLS, dropCluster, dropExtension, dropPartition, dropPolicy, dropSequence, dropStoredProcedure, dropTrigger, enableRLS, refreshMaterializedView, removeColumn, renameColumn
IntrospectionassertConstraintsSupported, assertIndexOptionsSupported, getExtensions, hasExtension, hasPolicy, hasSequence, hasStoredProcedure, hasTrigger, resolveMzTimestamp
OtherbuildSubscribeQuery, nextSequenceValue, partitionRefusal, releaseSavepointSQL, rlsRefusal, rollbackToSavepointSQL, savepointRefusal, sequenceRefusal, upsertRefusal

What Materialize is not#

TABLEs exist and INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE work on them, but they are for
reference data hand-fed into a dataflow — not the primary write path, and not
an OLTP store. That shape removes a large amount of PostgreSQL, and the
removals are load-bearing. Each one throws with the engine and the feature
named, rather than emitting SQL Materialize cannot parse.

REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW does not exist#

This is the refusal most worth knowing about. A Materialize materialized view
is always current — there is no stale state to refresh away. The Postgres
base would send REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW, a syntax error here, and the
caller would reasonably conclude their view had gone stale.
Materialize has no REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW ('mv'). A Materialize materialized
view is recomputed incrementally as its inputs change and is always current —
there is no stale state to refresh away. If the goal is to read it at a
specific logical time, use `AS OF` (or SUBSCRIBE) instead.

Tables carry no constraints#

No PRIMARY KEY, no UNIQUE, no FOREIGN KEY, no CHECK, and no SERIAL
(there are no sequences). The base dialect emits all five.
await db.dialect.createTable('t', {
  id: { type: DataTypes.BIGINT, allowNull: false },
  doc: { type: DataTypes.JSON },
});
// CREATE TABLE "t" ("id" BIGINT NOT NULL, "doc" JSONB)
A primaryKey: true column throws and says where the invariant belongs:
Materialize tables have no PRIMARY KEY (column 'id'). Tables are unconstrained
inputs to a dataflow; deduplicate in the view that reads them, or let the
source apply ENVELOPE UPSERT on the way in.

ALTER TABLE cannot reshape a relation#

addColumn, removeColumn, changeColumn and renameColumn all throw.
Materialize's ALTER covers RENAME, OWNER TO, SET CLUSTER and the
retain-history setting — not the shape of an existing relation, because
downstream views and indexes are already computing against the current one.

The full refusal list#

Asked forWhat happens
refreshMaterializedView()Refused — a Materialize MV is always current
Column primaryKey / unique / references / autoIncrementRefused, each naming the alternative
Any table constraintRefused
uniqueKeys, partitionBy on createTableRefused
addColumn / removeColumn / changeColumn / renameColumnRefused
addForeignKey()Refused
buildUpsertQuery() / { upsert: true }Refused — points at ENVELOPE UPSERT
LISTEN / UNLISTEN / NOTIFYRefused — points at SUBSCRIBE and SINK
Sequences (createSequence, nextSequenceValue, …)Refused; hasSequence() returns false
Triggers, policies/RLS, stored proceduresRefused; the has* probes return false
ExtensionsRefused; getExtensions() returns []
All five partitioning entry pointsRefused
createEnumType(), createDomain()Refused
HSTORE, VECTOR, PostGIS, CITEXT column typesRefused — no extensions to provide them
UNIQUE / USING / partial / INCLUDE / CONCURRENTLY index optionsRefused
PostgreSQL isolation levelsRefused — see below
SAVEPOINT (all three builders)Refused
WITH NO DATA materialized viewRefused — not a state a Materialize view has

Why upsert points at the source#

Materialize has no ON CONFLICT clause — a table has no unique constraint for a
conflict to be detected against. Upsert belongs on the way *in*: a source
declared with ENVELOPE UPSERT keys the stream and keeps the latest value per
key. For a table written by hand, DELETE the key and INSERT inside one
transaction.

Isolation levels are Materialize's own#

Consistency here is defined by logical timestamps, not by locks, so
PostgreSQL's four levels have no counterpart. The three that exist are
STRICT SERIALIZABLE (the default), SERIALIZABLE, and
STRONG SESSION SERIALIZABLE. Asking for READ COMMITTED throws rather than
silently running at a different level than the caller chose. Transactions are
read-only or write-to-a-single-table, and there are no savepoints.

What Materialize has that PostgreSQL does not#

SUBSCRIBE — the streaming read#

SUBSCRIBE streams the changes to a query: each row carries mz_timestamp
and mz_diff (+1 for an insert, -1 for a retraction) alongside the query's
own columns. buildSubscribeQuery compiles one from the same findAll-shaped
options buildSelectQuery takes, with every value bound:
db.dialect.buildSubscribeQuery({
  tableName: 'orders',
  where: { status: 'open' },
  progress: true,
  envelopeUpsertKey: ['id'],
});
snapshot, progress, envelopeUpsertKey, asOf and upTo are all
supported.
Executing it is deliberately not on the dialect. A subscription holds its
transaction open for as long as it runs, and the $n values have to reach the
server as real bind parameters rather than through the inherited query()
path, which inlines its replacements before sending.
MaterializeStore.subscribe() drives the cursor
over a dedicated pg client with the values bound.

Sources and sinks#

db.dialect.buildCreateSourceSql({
  name: 'kafka_src',
  cluster: 'ingest',
  from: "FROM KAFKA CONNECTION kc (TOPIC 'events') FORMAT JSON",
});
// CREATE SOURCE "kafka_src" IN CLUSTER "ingest" FROM KAFKA CONNECTION kc (TOPIC 'events') FORMAT JSON
The connector clause is a raw fragment: the grammar is large, versioned and
per-connector, and it names a pre-created CONNECTION object rather than
carrying data. The object names are escaped by the dialect.
buildCreateSinkSql({ name, from, into, format, envelope }) is the mirror
image.

Indexes mean something else#

A Materialize index keeps an object's current contents in memory on a cluster,
arranged by the given keys, so queries and downstream dataflows read it without
recomputing. There is no access method, no uniqueness and no partiality:
db.dialect.buildCreateIndexSql('orders_view', {
  name: 'idx',
  cluster: 'serving',
  fields: ['id'],
});
// CREATE INDEX "idx" IN CLUSTER "serving" ON "orders_view" ("id")

db.dialect.buildCreateIndexSql('orders_view');
// CREATE DEFAULT INDEX ON "orders_view"

Materialized views#

db.dialect.buildCreateMaterializedViewSql({
  name: 'mv',
  query: 'SELECT a, b FROM t',
  columns: ['a', 'b'],
  cluster: 'compute',
  assertNotNull: ['a'],
  retainHistoryFor: '1 hour',
});

Clusters#

createCluster(name, { size, replicationFactor, introspectionInterval }) and
dropCluster(name, { ifExists, cascade }) manage the unit of compute an object
is maintained on.

Data types#

Materialize implements PostgreSQL's core scalar types and none of the extension
types, because it has no extensions to install them from.
Model typeMaterializeNote
JSONJSONBMaterialize implements jsonb only; a json column is a parse error
ENUMTEXTCREATE TYPE ... AS ENUM is not implemented
HSTORE, VECTOR, PostGIS, CITEXTthrowsExtension types, and there are no extensions
anything autoIncrementthrowsNo sequences, so no SERIAL
Everything else maps as PostgreSQL does.

Capabilities#

Computed from the code — capabilitiesOf() (src/transaction-support.ts),
whereSupportOf() (src/query-builders/expression-render.ts),
sqlObjectCapabilitiesOf() (src/sql-objects/capabilities.ts) and the
builders — by the scratch test described in the
capability matrix.
Capabilitymaterialize
Transactions atomicyes
Savepointsno — a nested transaction() throws
Isolationup to SERIALIZABLE
Transaction modesread-only yes; deferrable yes; constraint deferral yes
RETURNINGRETURNING on INSERT
Upsertrefused — Materialize has no ON CONFLICT clause — a table has no unique constraint for a conflict to be detected against. Upsert belongs on the way in: a source declare
JSON columnJSONB (JSONB → JSONB)
Vector columnrefused — Materialize does not support pgvector types (it has no extensions) (column type 'VECTOR'). Transform the value before it reaches Materialize, or keep the column
Array columnINTEGER[]
WHERE builder62 operator keys; $and/$or/$not; $exists: yes; $in subquery: yes; expression operands: yes
SQL objectsfamily materialize: triggers no; procedures no; functions no; materialized views native; sequences no; enums check; RLS no
StreamingqueryStream() present; LISTEN present; createExtension() present

Testing#

tests/dialects/materialize.test.ts exercises the dialect with a mocked driver, so nothing touches a server.

See also#

MaterializeStore — the connection-level store,
wired to this dialect for structured find/count/insert/update/
destroy/createSource/subscribe.
Modified at 2026-10-04 00:40:16
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