1. dialects
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  1. dialects

QuestDB Dialect

Overview#

PropertyValue
Dialect namequestdb
ExtendsPostgresDialect (postgres)
Driverpg
Cloud SDKnone
Default port8812
Local runtimeprorm db up --dialect questdb (questdb/questdb:8.1.1)
Source: questdb
Tests: questdb, questdb-crud
QuestDB is a high-performance, column-oriented time-series database that speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol. Because of that wire compatibility, QuestDBDialect extends PostgresDialect and reuses the exact same pg driver:
export class QuestDBDialect extends PostgresDialect {
  readonly name = 'questdb';

  constructor(config: PostgresDialectOptions = {}) {
    // QuestDB's PostgreSQL-wire (pgwire) port defaults to 8812.
    super({ port: 8812, ...config });
  }
  // ...
}
dialect.name is 'questdb'.
dialect.library is 'pg' (inherited from PostgresDialect).
The default SQL port is 8812 (QuestDB's pgwire port), not Postgres's 5432. Any port you pass overrides it.
Identifiers are double-quoted (inherited Postgres escapeId, e.g. "trades").
Everything is inherited from Postgres except the areas where QuestDB's SQL genuinely diverges — CREATE TABLE DDL, type mapping, LIMIT pagination, INSERT/UPSERT/UPDATE/DELETE, ADD COLUMN, SYMBOL indexes, RENAME TABLE, and the (unsupported) relational constraints.
The core DDL builder buildCreateTableSQL() is a pure, synchronous function that returns a SQL string, so it can be unit-tested without a live connection. createTable() simply runs it through the inherited query().

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: 'questdb',
  host: 'localhost',
  database: 'qdb',
  username: 'admin',
  password: process.env.QUESTDB_PASSWORD,
});
import { Prorm } from 'ts-prorm-orm';

export const db = new Prorm({
  dialect: 'questdb',
  url: 'questdb://admin:quest@localhost:8812/qdb',
});
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(), primaryKey: true, autoIncrement: true },
  email: { type: DataTypes.STRING(255), allowNull: false, unique: true },
  name: { type: DataTypes.STRING(100) },
});

await db.sync(); // CREATE TABLE — see Generated SQL below

Query#

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

await User.create({ 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({ email: 'ada@example.com', name: 'Ada' });
await User.update({ name: 'Grace' }, { where: { email: 'ada@example.com' } });
[!WARNING] No row-level delete
QuestDB does not support row-level DELETE. Remove data by dropping time partitions (ALTER TABLE ... DROP PARTITION ...) or truncating the table (pass { truncate: true }).

Upsert#

await User.upsert({ id: 1, email: 'ada@example.com', name: 'Ada Lovelace' });
upsert() also reads the row by primary key before and after the write, to return the instance.
[!WARNING] A plain INSERT
The engine has no conflict clause, so this upsert inserts and never updates an existing row.

Pagination#

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

Transaction#

await db.transaction(async (t) => {
  await User.create({ 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 questdb has none. Run the work in a single transaction, or restructure it so nothing nests.
Type mapping for the portable descriptors: STRING → STRING, auto-increment INTEGER → INT, BOOLEAN → BOOLEAN, DATE → TIMESTAMP, UUID → UUID, JSON → STRING. The type comparison lines the major engines up side by side.

Connection#

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

const prorm = new Prorm({
  dialect: 'questdb',
  host: 'localhost',
  port: 8812,          // optional — defaults to 8812 for QuestDB
  database: 'qdb',
  username: 'admin',
  password: 'quest',
});

await prorm.connect();
If you omit port, the dialect defaults to QuestDB's pgwire port 8812.

3. QuestDB-specific features#

All of the following are emitted by the pure builder buildCreateTableSQL(tableName, columns, options). The emitted clause order is:
CREATE TABLE [IF NOT EXISTS] name (cols...)
  [TIMESTAMP(designated) PARTITION BY UNIT [WAL|BYPASS WAL]]
  [DEDUP UPSERT KEYS(...)]

Designated timestamp + PARTITION BY#

Time-series tables elect one column as the designated timestamp and are physically partitioned by a time unit. Supply timestamp (the column name) and partitionBy in the table options. PARTITION BY is only emitted inside the timestamp branch — QuestDB only partitions tables that declare a designated timestamp. When timestamp is set but partitionBy is omitted, the unit defaults to NONE.
Supported units (QuestDBPartitionUnit): NONE | YEAR | MONTH | DAY | HOUR | WEEK.
dialect.buildCreateTableSQL(
  'trades',
  {
    ts: { type: DataTypes.DATE() },
    price: { type: DataTypes.DOUBLE() },
  },
  { timestamp: 'ts', partitionBy: 'DAY' },
);

SYMBOL type (CAPACITY / CACHE)#

SYMBOL is QuestDB's interned dictionary type for low-cardinality repeated strings (ticker symbols, device ids). A column is emitted as SYMBOL when any of these hold:
symbol: true on the column definition, or
the data type's key is 'SYMBOL', or
the column's string type is 'SYMBOL' (case-insensitive).
Two optional modifiers layer on: symbolCapacity → CAPACITY n (distinct-value hint), and symbolCache: true → CACHE (keep the dictionary in memory).
dialect.buildCreateTableSQL('trades', {
  ticker: { type: DataTypes.STRING(), symbol: true, symbolCapacity: 256, symbolCache: true },
});
Note that symbol: true overrides the declared type — the STRING above becomes SYMBOL.

WAL / BYPASS WAL#

For partitioned tables, wal controls the write-ahead log: true → WAL, false → BYPASS WAL. When wal is omitted, no WAL clause is emitted (the server default applies). The clause is only emitted inside the timestamp branch.
dialect.buildCreateTableSQL(
  'wal_trades',
  { ts: { type: DataTypes.DATE() } },
  { timestamp: 'ts', partitionBy: 'HOUR', wal: true },
);
dialect.buildCreateTableSQL(
  'nowal_trades',
  { ts: { type: DataTypes.DATE() } },
  { timestamp: 'ts', partitionBy: 'HOUR', wal: false },
);

DEDUP UPSERT KEYS#

Since QuestDB has no ON CONFLICT, row de-duplication is declared on the table via DEDUP UPSERT KEYS(...) (WAL tables only). Rows sharing the given key columns are upserted; the designated timestamp must be one of the keys. Supply dedupUpsertKeys (only emitted when the array is non-empty, inside the timestamp branch).
dialect.buildCreateTableSQL(
  'trades',
  {
    ts: { type: DataTypes.DATE() },
    ticker: { type: DataTypes.STRING(), symbol: true },
  },
  { timestamp: 'ts', partitionBy: 'DAY', wal: true, dedupUpsertKeys: ['ts', 'ticker'] },
);

4. Type mapping#

getDataTypeSql() overrides the inherited Postgres mapping to use QuestDB's type vocabulary. It handles both DataTypes.* objects (via the type's key) and string shorthands (e.g. 'BIGINT', 'DATETIME').
ORM type (DataTypes.* / key)QuestDB type
INTEGER / INTINT
BIGINTLONG
FLOAT / REALFLOAT
DOUBLE / DECIMAL / NUMERIC / DOUBLE PRECISIONDOUBLE
BOOLEAN / BOOLBOOLEAN
STRING / TEXT / CHAR / VARCHARSTRING
SYMBOLSYMBOL
DATE / DATEONLY / TIME / DATETIME / TIMESTAMPTIMESTAMP
UUIDUUID
BLOBBINARY
JSON / JSONBSTRING (QuestDB has no native JSON type)
anything else (object)falls back to super.getDataTypeSql() (Postgres mapping)
Examples verified in tests:
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.BIGINT());  // 'LONG'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.INTEGER()); // 'INT'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.DOUBLE());  // 'DOUBLE'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.FLOAT());   // 'FLOAT'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.STRING());  // 'STRING'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.DATE());    // 'TIMESTAMP'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.BOOLEAN()); // 'BOOLEAN'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.UUID());    // 'UUID'
dialect.getDataTypeSql(DataTypes.BLOB());    // 'BINARY'
dialect.getDataTypeSql('SYMBOL');            // 'SYMBOL'
dialect.getDataTypeSql('DATETIME');          // 'TIMESTAMP'
dialect.getDataTypeSql('BIGINT');            // 'LONG'

5. Constraints / CRUD divergences#

No relational constraints in CREATE TABLE / ADD COLUMN#

QuestDB has no PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, UNIQUE, NOT NULL, or DEFAULT clauses. The column builder (buildQuestColumnSql) emits only "name" TYPE — every constraint field on the column definition (primaryKey, unique, references, allowNull, defaultValue, autoIncrement) is deliberately ignored.
dialect.buildCreateTableSQL('quotes', {
  id: { type: DataTypes.BIGINT(), primaryKey: true, autoIncrement: true },
  symbol_id: {
    type: DataTypes.BIGINT(),
    unique: true,
    references: { table: 'symbols', field: 'id' },
  },
});
The generated SQL contains no PRIMARY KEY, UNIQUE, FOREIGN KEY, or REFERENCES.
The table-level constraint methods fail loudly rather than emit invalid SQL:
addForeignKey() → throws QuestDB does not support FOREIGN KEY constraints.
addConstraint() / createConstraint() → throw QuestDB does not support table constraints (PRIMARY KEY / FOREIGN KEY / UNIQUE / CHECK). Use DEDUP UPSERT KEYS on CREATE TABLE for row de-duplication.

INSERT — no ON CONFLICT, no RETURNING#

buildInsertQuery() emits a plain parameterized INSERT with $1, $2, ... placeholders. Literal values are inlined rather than parameterized. Any upsert / conflictFields / returning options are ignored.
dialect.buildInsertQuery('trades', {
  ts: '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z',
  ticker: 'AAPL',
  price: 100.5,
});

UPSERT — DEDUP-based, so a bare INSERT#

buildUpsertQuery() delegates to buildInsertQuery() and emits a plain INSERT (no ON CONFLICT, no DO UPDATE). Conflict resolution comes from the table's DEDUP UPSERT KEYS(...) configuration, not the statement — conflictFields and updateOnDuplicate are ignored.

UPDATE — no LIMIT, no RETURNING#

buildUpdateQuery() supports UPDATE t SET ... WHERE ... but omits LIMIT and RETURNING even if passed.
dialect.buildUpdateQuery('trades', { price: 200 }, { ticker: 'AAPL' }, { limit: 5, returning: true });

DELETE — no row-level delete; TRUNCATE only#

QuestDB has no row-level DELETE. buildDeleteQuery():
With { truncate: true } → returns TRUNCATE TABLE "trades".
Any other call → throws: QuestDB does not support row-level DELETE. Remove data by dropping time partitions (ALTER TABLE ... DROP PARTITION ...) or truncating the table (pass { truncate: true }).
dialect.buildDeleteQuery('trades', {}, { truncate: true }).sql; // 'TRUNCATE TABLE "trades"'
dialect.buildDeleteQuery('trades', { ticker: 'AAPL' });          // throws
To remove a time range, drop the relevant partition(s) via raw SQL (ALTER TABLE ... DROP PARTITION ...).

LIMIT / pagination — no OFFSET keyword#

buildLimitOffset(limit, offset) uses QuestDB's LIMIT forms (there is no OFFSET keyword):
limit only → LIMIT n
limit + offset → LIMIT lo, hi where lo = offset and hi = offset + limit
offset only → emits nothing (no upper bound to express)
dialect.buildLimitOffset(10);      // ' LIMIT 10'
dialect.buildLimitOffset(10, 20);  // ' LIMIT 20, 30'
dialect.buildLimitOffset(undefined, 20); // ''
A SELECT with { limit: 100, offset: 200 } produces LIMIT 200, 300 (no OFFSET).

ADD COLUMN — constraint-free, SYMBOL-aware#

buildAddColumnSQL() reuses the QuestDB column builder, so NOT NULL / DEFAULT and other constraints are dropped, and SYMBOL options are honored.
dialect.buildAddColumnSQL('trades', 'volume', { type: DataTypes.BIGINT(), allowNull: false, defaultValue: 0 });
// ALTER TABLE "trades" ADD COLUMN "volume" LONG

dialect.buildAddColumnSQL('trades', 'ticker', { type: DataTypes.STRING(), symbol: true, symbolCapacity: 128, symbolCache: true });
// ALTER TABLE "trades" ADD COLUMN "ticker" SYMBOL CAPACITY 128 CACHE

Indexes — SYMBOL-column only, via ALTER TABLE#

QuestDB has no CREATE INDEX. Indexes exist only on SYMBOL columns, added/removed with ALTER TABLE ... ALTER COLUMN ... ADD/DROP INDEX. addIndex / createIndex iterate each field; the index name and PG-only options (unique/using/expression/where/include) are ignored. For removal, the indexName/columnName argument is treated as the column name.
dialect.buildAddIndexSQL('trades', 'ticker');       // ALTER TABLE "trades" ALTER COLUMN "ticker" ADD INDEX
dialect.buildAddIndexSQL('trades', 'ticker', 512);  // ALTER TABLE "trades" ALTER COLUMN "ticker" ADD INDEX CAPACITY 512
dialect.buildDropIndexSQL('trades', 'ticker');      // ALTER TABLE "trades" ALTER COLUMN "ticker" DROP INDEX

RENAME TABLE — dedicated statement#

QuestDB renames with RENAME TABLE, not ALTER TABLE ... RENAME TO.
dialect.buildRenameTableSQL('old_trades', 'trades'); // RENAME TABLE "old_trades" TO "trades"

6. Not-yet-verified#

SQL-generation-verified (no database required). Every builder above is pure and synchronous, and its output is asserted in the offline test suites (questdb.test.ts, questdb-crud.test.ts): buildCreateTableSQL, getDataTypeSql, buildInsertQuery, buildUpsertQuery, buildUpdateQuery, buildDeleteQuery, buildLimitOffset, buildAddColumnSQL, buildAddIndexSQL, buildDropIndexSQL, buildRenameTableSQL, and the throwing constraint methods. dialect.name === 'questdb' and dialect.library === 'pg' are also asserted.
Needs a live QuestDB server (not exercised by these tests). The following are inherited from PostgresDialect or route through query(), and no test opens a QuestDB connection:
Actual connectivity over pgwire (port 8812), authentication, and connect()/disconnect().
Server-side acceptance of the generated DDL/DML — whether QuestDB parses and runs each statement (e.g. that a given PARTITION BY unit, DEDUP key set, WAL/BYPASS WAL combination, or TRUNCATE/ADD INDEX/RENAME TABLE is accepted at runtime).
Any inherited Postgres behavior not overridden here (transactions, SELECT result mapping beyond the LIMIT form, LISTEN/NOTIFY, schema/extension helpers) as it behaves against QuestDB specifically.
The WEEK partition unit is accepted by the type but is not covered by a test.

Row locks and PostgreSQL-only operators#

The dialect extends PostgresDialect, but the PostgreSQL-only parts of its
SELECT are not QuestDB SQL, so they are rendered natively or refused.
QuestDB has no row-level locking, so any lock option is refused:
QuestDB has no row-level locking, so `lock` cannot be honoured. Remove the `lock` option; a lock the caller believes it holds but does not is worse than an error.
The PostgreSQL JSON, array, range and full-text operators (Op.contains as
@>, Op.overlap as &&, ?, range operators, @@) are refused with an
UnsupportedWhereError, and the statement is not sent:
Cannot render WHERE condition at tags.$contains for questdb: the operator '$contains' is not implemented by its WHERE builder. The statement was not sent, because running it without the condition would match rows it should not.
[!NOTE]
Before 4.9.2 this dialect sent PostgreSQL's FOR SHARE / SKIP LOCKED
clauses and the @> / && operators unchanged, and the server rejected
them.

What differs from Postgres#

QuestDBDialect extends PostgresDialect (postgres) and
overrides 55 of its methods (Object.getOwnPropertyNames(QuestDBDialect.prototype),
computed by the scratch test); everything else is inherited unchanged.
AreaOverridden
DML buildersbuildDeleteQuery, buildInsertQuery, buildLimitOffset, buildSampleByClause, buildSampleBySelect, buildSetWalSQL, buildUpdateQuery, buildUpsertQuery
TypesbuildQuestColumnSql, canonicalTypeSql, ensureEnumTypes, getDataTypeSql, legacyQuestTypeSql, mapNativeType, rawQuestTypeSql, unsupportedType
DDL and schemaaddColumn, addConstraint, addForeignKey, addIndex, attachPartitions, buildAddColumnSQL, buildAddIndexSQL, buildCreateTableSQL, buildDropIndexSQL, buildDropPartitionSQL, buildRenameTableSQL, changeColumn, createConstraint, createIndex, createTable, detachPartitions, disableDedup, dropIndex, dropPartition, dropPartitions, enableDedup, removeIndex, renameTable
IntrospectiondescribeTable, showConstraints, showIndexes, showTables
OtherbuildAttachPartitionSQL, buildChangeColumnSQL, buildDetachPartitionSQL, buildDisableDedupSQL, buildEnableDedupSQL, buildLatestOnClause, buildResumeWalSQL, lockClauseSpec, questStringRewrite, resumeWal, setWal, unsupportedWhereOperators

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.
Capabilityquestdb
Transactions atomicyes
Savepointsno — a nested transaction() throws
Isolationup to SERIALIZABLE
Transaction modesread-only yes; deferrable yes; constraint deferral yes
RETURNINGnot emitted; returning is accepted and ignored
Upserta plain INSERT: the engine has no conflict clause (see the page)
JSON columnSTRING (JSONB → STRING)
Vector columnrefused — QuestDB has no column type for DataTypes.VECTOR: use ARRAY(DOUBLE), which QuestDB stores as DOUBLE[].
Array columnrefused — QuestDB has no column type for DataTypes.ARRAY: QuestDB arrays hold DOUBLE only: ARRAY(DOUBLE).
WHERE builder46 operator keys; $and/$or/$not; $exists: yes; $in subquery: yes; expression operands: yes
SQL objectsfamily unknown: triggers no; procedures no; functions no; materialized views no; sequences no; enums check; RLS no
StreamingqueryStream() present; LISTEN present; createExtension() present

Testing#

tests/dialects/questdb.test.ts exercises the dialect with a mocked driver, so nothing touches a server. A live instance: prorm db up --dialect questdb (see Local databases).

Related reading#

All dialects — what each engine supports
Data types — how each type maps to this engine
Querying — how a FindOptions becomes SQL
Modified at 2026-10-04 00:40:16
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