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name: NestJS Database description: Data access patterns, Scaling, Migrations, and ORM selection. metadata: labels: [nestjs, database, typeorm, prisma, mongodb] triggers: files: ['**/*.entity.ts', 'prisma/schema.prisma'] keywords: [TypeOrmModule, PrismaService, MongooseModule, Repository]

NestJS Database Standards

Priority: P0 (FOUNDATIONAL)

Database integration patterns and ORM standards for NestJS applications.

Selection Strategy

See references/persistence_strategy.md for database selection matrix and scaling patterns (Connection Pooling, Sharding).

Patterns

• Repository Pattern: Isolate database logic.
  • TypeORM: Inject @InjectRepository(Entity).
  • Prisma: Create a comprehensive PrismaService.
• Abstraction: Services should call Repositories, not raw SQL queries.

Configuration (TypeORM)

• Async Loading: Always use TypeOrmModule.forRootAsync to load secrets from ConfigService.
• Sync: Set synchronize: false in production; use migrations instead.

Migrations

• Never use synchronize: true in production.
• Execution: Run via init container or CD step.
• Zero-Downtime: Use Expand-Contract pattern (Add -> Backfill -> Drop).
• Seeding: Use factories for dev data; only static dicts for prod.

Best Practices

1. Pagination: Mandatory. Use limit/offset or cursor-based pagination.
2. Indexing: Define indexes in code (decorators/schema) for frequently filtered columns (where, order by).
3. Transactions: Use QueryRunner (TypeORM) or $transaction (Prisma) for all multi-step mutations to ensure atomicity.