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Api ReferenceClassesCreateTableBuilder

Last Updated: 3/9/2026

kysely

  • CreateTableBuilder

Class CreateTableBuilder

This builder can be used to create a create table query.

Type Parameters

  • TB extends string
  • C extends string = never

Implements

Index

Constructors

Methods

$call addCheckConstraint addColumn addForeignKeyConstraint addPrimaryKeyConstraint addUniqueConstraint as compile execute ifNotExists modifyEnd modifyFront onCommit temporary toOperationNode

Constructors

constructor

Methods

$call

  • $call<T>(func: (qb: this) => T): T

    Calls the given function passing this as the only argument.

    Examples

    await  db. schema . createTable('test') . $call((builder) =>  builder. addColumn('id', 'integer')) . execute()

    This is useful for creating reusable functions that can be called with a builder.

    import { type  CreateTableBuilder, sql } from  'kysely' const  addDefaultColumns = (ctb: CreateTableBuilder< any, any>) => { return  ctb . addColumn('id', 'integer', (col) =>  col. notNull()) . addColumn('created_at', 'date', (col) =>  col. notNull(). defaultTo(sql`now()`) ) . addColumn('updated_at', 'date', (col) =>  col. notNull(). defaultTo(sql`now()`) )} await  db. schema . createTable('test') . $call(addDefaultColumns) . execute()

    Type Parameters

    • T

    Parameters

    • func: (qb: this) => T

    Returns T

addCheckConstraint

  • addCheckConstraint(
        constraintName: string,
        checkExpression: Expression,
        build?: CheckConstraintBuilderCallback,
    ): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds a check constraint.

    The constraint name can be anything you want, but it must be unique across the whole database.

    Examples

    import {  sql } from  'kysely' await  db. schema . createTable('animal') . addColumn('number_of_legs', 'integer') . addCheckConstraint('check_legs', sql`number_of_legs < 5`) . execute()

    Parameters

    • constraintName: string
    • checkExpression: Expression
    • build: CheckConstraintBuilderCallback = noop

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

addColumn

  • addColumn<CN extends string>(
        columnName: CN,
        dataType: DataTypeExpression,
        build?: ColumnBuilderCallback,
    ): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C | CN>

    Adds a column to the table.

    Examples

    import {  sql } from  'kysely' await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('id', 'integer', (col) =>  col. autoIncrement(). primaryKey()) . addColumn('first_name', 'varchar(50)', (col) =>  col. notNull()) . addColumn('last_name', 'varchar(255)') . addColumn('bank_balance', 'numeric(8, 2)')  // You can specify any data type using the `sql` tag if the types  // don't include it. . addColumn('data', sql `any_type_here`) . addColumn('parent_id', 'integer', (col) =>  col. references('person.id'). onDelete('cascade') )

    With this method, it’s once again good to remember that Kysely just builds the query and doesn’t provide the same API for all databases. For example, some databases like older MySQL don’t support the references statement in the column definition. Instead foreign key constraints need to be defined in the create table query. See the next example:

    await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('id', 'integer', (col) =>  col. primaryKey()) . addColumn('parent_id', 'integer') . addForeignKeyConstraint( 'person_parent_id_fk', ['parent_id'],  'person', ['id'], (cb) =>  cb. onDelete('cascade') ) . execute()

    Another good example is that PostgreSQL doesn’t support the auto_increment keyword and you need to define an autoincrementing column for example using serial:

    await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('id', 'serial', (col) =>  col. primaryKey()) . execute()

    Type Parameters

    • CN extends string

    Parameters

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C | CN>

addForeignKeyConstraint

  • addForeignKeyConstraint(
        constraintName: string,
        columns: C[],
        targetTable: string,
        targetColumns: string[],
        build?: ForeignKeyConstraintBuilderCallback,
    ): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds a foreign key constraint.

    The constraint name can be anything you want, but it must be unique across the whole database.

    Examples

    await  db. schema . createTable('pet') . addColumn('owner_id', 'integer') . addForeignKeyConstraint( 'owner_id_foreign', ['owner_id'],  'person', ['id'], ) . execute()

    Add constraint for multiple columns:

    await  db. schema . createTable('pet') . addColumn('owner_id1', 'integer') . addColumn('owner_id2', 'integer') . addForeignKeyConstraint( 'owner_id_foreign', ['owner_id1', 'owner_id2'],  'person', ['id1', 'id2'], (cb) =>  cb. onDelete('cascade') ) . execute()

    Parameters

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

addPrimaryKeyConstraint

  • addPrimaryKeyConstraint(
        constraintName: string,
        columns: C[],
        build?: PrimaryKeyConstraintBuilderCallback,
    ): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds a primary key constraint for one or more columns.

    The constraint name can be anything you want, but it must be unique across the whole database.

    Examples

    await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('first_name', 'varchar(64)') . addColumn('last_name', 'varchar(64)') . addPrimaryKeyConstraint('primary_key', ['first_name', 'last_name']) . execute()

    Parameters

    • constraintName: string
    • columns: C[]
    • build: PrimaryKeyConstraintBuilderCallback = noop

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

addUniqueConstraint

  • addUniqueConstraint(
        constraintName: string,
        columns: C[],
        build?: UniqueConstraintNodeBuilderCallback,
    ): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds a unique constraint for one or more columns.

    The constraint name can be anything you want, but it must be unique across the whole database.

    Examples

    await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('first_name', 'varchar(64)') . addColumn('last_name', 'varchar(64)') . addUniqueConstraint( 'first_name_last_name_unique', ['first_name', 'last_name'] ) . execute()

    In dialects such as PostgreSQL you can specify nulls not distinct as follows:

    await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('first_name', 'varchar(64)') . addColumn('last_name', 'varchar(64)') . addUniqueConstraint( 'first_name_last_name_unique', ['first_name', 'last_name'], (cb) =>  cb. nullsNotDistinct() ) . execute()

    Parameters

    • constraintName: string
    • columns: C[]
    • build: UniqueConstraintNodeBuilderCallback = noop

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

as

  • as(expression: Expression): CreateTableBuilder<string, never>

    Allows to create table from select query.

    Examples

    await  db. schema . createTable('copy') . temporary() . as(db. selectFrom('person'). select(['first_name', 'last_name'])) . execute()

    The generated SQL (PostgreSQL):

    create temporary table "copy" as select "first_name", "last_name" from "person"

    Parameters

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<string, never>

compile

execute

  • execute(): Promise<void>

    Returns Promise<void>

ifNotExists

  • ifNotExists(): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds the “if not exists” modifier.

    If the table already exists, no error is thrown if this method has been called.

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

modifyEnd

  • modifyEnd(modifier: Expression): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    This can be used to add any additional SQL to the end of the query.

    Also see onCommit.

    Examples

    import { sql } from  'kysely' await  db. schema . createTable('person') . addColumn('id', 'integer', col  =>  col. primaryKey()) . addColumn('first_name', 'varchar(64)', col  =>  col. notNull()) . addColumn('last_name', 'varchar(64)', col  =>  col. notNull()) . modifyEnd(sql `collate utf8_unicode_ci`) . execute()

    The generated SQL (MySQL):

    create table `person` ( `id` integer primary key, `first_name` varchar(64) not null, `last_name` varchar(64) not null ) collate utf8_unicode_ci

    Parameters

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

modifyFront

  • modifyFront(modifier: Expression): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    This can be used to add any additional SQL to the front of the query after the create keyword.

    Also see temporary.

    Examples

    import { sql } from  'kysely' await  db. schema . createTable('person') . modifyFront(sql `global temporary`) . addColumn('id', 'integer', col  =>  col. primaryKey()) . addColumn('first_name', 'varchar(64)', col  =>  col. notNull()) . addColumn('last_name', 'varchar(64)', col  =>  col. notNull()) . execute()

    The generated SQL (Postgres):

    create global temporary table "person" ( "id" integer primary key, "first_name" varchar(64) not null, "last_name" varchar(64) not null )

    Parameters

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

onCommit

  • onCommit(onCommit: string): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds an “on commit” statement.

    This can be used in conjunction with temporary tables on supported databases like PostgreSQL.

    Parameters

    • onCommit: string

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

temporary

  • temporary(): CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

    Adds the “temporary” modifier.

    Use this to create a temporary table.

    Returns CreateTableBuilder<TB, C>

toOperationNode

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Constructors

constructor

Methods

$call

addCheckConstraint

addColumn

addForeignKeyConstraint

addPrimaryKeyConstraint

addUniqueConstraint

as

compileexecuteifNotExistsmodifyEnd

modifyFront

onCommittemporarytoOperationNode

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