sequelize_orm_generator

Documentation | sequelize_orm | GitHub

Code generator for sequelize_orm. Generates type-safe model classes, query builders, create/update helpers, and a centralized model registry from annotated Dart classes using build_runner.

Installation

Add the generator as a dev dependency alongside build_runner:

dependencies:
  sequelize_orm: ^0.2.0

dev_dependencies:
  sequelize_orm_generator: ^0.2.0
  build_runner: latest

build.yaml

Create a build.yaml in your project root:

targets:
  $default:
    builders:
      sequelize_orm_generator|sequelize_model_builder:
        enabled: true
      sequelize_orm_generator|models_registry_builder:
        enabled: true

Running the generator

Method 1: CLI (Recommended & Faster)

The generate command is optimized for model generation and runs significantly faster than build_runner.

# Generate all models and registry
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:generate

Method 2: build_runner

Standard Dart code generation.

# One-time generation
dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs

# Watch mode (regenerates on file changes)
dart run build_runner watch --delete-conflicting-outputs

What gets generated

For each *.model.dart file, the generator produces a *.model.g.dart file containing:

Model class (UsersModel)

The main model class with query methods:

Method	Description
findAll()	Find all records matching filters
findOne()	Find a single record
findByPrimaryKey()	Find by primary key
create()	Create a new record
update()	Update matching records
count()	Count matching records
max() / min()	Column max/min value
sum()	Column sum

Values class (UsersValues)

Model instance with data fields and instance methods:

• reload() -- Refresh from database
• save() -- Persist changes
• update() -- Update fields
• toJson() / fromJson() -- Serialization

Create helper (CreateUsers)

Type-safe class with named parameters for inserting records:

await Users.model.create(
  CreateUsers(
    email: 'user@example.com',
    firstName: 'John',
  ),
);

Columns class (UsersColumns)

Type-safe column accessors for query building:

Users.model.findAll(
  where: (u) => u.email.equals('user@example.com'),
);

Include helper (UsersIncludeHelper)

Helper for building association eager-loading:

Users.model.findAll(
  include: (include) => [include.posts()],
);

Model registry

The generator also produces a centralized model registry. Create a *.registry.dart file (e.g. lib/models/db.registry.dart) and the generator will scan all *.model.dart files to produce a registry class:

Registry file	Generated class	Output file
db.registry.dart	Db	db.dart
models.registry.dart	Models	models.dart
database.registry.dart	Database	database.dart

The generated registry provides:

class Db {
  static UsersModel get users => UsersModel();
  static PostModel get post => PostModel();

  static List<Model> allModels() => [Db.users, Db.post];
}

Use it to initialize all models at once:

await sequelize.initialize(models: Db.allModels());

CLI tools

The package provides two CLI commands:

generate -- Code generation

# Generate all models and registry (default)
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:generate

# Generate a single model
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:generate --input lib/models/users.model.dart

# Generate models from a specific folder
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:generate --folder lib/models

# Generate only the registry
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:generate --registry

seed -- Database seeding

# Run seeders using the default profile
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:seed

# Run seeders with a database URL
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:seed --url postgresql://user:pass@localhost/db

# Run seeders with a specific profile from sequelize.yaml
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:seed --database dev

# Force sync before seeding (drops and recreates tables)
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:seed --force

# Verbose output
dart run sequelize_orm_generator:seed --verbose

Configuration (sequelize.yaml)

Create a sequelize.yaml in your project root to customize paths and database connection profiles:

# Used by both generate and seed
models_path: lib/models
seeders_path: lib/seeders
registry_path: lib/db/db.dart

# Used by seed only
connection:
  default:
    dialect: postgres
    host: env.DB_HOST
    port: env.DB_PORT
    database: env.DB_NAME
    user: env.DB_USER
    pass: env.DB_PASS

The generate command reads only the path settings (models_path, seeders_path, registry_path). It does not load .env or resolve env. references.

The seed command loads a .env file from your project root and resolves env.VAR references in connection profiles. This keeps sensitive credentials out of version control.

Troubleshooting

Generated files not updating

dart run build_runner clean
dart run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs

Import errors

Ensure your model file has the correct part directive matching the filename:

part 'users.model.g.dart';

Build errors

• All annotations must be imported from package:sequelize_orm/sequelize_orm.dart
• Column fields must use the DataType enum
• The @Table annotation must have a tableName parameter (or use underscored: true for auto-naming)

See also

• sequelize_orm -- Main ORM package
• Full documentation -- Guides and API reference