JSPM

ORM Init CLI Tool

A CLI tool for setting up popular SQL and NoSQL ORMs/ODMs in Node.js projects, with support for both JavaScript and TypeScript.

Part of the excli ecosystem.

Features

• 🗄️ SQL — MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL
• 🍃 NoSQL — MongoDB
• 🔗 ORMs/ODMs — Prisma, Sequelize, TypeORM, Drizzle, Mongoose
• 🚀 JS & TS support
• 📦 Package managers — npm, yarn, pnpm, bun
• ⚡ Interactive and flag-based modes

Usage

Interactive Mode

npx @excli/orm-init

Guides you through selecting database, ORM, language, and package manager.

Flag-Based Mode

# TypeScript + PostgreSQL + Prisma + pnpm
npx @excli/orm-init --ts --pnpm --postgres --prisma

# JavaScript + MongoDB + Mongoose + npm
npx @excli/orm-init --js --npm --mongodb --mongoose

# TypeScript + MySQL + TypeORM + yarn
npx @excli/orm-init --ts --yarn --mysql --typeorm

# TypeScript + PostgreSQL + Drizzle + bun
npx @excli/orm-init --ts --bun --postgres --drizzle

# JavaScript + MySQL + Sequelize + pnpm
npx @excli/orm-init --js --pnpm --mysql --sequelize

Global Install

npm install -g @excli/orm-init
excli-orm-init [flags]

Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• A running database (local or via @excli/docker)

Flags

Compatibility Matrix

Incompatible combinations are caught at runtime — the CLI will prompt you to correct them.

What Gets Generated

• ORM config file — pre-configured database connection
• Schema / Model file — starter schema or model for your chosen ORM

Note: .env, .env.example, and .gitignore are not generated. This is intentional so the tool integrates safely into both new and existing projects. Use @excli/docker to auto-generate a complete .env, or create one manually (see below).

Known Issues & Gotchas

Sequelize + MariaDB — Connection String Prefix

The DATABASE_URL must use the mariadb:// prefix, not mysql://. Using the wrong prefix causes Sequelize to load the wrong driver.

# ❌ Wrong
DATABASE_URL="mysql://root:password@localhost:3306/mydb"

# ✅ Correct
DATABASE_URL="mariadb://root:password@localhost:3306/mydb"

Prisma — Shadow Database Error

During prisma migrate dev, Prisma requires a shadow database and needs CREATE DATABASE privileges. Use root credentials for local development.

# ✅ Use root credentials for migrations
DATABASE_URL="mysql://root:rootpassword@localhost:3306/mydb"

This only applies to prisma migrate dev. Production deployments use prisma migrate deploy, which does not require shadow database creation.

TypeORM — synchronize: true in Production

Never enable synchronize: true in production — it can drop or alter columns on startup. Always use migrations instead.

// ❌ Development only
synchronize: true;

// ✅ Production
synchronize: false;

Drizzle — Migration Folder

Drizzle outputs SQL migrations to a drizzle/ folder. Commit this folder to version control — it serves as your migration history.

Mongoose — No Migrations

MongoDB is schemaless; existing documents are not updated when your Mongoose schema changes. Handle data migrations manually.

Troubleshooting

excli Ecosystem

Full project setup in one command:

npx @excli/express

Scaffolds a complete Express app with Docker, a running database, and a configured ORM.

Contributing

Bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests are welcome.

License

ISC — see LICENSE for details.

Author

Noman · pxycknomdictator@gmail.com · @pxycknomdictator