Kysely

If you're tired of ORMs abstracting away SQL or plain query strings losing type safety at runtime, this is the middle ground. You get full TypeScript inference from schema to results without the overhead of an ORM. Define your database types once, then chain selectFrom, where, and joins with complete autocomplete and compile-time checks. It includes migrations, works across Postgres, MySQL, and SQLite, and lets you drop into raw SQL when you need it. The kysely-codegen tool generates types directly from your existing database, so you're not manually syncing schemas. It's legitimately just a query builder that compiles to SQL, nothing more, which is exactly the point.

skills.sh installs: 398
GitHub stars: 79
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add bobmatnyc/claude-mpm-skills --skill kysely --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Kysely - Type-Safe SQL Query Builder

Overview

Kysely is a type-safe TypeScript SQL query builder that provides end-to-end type safety from database schema to query results. Unlike ORMs, it generates plain SQL and gives you full control while maintaining perfect TypeScript inference.

Key Features:

Complete type inference (schema → queries → results)
Zero runtime overhead (compiles to SQL)
Database-agnostic (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MSSQL)
Migration system included
Plugin ecosystem (CTEs, JSON, geospatial)
Raw SQL integration when needed

Installation:

npm install kysely
# Database driver (choose one)
npm install pg              # PostgreSQL
npm install mysql2          # MySQL
npm install better-sqlite3  # SQLite

Quick Start

1. Define Database Schema Types

import { Generated, Selectable, Insertable, Updateable } from 'kysely';

// Table interface (all columns)
interface UserTable {
  id: Generated<number>;
  email: string;
  name: string | null;
  created_at: Generated<Date>;
  updated_at: Date;
}

SKILL.md on GitHub