Automatic createdAt / updatedAt management for better-drizzle.

@better-drizzle/timestamps is a first-class Better Drizzle plugin that keeps timestamp handling out of services and repositories. It can either manage timestamps in application code or stay out of the way when your database already does it with defaults, generated columns, or triggers.

Website: https://better-drizzle.vercel.app/

npm install better-drizzle @better-drizzle/timestamps drizzle-orm

Why

Timestamp fields are repetitive and easy to drift:

• createdAt must be set on insert
• updatedAt must be refreshed on every update
• batch inserts should behave the same as single inserts
• upserts should stamp both create and update paths consistently
• some projects want app-managed timestamps, others want DB-managed timestamps

This plugin centralizes that behavior into one reusable place.

Usage

import { better } from 'better-drizzle';
import { timestamps } from '@better-drizzle/timestamps';

const client = better(db, {
	schema,
	plugins: [
		timestamps({
			createdAt: 'createdAt',
			updatedAt: 'updatedAt',
			mode: 'app',
		}),
	],
});

All options are optional.

timestamps();

Defaults:

• createdAt: 'createdAt'
• updatedAt: 'updatedAt'
• mode: 'app'

Modes

mode: 'app'

The plugin updates payloads before the database call:

• create: sets createdAt and updatedAt
• createMany: sets createdAt and updatedAt for each row
• update / updateEach: sets updatedAt
• upsert: sets both fields on the create payload and updatedAt on the update payload
• upsertMany: stamps insert rows and keeps updatedAt fresh on conflict updates

const client = better(db, {
	schema,
	plugins: [timestamps({ mode: 'app' })],
});

mode: 'database'

The plugin becomes a no-op. Use this when your database already handles timestamps:

• column defaults like DEFAULT now()
• triggers
• generated values
• ON UPDATE behavior

const client = better(db, {
	schema,
	plugins: [timestamps({ mode: 'database' })],
});

Custom column names

const client = better(db, {
	schema,
	plugins: [
		timestamps({
			createdAt: 'created_on',
			updatedAt: 'updated_on',
		}),
	],
});

Behavior details

• Models missing the configured timestamp columns are skipped automatically.
• mode: 'database' adds effectively zero runtime behavior beyond plugin initialization.
• The plugin works with single writes, batch writes, and both single/batch upserts.
• The plugin only mutates write payloads. It does not change reads, filters, or result shapes.

Example

const post = await client.posts.create({
	data: {
		id: 1,
		title: 'Hello',
	},
});

console.log(post.createdAt); // Date
console.log(post.updatedAt); // Date

const updated = await client.posts.update({
	where: { id: 1 },
	data: { title: 'Updated' },
});

console.log(updated.updatedAt); // newer Date