📦 cerebro-modeler

Database-first entity generator for TypeORM with full control over formatting, imports, and schema introspection.
Built for MSSQL, designed for power users.

🧭 Table of Contents

• ✨ Features
• 📦 Installation (optional)
• 🚀 Quick Start
• 🛠️ Usage
• 🔧 Optional Flags
• 🔤 Naming Strategy
• ✍️ Inline Mode
• 🧪 Advanced Usage
• 🛠 Troubleshooting
• 📁 Output Example
• 🧠 Credits

✨ Features

• 🔍 Introspects SQL Server schemas
• 🧠 Generates strongly-typed TypeORM entities
• 🪶 Auto-formatted using Prettier
• 🔁 Supports ManyToOne, OneToMany, and bridge tables
• 🧩 Highly customizable naming strategy
• ⚡️ CLI-ready via npx cerebro-modeler

📦 Installation (optional)

You can run it via npx without installing, but if you prefer global usage:

yarn global add cerebro-modeler
# or
npm install -g cerebro-modeler

🚀 Quick Start

npx cerebro-modeler --help

🛠️ Usage

npx cerebro-modeler \
  --host localhost \
  --port 1433 \
  --user sa \
  --password MySecret123 \
  --database MyDB \
  --schema dbo \
  --output ./src/entities

If the --tables flag is not provided, the CLI will prompt you interactively:

• First, it asks whether you want to generate models for all tables in the schema.
• If you decline, it will ask you to manually enter a comma-separated list of table names.
• This makes it easy to control which entities are generated without needing to specify --tables up front.

Required Flags

| Flag | Alias | Description | | ------------ | ----- | ------------------- | | --host | -h | SQL Server hostname | | --port | -p | SQL Server port | | --user | -u | DB user | | --password | -x | DB password | | --database | -d | Database name | | --schema | -s | Schema (e.g. dbo) | | --output | -o | Output directory |

🔧 Optional Flags

| Flag | Alias | Description | | ------------------ | ------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | --engine | -e | Database engine (currently only mssql is supported) | | --tables | -t | Comma-separated list of tables to introspect (e.g., users,orders) | | --ignoreTables | -it | Comma-separated list of tables to ignore (e.g., notifications,logs) | | --ssl | | Use SSL connection to the database | | --writeMode | -w | Writing strategy: inline replaces existing files, out saves to separate directory | | --caseFile | --cf | Naming style for file names: pascal, camel, snake, kebab | | --caseClass | --cc | Naming style for class names inside files: pascal, camel, snake | | --caseProperty | --cp | Naming style for field names: camel, pascal, snake | | --prefixFile | --pf | Add prefix to file names (e.g., "I" → IUser.ts) | | --prefixClass | --pc | Add prefix to class names (e.g., "I" → IUser) | | --prefixProperty | --pp | Add prefix to property names (e.g., "_" → _createdAt) | | --suffixFile | --sf | Add suffix to file names (e.g., "Model" → UserModel.ts) | | --suffixClass | --sc | Add suffix to class names (e.g., "Model" → UserModel) | | --suffixProperty | --sp | Add suffix to property names (e.g., "_" → createdAt_) | | --fileExtension | --fe | Add a suffix to file names before .ts (e.g., "entity" → user.entity.ts) |

🔤 Naming Strategy

You can customize how files, classes, and properties are named using:

• --caseFile, --prefixFile, --suffixFile, --fileExtension
• --caseClass, --prefixClass, --suffixClass
• --caseProperty, --prefixProperty, --suffixProperty

File Naming Behavior

The final file name is composed like this:

[prefix][BaseName][suffix][.fileExtension].ts

Example:

--caseFile kebab --prefixFile i --suffixFile model --fileExtension entity
# → i-user-model.entity.ts

The --fileExtension does not affect the class name. It is appended before .ts and treated as a true extension, not as a suffix for casing.

✍️ Inline Mode

Use --write-mode inline to overwrite entities directly in your existing project.
Useful for regenerating up-to-date models without touching unrelated files.

🧪 Advanced Usage

Generate models with snake_case files and camelCase properties:

npx cerebro-modeler \
  --host localhost \
  --user sa \
  --password MySecret123 \
  --database MyDB \
  --tables users,orders \
  --ignoreTables notifications \
  --caseFile snake \
  --caseProperty camel \
  --fileExtension entity \
  --output ./src/models

🛠 Troubleshooting

• Missing required flag: If you forget to pass a required flag (like --host), the CLI will prompt you interactively.
• Tables not generating: Ensure your DB user has permission to read INFORMATION_SCHEMA views.
• Output is empty: Make sure the specified schema and table names are correct.

📁 Output Example

@Entity('player', { schema: 'dbo' })
export class PlayerEntity {
  @PrimaryGeneratedColumn()
  id: number;

  @Column('varchar', { length: 255 })
  name: string;

  @OneToMany(() => TournamentEntity, t => t.player)
  tournaments: TournamentEntity[];
}

🧠 Credits

Based on typeorm-model-generator but rebuilt from scratch for full control and extensibility.