TypeORM-TypeScript ESLint Plugin

An ESLint plugin to catch mistakes if the TypeORM column types and TypeScript types aren't consistent.

Installation

Install the package for the plugin:

npm install -D eslint-plugin-typeorm-typescript

Flat configuration

To enable all rules, add the recommended configuration for eslint-plugin-typeorm-typescript to eslint.config.mjs:

import eslint from '@eslint/js';
import tseslint from 'typescript-eslint';
import typeormTypescriptRecommended from 'eslint-plugin-typeorm-typescript/recommended';

export default tseslint.config(
  eslint.configs.recommended,
  ...tseslint.configs.recommended,
  typeormTypescriptRecommended,
);

If you want to change the options, enable the plugin and the rules manually:

import eslint from '@eslint/js';
import tseslint from 'typescript-eslint';
import typeormTypescriptPlugin from 'eslint-plugin-typeorm-typescript';

export default tseslint.config(
  eslint.configs.recommended,
  ...tseslint.configs.recommended,
  {
    plugins: {'typeorm-typescript': typeormTypescriptPlugin},
    rules: {
      "typeorm-typescript/enforce-column-types": "error",
      "typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types": "warn",
      "typeorm-typescript/enforce-consistent-nullability": ["error", { "specifyNullable": "always" }]
    }
  }
);

For more information, see an example of the recommended configuration or the customized configuration.

Legacy configuration

If you are still on legacy ESLint, update .eslintrc.json with the plugin to the plugins key, and add it to the rules:

{
  "plugins": ["typeorm-typescript"],
  "rules": {
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-column-types": "error",
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types": "error",
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-consistent-nullability": "error"
  }
}

For more information, see an example of the legacy configuration.

Rules

TypeORM has no way to statically analyze if there is an inconsistency in the annotated TypeScript types. With the addition, that there are some confusing rules around nullability (relations are nullable by default, but columns aren't), it makes it easy to make mistakes. These ESLint rules will spot these issues, and suggest fixes.

typeorm-typescript/enforce-column-types

TypeORM data types and TypeScript types should be consistent. It checks the primitive types (e.g. VARCHAR -> string) and driver-specific types. By most drivers, bigint and decimal are parsed as string, except in SQLite (set the driver option, if you use SQLite). This rule checks the nullability too: by default columns are non-nullable, but if the nullable: true option is set, it should be unioned with null in the TypeScript types as well.

It also handle primary columns (number by default), create and update columns (date by default) and delete columns (date and nullable by default).

Configuration

{
  "rules": {
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-column-types": "error",
    // If you are using SQLite, set the driver
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types": ["error", { "driver": "sqlite" }],
  }
}

Examples

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

class Entity {
    // Should be string
    @Column({ type: "varchar" })
    name: number;

    // Should be string | null
    @Column({ type: "varchar", nullable: true })
    name: string;

    // Should be Date | null
    @DeleteDateColumn()
    deletedAt: Date;
}

Examples of correct code for this rule:

class Entity {
    // TypeORM data type and TypeScript type are consistent
    @Column({ type: "varchar" })
    name: string;

    // Nullability is correct
    @Column({ type: "varchar", nullable: true })
    name: string | null;
}

typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types

TypeORM relation types and TypeScript types should be consistent. Because the names are similar, it can be easily confused that ManyToOne should be singular, and OneToMany an array. Additionally, OneToOne and ManyToOne are nullable, which is an easy mistake to make.

Another common issue with TypeORM is not specifying a relation when querying. One way to avoid this is to check for undefined when accessing any relation. Set specifyUndefined to always, so all relations have to be marked as undefined, forcing the null-check every time.

This rule also supports the ESM Relation wrapper. If you are using ES Modules and want to avoid circular dependency issues, you can set specifyRelation to always to make sure that relations are always wrapped with Relation<...>.

Configuration

{
  "rules": {
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types": "error",
    // If you want to force null-checking before accessing a relation 
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types": ["error", { "specifyUndefined": "always" }],
    // If you want to force setting Relation<...> everywhere
    "typeorm-typescript/enforce-relation-types": ["error", { "specifyRelation": "always" }],
  }
}

Examples

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

class Entity {
    // Should be Other | null
    @OneToOne(() => Other)
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other;

    // Should be Other[]
    @OneToMany(() => Other, (other) => other.entity)
    other: Other;

    // Should be Other | null
    @ManyToOne(() => Other)
    other: Other;

    // Should be Other[]
    @ManyToMany(() => Other)
    @JoinTable()
    other: Other;

    // Should be Other | null
    @OneToOne(() => Other)
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Another | null;

    // Must add undefined with specifyUndefined: always
    @ManyToMany(() => Other)
    @JoinTable()
    other: Other;
}

Examples of correct code for this rule:

class Entity {
    // Join is correctly nullable...
    @OneToOne(() => Other)
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other | null;

    // ...or explicitly marked nullable: false
    @OneToOne(() => Other, { nullable: false })
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other;

    // *ToMany rules are an array
    @OneToMany(() => Other, (other) => other.entity)
    others: Other[];

    // Undefined added with specifyUndefined: always
    @ManyToMany(() => Other)
    @JoinTable()
    other: Other | undefined;
}

typeorm-typescript/enforce-consistent-nullability

The main source of confusion with TypeORM decorators is that the nullable flag is different between columns and relations. It is further complicated by being able to set the default value in some places and omit from others. Enable this rule to make sure that either only the non-default value is set (no parameters or non-default) or the nullable must be specified every time (always).

Configuration

{
    "rules": {
        // If you want to report an error for unnecessary nullables
        "typeorm-typescript/enforce-consistent-nullability": "error", // or
        "typeorm-typescript/enforce-consistent-nullability": ["error", { "specifyNullable": "non-default" }],
        // If you want to force setting nullable everywhere to avoid confusion
        "typeorm-typescript/enforce-consistent-nullability": ["error", { "specifyNullable": "always" }],
    },
}

Examples

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

With { "specifyNullable": "non-default" }:

class Entity {
    // Columns are non-nullable by default, remove it
    @Column({ type: "varchar", nullable: false })
    name: number;

    // Relations are nullable by default, remove it
    @OneToOne(() => Other, { nullable: true })
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other | null;
}

With { "specifyNullable": "always" }:

class Entity {
    // Mark this to nullable false to make it clear
    @Column({ type: "varchar" })
    name: number;

    // Mark this to nullable true to make it clear
    @OneToOne(() => Other)
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other | null;
}

Examples of correct code for this rule:

With { "specifyNullable": "non-default" }:

class Entity {
    // Nullability only defined when it is different than default
    @Column({ type: "varchar", nullable: true })
    middleName: number | null;

    @Column({ type: "varchar" })
    name: number;

    @OneToOne(() => Other)
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other | null;
}

With { "specifyNullable": "always" }:

class Entity {
    // Nullable is set everywhere, no default behaviour is implied
    @Column({ type: "varchar", nullable: true })
    middleName: number | null;

    @Column({ type: "varchar", nullable: false })
    name: number;

    @OneToOne(() => Other, { nullable: true })
    @JoinColumn()
    other: Other | null;
}