Write SQL Queries

Write Queries Skill

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Writing database queries for Cloudflare Workers
• Implementing CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
• Building complex queries with JOINs, subqueries, or aggregations
• Working with D1, Durable Objects SQLite, or PostgreSQL

Database Selection

Critical: Sync vs Async

// D1QB/PGQB - ALWAYS use await
const result = await qb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

// DOQB - NEVER use await (synchronous)
const result = qb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

DOQB is synchronous. This is the most common mistake. Inside Durable Objects:

// CORRECT
const users = qb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

// WRONG - don't await DOQB
const users = await qb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

Schema Definition

Define a schema type for autocomplete and type safety:

type Schema = {
  users: {
    id: number;
    name: string;
    email: string;
    created_at: string;
  };
  posts: {
    id: number;
    user_id: number;
    title: string;
    content: string;
  };
};

const qb = new D1QB<Schema>(env.DB);
// Now tableName, fields, returning all have autocomplete

SELECT Patterns

Object Syntax

// Fetch all rows
const users = await qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'users',
}).execute();

// Fetch one row
const user = await qb.fetchOne({
  tableName: 'users',
  where: {
    conditions: 'id = ?',
    params: [1],
  },
}).execute();

// Select specific fields
const emails = await qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'users',
  fields: ['id', 'email'],
}).execute();

Fluent API (SelectBuilder)

// Basic chain
const users = await qb.select('users')
  .where('is_active = ?', true)
  .orderBy({ name: 'ASC' })
  .limit(10)
  .all();

// Single row
const user = await qb.select('users')
  .where('id = ?', userId)
  .one();

// Count query
const count = await qb.select('users')
  .where('is_active = ?', true)
  .count();

console.log(count.results?.total);

WHERE Clauses

// Single condition
where: {
  conditions: 'email = ?',
  params: ['john@example.com'],
}

// Multiple conditions (AND)
where: {
  conditions: ['status = ?', 'role_id = ?'],
  params: ['active', 2],
}

// Numbered parameters (for reuse)
where: {
  conditions: 'owner_id = ?1 OR assignee_id = ?1',
  params: ['user123'],
}

// Simple string (no params)
where: 'is_active = true'

// String array (AND, no params)
where: ['is_active = true', 'deleted_at IS NULL']

whereIn for Bulk Lookups

// Single column
const users = await qb.select('users')
  .whereIn('id', [1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
  .all();

// Multiple columns (composite key)
const records = await qb.select('assignments')
  .whereIn(['user_id', 'project_id'], [[1, 101], [2, 102], [3, 103]])
  .all();

DISTINCT

// Simple DISTINCT
const uniqueEmails = await qb.select('users')
  .distinct()
  .fields(['email'])
  .all();
// SELECT DISTINCT email FROM users

// DISTINCT ON (PostgreSQL only)
const latestPerDepartment = await qb.select('employees')
  .distinct(['department'])
  .fields(['department', 'name', 'created_at'])
  .orderBy({ department: 'ASC', created_at: 'DESC' })
  .all();
// SELECT DISTINCT ON (department) department, name, created_at FROM employees

JOINs

// INNER JOIN
const usersWithRoles = await qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'users',
  fields: ['users.name', 'roles.name AS role_name'],
  join: {
    type: 'INNER',
    table: 'roles',
    on: 'users.role_id = roles.id',
  },
}).execute();

// LEFT JOIN
join: {
  type: 'LEFT',
  table: 'profiles',
  on: 'users.id = profiles.user_id',
}

// Multiple JOINs
join: [
  { type: 'INNER', table: 'roles', on: 'users.role_id = roles.id' },
  { type: 'LEFT', table: 'profiles', on: 'users.id = profiles.user_id' },
]

JOIN Convenience Methods

// Using convenience methods (fluent API)
const result = await qb.select('users')
  .innerJoin({ table: 'orders', on: 'users.id = orders.user_id' })
  .leftJoin({ table: 'profiles', on: 'users.id = profiles.user_id' })
  .rightJoin({ table: 'teams', on: 'users.team_id = teams.id' })
  .fullJoin({ table: 'projects', on: 'users.id = projects.owner_id' })
  .all();

// CROSS JOIN
const combinations = await qb.select('colors')
  .crossJoin({ table: 'sizes' })
  .all();

// NATURAL JOIN (auto-matches columns with same name)
const combined = await qb.select('orders')
  .naturalJoin('customers')
  .all();

Subqueries

// IN with subquery
const activeProjectsQuery = qb
  .select('projects')
  .fields('id')
  .where('status = ?', 'active');

const tasks = await qb.select('tasks')
  .where('project_id IN ?', activeProjectsQuery)
  .all();

// EXISTS with subquery
const permissionQuery = qb
  .select('permissions')
  .where('user_id = ?', userId)
  .where('action = ?', 'edit');

const docs = await qb.select('documents')
  .where('EXISTS ?', permissionQuery)
  .all();

Pagination (Manual)

const pageSize = 20;
const page = 2;

const users = await qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'users',
  orderBy: 'created_at DESC',
  limit: pageSize,
  offset: (page - 1) * pageSize,
}).execute();

Pagination Helper

// Use .paginate() for automatic pagination metadata
const result = await qb.select('users')
  .where('active = ?', true)
  .orderBy({ created_at: 'DESC' })
  .paginate({ page: 2, perPage: 20 });

// Returns:
// {
//   results: [...],
//   pagination: {
//     page: 2,
//     perPage: 20,
//     total: 150,
//     totalPages: 8,
//     hasNext: true,
//     hasPrev: true
//   }
// }

UNION / INTERSECT / EXCEPT

// UNION - combine results, remove duplicates
const allUsers = await qb.select('active_users')
  .fields(['id', 'name'])
  .union(qb.select('archived_users').fields(['id', 'name']))
  .all();

// UNION ALL - keep duplicates
const allRecords = await qb.select('table1')
  .fields(['id'])
  .unionAll(qb.select('table2').fields(['id']))
  .all();

// INTERSECT - only common rows
const commonUsers = await qb.select('users')
  .fields(['id'])
  .intersect(qb.select('admins').fields(['user_id']))
  .all();

// EXCEPT - rows in first but not second
const regularUsers = await qb.select('all_users')
  .fields(['id'])
  .except(qb.select('blocked_users').fields(['user_id']))
  .all();

// Chain multiple set operations
const combined = await qb.select('table1')
  .fields(['id'])
  .union(qb.select('table2').fields(['id']))
  .union(qb.select('table3').fields(['id']))
  .orderBy({ id: 'ASC' })  // ORDER BY applies to combined result
  .all();

CTEs (Common Table Expressions)

// Simple CTE - WITH clause
const ordersWithActiveUsers = await qb.select('orders')
  .with('active_users', qb.select('users').where('status = ?', 'active'))
  .innerJoin({ table: 'active_users', on: 'orders.user_id = active_users.id' })
  .all();
// WITH active_users AS (SELECT * FROM users WHERE status = ?)
// SELECT * FROM orders INNER JOIN active_users ON orders.user_id = active_users.id

// Multiple CTEs
const result = await qb.select('summary')
  .with('recent_orders', qb.select('orders').where('created_at > ?', lastWeek))
  .with('top_customers', qb.select('customers').where('total_spent > ?', 1000))
  .all();

// CTE with explicit column names
const stats = await qb.select('user_counts')
  .with(
    'user_stats',
    qb.select('users').fields(['department', 'COUNT(*) as cnt']).groupBy('department'),
    ['dept', 'count']  // Column aliases for the CTE
  )
  .all();
// WITH user_stats(dept, count) AS (SELECT department, COUNT(*) as cnt FROM users GROUP BY department)

Order By

// Simple
orderBy: 'name'

// With direction
orderBy: { name: 'DESC' }

// Multiple columns
orderBy: [
  { created_at: 'DESC' },
  'name ASC',
]

Group By and Having

const stats = await qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'orders',
  fields: ['customer_id', 'COUNT(*) as order_count', 'SUM(total) as total_spent'],
  groupBy: 'customer_id',
  having: 'SUM(total) > 1000',
}).execute();

Lazy Execution (Large Datasets)

// D1/PostgreSQL - AsyncIterable
const lazyResult = await qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'large_table',
  lazy: true,
}).execute();

for await (const row of lazyResult.results!) {
  processRow(row);
}

// DOQB - Iterable (sync)
const lazyResult = qb.fetchAll({
  tableName: 'large_table',
  lazy: true,
}).execute();

for (const row of lazyResult.results!) {
  processRow(row);
}

INSERT Patterns

Single Row

const newUser = await qb.insert({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: {
    name: 'John Doe',
    email: 'john@example.com',
  },
  returning: '*',
}).execute();

Multiple Rows

const newUsers = await qb.insert({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: [
    { name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@example.com' },
    { name: 'Bob', email: 'bob@example.com' },
  ],
  returning: ['id', 'name'],
}).execute();

ON CONFLICT - IGNORE

Skip insertion if conflict occurs:

await qb.insert({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: { email: 'existing@example.com', name: 'Ignored' },
  onConflict: 'IGNORE',
}).execute();

ON CONFLICT - REPLACE

Replace existing row on conflict:

await qb.insert({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: { email: 'existing@example.com', name: 'Replaced' },
  onConflict: 'REPLACE',
}).execute();

UPSERT (ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE)

import { Raw } from 'workers-qb';

await qb.insert({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: {
    email: 'john@example.com',
    name: 'John',
    login_count: 1,
  },
  onConflict: {
    column: 'email',  // or ['email', 'tenant_id'] for composite
    data: {
      login_count: new Raw('login_count + 1'),
      updated_at: new Raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'),
    },
    // Optional: conditional update
    where: 'excluded.updated_at > users.updated_at',
  },
}).execute();

Using Raw for SQL Expressions

import { Raw } from 'workers-qb';

await qb.insert({
  tableName: 'posts',
  data: {
    title: 'My Post',
    created_at: new Raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'),
    slug: new Raw("LOWER(REPLACE('My Post', ' ', '-'))"),
  },
}).execute();

UPDATE Patterns

Basic Update

await qb.update({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: {
    name: 'Updated Name',
  },
  where: {
    conditions: 'id = ?',
    params: [userId],
  },
}).execute();

Update with Raw Expressions

import { Raw } from 'workers-qb';

await qb.update({
  tableName: 'posts',
  data: {
    view_count: new Raw('view_count + 1'),
    updated_at: new Raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'),
  },
  where: {
    conditions: 'id = ?',
    params: [postId],
  },
}).execute();

Update with Returning

const updated = await qb.update({
  tableName: 'users',
  data: { status: 'verified' },
  where: {
    conditions: 'email = ?',
    params: ['john@example.com'],
  },
  returning: ['id', 'status', 'updated_at'],
}).execute();

console.log(updated.results);

Multiple WHERE Conditions

await qb.update({
  tableName: 'tasks',
  data: { status: 'completed' },
  where: {
    conditions: ['project_id = ?', 'assignee_id = ?'],
    params: [projectId, userId],
  },
}).execute();

DELETE Patterns

Basic Delete

await qb.delete({
  tableName: 'sessions',
  where: {
    conditions: 'user_id = ?',
    params: [userId],
  },
}).execute();

Delete with Returning

const deleted = await qb.delete({
  tableName: 'users',
  where: {
    conditions: 'id = ?',
    params: [userId],
  },
  returning: ['id', 'email'],
}).execute();

console.log('Deleted:', deleted.results);

Ordered Delete with Limit

// Delete oldest 100 expired sessions
await qb.delete({
  tableName: 'sessions',
  where: 'expires_at < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP',
  orderBy: 'expires_at ASC',
  limit: 100,
}).execute();

Raw Queries

For complex SQL not covered by the builder:

import { FetchTypes } from 'workers-qb';

// Fetch multiple rows
const results = await qb.raw({
  query: 'SELECT * FROM users WHERE email LIKE ?',
  args: ['%@example.com'],
  fetchType: FetchTypes.ALL,  // or 'ALL'
}).execute();

// Fetch single row
const user = await qb.raw({
  query: 'SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ? LIMIT 1',
  args: [userId],
  fetchType: FetchTypes.ONE,  // or 'ONE'
}).execute();

// Execute without fetching (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE)
await qb.raw({
  query: 'UPDATE users SET last_seen = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP WHERE id = ?',
  args: [userId],
}).execute();

Query Debugging

toSQL() - Get Query Without Executing

// Get the SQL and parameters without executing
const { sql, params } = qb.select('users')
  .where('id = ?', 1)
  .where('status = ?', 'active')
  .toSQL();

console.log(sql);    // SELECT * FROM users WHERE (id = ?) AND (status = ?)
console.log(params); // [1, 'active']

toDebugSQL() - Interpolated SQL (for logging only)

// Get SQL with parameters interpolated - NEVER use for execution
const debugSql = qb.select('users')
  .where('id = ?', 1)
  .where("name = ?", "O'Brien")
  .toDebugSQL();

console.log(debugSql); // SELECT * FROM users WHERE (id = 1) AND (name = 'O''Brien')

EXPLAIN - Query Plan Analysis

// Get the query execution plan
const plan = await qb.select('users')
  .where('id = ?', 1)
  .explain();

// Returns array of plan rows showing how the database will execute the query
console.log(plan.results);
// [{ id: 0, parent: 0, notused: 0, detail: 'SCAN users' }]

Query Hooks

Register middleware-style hooks for all queries:

// beforeQuery - modify queries before execution
qb.beforeQuery((query, type) => {
  // Add tenant filter to all queries
  if (type !== 'INSERT' && type !== 'RAW') {
    query.query = query.query.replace('WHERE', `WHERE tenant_id = ${tenantId} AND`)
  }
  return query
})

// afterQuery - log, modify results, record metrics
qb.afterQuery((result, query, duration) => {
  console.log(`Query took ${duration}ms:`, query.query)
  metrics.record(query.query, duration)
  return result
})

Transactions

D1QB Transactions (async, batch-based)

// D1 uses batching - all queries succeed or all fail together
const results = await qb.transaction(async (tx) => {
  return [
    tx.insert({ tableName: 'orders', data: { user_id: 1, total: 100 } }),
    tx.update({
      tableName: 'users',
      data: { balance: new Raw('balance - 100') },
      where: { conditions: 'id = ?', params: [1] }
    }),
  ]
})

DOQB Transactions (sync, SQLite BEGIN/COMMIT)

// DOQB uses SQLite's native transaction support
// Should be called within blockConcurrencyWhile for proper isolation
this.ctx.blockConcurrencyWhile(() => {
  qb.transaction((tx) => {
    tx.insert({ tableName: 'orders', data: { user_id: 1, total: 100 } }).execute()
    tx.update({
      tableName: 'users',
      data: { balance: new Raw('balance - 100') },
      where: { conditions: 'id = ?', params: [1] }
    }).execute()
    // Automatically commits on success, rolls back on error
  })
})

Checklist

Before executing queries, verify:

• Called .execute() on the query (or .all(), .one(), .paginate())
• Using await for D1QB/PGQB, no await for DOQB
• Using parameterized queries (? placeholders), not string interpolation
• WHERE clause is provided for UPDATE/DELETE (to avoid affecting all rows)
• Schema type is defined for autocomplete and type safety
• Using Raw for SQL expressions (not strings) in data objects
• Use .toSQL() or .toDebugSQL() for debugging, not for execution

Common Mistakes

// WRONG: Forgot .execute()
const users = await qb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' });

// CORRECT
const users = await qb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

// WRONG: String interpolation (SQL injection risk)
where: `email = '${userEmail}'`

// CORRECT: Parameterized
where: { conditions: 'email = ?', params: [userEmail] }

// WRONG: Using await with DOQB
const result = await doqb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

// CORRECT: No await with DOQB
const result = doqb.fetchAll({ tableName: 'users' }).execute();

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