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ORMs & Databases

Vyte supports multiple ORMs (Object-Relational Mappers) and databases, giving you flexibility in how you interact with your data.

Supported ORMs

SQLAlchemy

Most Popular Choice

SQLAlchemy is the most mature and widely-used Python ORM, with excellent documentation and community support.

Version: 2.0+ Type: Full-featured ORM Async Support: Yes (2.0+) Documentation: sqlalchemy.org

Key Features

  • 🏗️ Mature & Stable - Industry standard for Python ORMs
  • ⚡ Async Support - Full async/await support in 2.0+
  • 🎯 Type Safety - Excellent type hints support
  • 🔧 Flexible - From simple to complex queries
  • 📊 Migrations - Alembic integration for schema migrations
  • 🗄️ Multi-Database - PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and more

Best For

  • Production applications
  • Complex queries and relationships
  • When you need migrations (Alembic)
  • Both sync and async applications

Compatible Frameworks

  • ✅ FastAPI (async)
  • ✅ Flask-Restx (sync)

Example

from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, String
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base

Base = declarative_base()


class User(Base):
    __tablename__ = "users"

    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
    username = Column(String(50), unique=True, nullable=False)
    email = Column(String(100), unique=True, nullable=False)

TortoiseORM

Version: 0.20+ Type: Async ORM inspired by Django Async Support: Yes (async-first) Documentation: tortoise.github.io

Key Features

  • ⚡ Async-First - Designed for async from the ground up
  • 🐍 Pythonic - Django-like syntax and patterns
  • 🎯 Type Safe - Full Pydantic integration
  • 📦 Lightweight - Simpler than SQLAlchemy
  • 🔧 Auto-Migrations - Built-in Aerich migration tool
  • 🗄️ Multi-Database - PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite

Best For

  • Async-only applications
  • When you like Django ORM syntax
  • Microservices and APIs
  • Projects with simpler data models

Compatible Frameworks

  • ✅ FastAPI (async)

Example

from tortoise import fields
from tortoise.models import Model


class User(Model):
    id = fields.IntField(pk=True)
    username = fields.CharField(max_length=50, unique=True)
    email = fields.CharField(max_length=100, unique=True)

    class Meta:
        table = "users"

Peewee

Version: 3.17+ Type: Simple, expressive ORM Async Support: No (sync only) Documentation: peewee.readthedocs.io

Key Features

  • 🎯 Simple - Easy to learn and use
  • 📦 Lightweight - Minimal dependencies
  • 🔧 Expressive - Clean, readable query syntax
  • 🗄️ Multi-Database - PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite
  • 📊 Migrations - Built-in migration system
  • 🎨 Flask Integration - Official Flask extension

Best For

  • Small to medium projects
  • When simplicity matters
  • SQLite applications
  • Learning ORMs
  • Quick prototypes

Compatible Frameworks

  • ✅ Flask-Restx (sync)

Example

from peewee import *

database = SqliteDatabase("my_database.db")


class User(Model):
    username = CharField(unique=True)
    email = CharField(unique=True)

    class Meta:
        database = database
        table_name = "users"

Django ORM

Coming Soon

Django ORM support will be available when Django Rest Framework is added.

Version: 4.2+ Type: Full-featured ORM integrated with Django Async Support: Partial (Django 4.1+) Documentation: djangoproject.com

Supported Databases

PostgreSQL

Production Recommended

PostgreSQL is the recommended choice for production applications.

Version: 12+ Driver: psycopg2-binary / asyncpg Type: Advanced relational database

Key Features

  • 🏢 Production-Grade - Battle-tested in enterprise
  • ⚡ Performance - Excellent performance and scalability
  • 🔒 ACID Compliant - Full transaction support
  • 📊 Advanced Features - JSON, arrays, full-text search
  • 🔧 Extensions - PostGIS, pg_trgm, and more

Best For

  • Production applications
  • Applications needing advanced features
  • High-concurrency workloads
  • Data integrity is critical

Connection String Examples

# Sync (psycopg2)
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/dbname"

# Async (asyncpg)
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql+asyncpg://user:pass@localhost:5432/dbname"

MySQL

Version: 8.0+ Driver: mysqlclient / aiomysql Type: Popular relational database

Key Features

  • 🌍 Widely Used - Popular in web hosting
  • 📦 Easy Setup - Simple to install and configure
  • 🔧 Good Performance - Fast for read-heavy workloads
  • 💰 Cost-Effective - Free and open source

Best For

  • Shared hosting environments
  • Read-heavy applications
  • When MySQL is required
  • Legacy system integration

Connection String Examples

# Sync (mysqlclient)
DATABASE_URL = "mysql://user:pass@localhost:3306/dbname"

# Async (aiomysql)
DATABASE_URL = "mysql+aiomysql://user:pass@localhost:3306/dbname"

SQLite

Version: 3.35+ Driver: Built-in Python sqlite3 / aiosqlite Type: Embedded file-based database

Key Features

  • 📦 Zero Config - No server needed
  • 🚀 Fast Development - Quick to set up and test
  • 💾 Portable - Single file database
  • 🎯 Simple - Perfect for learning and prototypes

Best For

  • Development and testing
  • Small applications
  • Desktop applications
  • Quick prototypes
  • Learning and tutorials

Connection String Examples

# Sync
DATABASE_URL = "sqlite:///./database.db"

# Async (aiosqlite)
DATABASE_URL = "sqlite+aiosqlite:///./database.db"

Compatibility Matrix

Framework ORM PostgreSQL MySQL SQLite
FastAPI SQLAlchemy ✅ ✅ ✅
FastAPI TortoiseORM ✅ ✅ ✅
Flask-Restx SQLAlchemy ✅ ✅ ✅
Flask-Restx Peewee ❌ ❌ ✅

Choosing Your Stack

For Production APIs

Recommended: FastAPI + SQLAlchemy + PostgreSQL

vyte create --framework FastAPI --orm SQLAlchemy --database PostgreSQL

For Quick Prototypes

Recommended: Flask-Restx + Peewee + SQLite

vyte create --framework Flask-Restx --orm Peewee --database SQLite

For Microservices

Recommended: FastAPI + TortoiseORM + PostgreSQL

vyte create --framework FastAPI --orm TortoiseORM --database PostgreSQL

For Learning

Recommended: Flask-Restx + SQLAlchemy + SQLite

vyte create --framework Flask-Restx --orm SQLAlchemy --database SQLite

Next Steps