# query-spec

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The Constructive query language specification. One shared grammar for filters, ordering, and pagination — used by the generated GraphQL SDK/ORM clients, the PostGraphile connection filters, and the SQL query builder, so the same `where` JSON means the same thing at every layer of the stack.

## Install

```sh
npm install query-spec
```

## The filter grammar

Sibling keys AND together; `or`/`not` introduce disjunction and negation, nestable arbitrarily:

```ts
import type { Filter } from 'query-spec';

const where: Filter = {
  status: { in: ['queued', 'retry'] },
  attempts: { lessThan: 5 },
  completed_at: { isNull: true },
  or: [
    { priority: { greaterThan: 0 } },
    { escalated: { equalTo: true } },
  ],
};
```

The same shape works in a generated SDK client (`api.jobs.findMany({ where })`) and in the SQL query builder (`new QueryBuilder().table('jobs').where(where)`).

### Operand generics

`Filter`, `FieldFilter`, and `RelationalFilter` are generic over the operand type, so each layer constrains what a field may be compared against:

```ts
import type { Filter } from 'query-spec';

type JsonFilter = Filter<string | number | boolean | null>; // SDK layer
type SqlFilter = Filter<SqlValue | Expr | QueryBuilder>;    // SQL layer
```

### Operators

| Group | Operators |
|-------|-----------|
| Null check | `isNull` |
| Comparison | `equalTo`, `notEqualTo`, `lessThan`, `lessThanOrEqualTo`, `greaterThan`, `greaterThanOrEqualTo` |
| Distinct | `distinctFrom`, `notDistinctFrom` |
| List membership | `in`, `notIn` |
| LIKE | `like`, `notLike`, `likeInsensitive`, `notLikeInsensitive` |
| Pattern sugar | `includes`, `startsWith`, `endsWith` (+ `not*` / `*Insensitive` variants) |
| Case-insensitive | `equalToInsensitive`, `notEqualToInsensitive`, `distinctFromInsensitive`, `notDistinctFromInsensitive`, `inInsensitive`, `notInInsensitive` |
| Array | `contains`, `containedBy`, `overlaps` |
| PostGIS | `intersects`, `within`, `touches`, `covers`, `bboxIntersects2D`, ... |

Each group is exported both as a `const` array (for runtime validation) and a string-literal union type:

```ts
import {
  FILTER_OPERATORS,        // readonly string[] of every operator
  COMPARISON_FILTER_OPERATORS,
  isFilterOperator,        // (op: string) => op is FilterOperator
  isLogicalOperator,       // 'and' | 'or' | 'not'
} from 'query-spec';

isFilterOperator('equalTo');  // true
isFilterOperator('bogus');    // false
```

### Relational filters

GraphQL/ORM layers filter on related records with `every` / `some` / `none`:

```ts
const where: Filter = {
  tags: { some: { name: { startsWith: 'infra' } } },
};
```

(The SQL layer expresses the same thing with joins or `{ in: subquery }`.)

## Ordering and pagination

```ts
import type { OrderByItem, PageInfo, ConnectionResult } from 'query-spec';

const orderBy: OrderByItem[] = [{ field: 'name', direction: 'asc' }];

const page: ConnectionResult<{ id: string }> = {
  nodes: [{ id: '1' }],
  totalCount: 1,
  pageInfo: { hasNextPage: false, hasPreviousPage: false },
};
```

## API Reference

### Types

| Type | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `Filter<TOperand>` | The main nestable filter shape (`and`/`or`/`not` + field filters) |
| `FieldFilter<TOperand>` | Operator → operand map for a single field |
| `RelationalFilter<TOperand>` | `every`/`some`/`none` filters on related records |
| `FilterOperator` | Union of every supported operator |
| `LogicalOperator` | `'and' \| 'or' \| 'not'` |
| `OrderByItem`, `OrderDirection` | Ordering specification |
| `PageInfo`, `ConnectionResult<T>` | Relay-style pagination shapes |

### Runtime

| Export | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `FILTER_OPERATORS` | All operators as a readonly array |
| `NULL_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `COMPARISON_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `DISTINCT_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `LIST_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `LIKE_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `PATTERN_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `INSENSITIVE_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `ARRAY_FILTER_OPERATORS`, `POSTGIS_FILTER_OPERATORS` | Operator groups |
| `LOGICAL_OPERATORS` | `['and', 'or', 'not']` |
| `isFilterOperator(op)` | Type-guard for `FilterOperator` |
| `isLogicalOperator(op)` | Type-guard for `LogicalOperator` |

## Related

* [`@constructive-io/query-builder`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@constructive-io/query-builder) — AST-backed SQL builder consuming this grammar for `WHERE`/`HAVING`
* [`@constructive-io/graphql-codegen`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@constructive-io/graphql-codegen) — generates SDK/ORM clients whose `where` arguments conform to this grammar

---

## Education and Tutorials

 1. 🚀 [Quickstart: Getting Up and Running](https://constructive.io/learn/quickstart)
Get started with modular databases in minutes. Install prerequisites and deploy your first module.

 2. 📦 [Modular PostgreSQL Development with Database Packages](https://constructive.io/learn/modular-postgres)
Learn to organize PostgreSQL projects with pgpm workspaces and reusable database modules.

 3. ✏️ [Authoring Database Changes](https://constructive.io/learn/authoring-database-changes)
Master the workflow for adding, organizing, and managing database changes with pgpm.

 4. 🧪 [End-to-End PostgreSQL Testing with TypeScript](https://constructive.io/learn/e2e-postgres-testing)
Master end-to-end PostgreSQL testing with ephemeral databases, RLS testing, and CI/CD automation.

 5. ⚡ [Supabase Testing](https://constructive.io/learn/supabase)
Use TypeScript-first tools to test Supabase projects with realistic RLS, policies, and auth contexts.

 6. 💧 [Drizzle ORM Testing](https://constructive.io/learn/drizzle-testing)
Run full-stack tests with Drizzle ORM, including database setup, teardown, and RLS enforcement.

 7. 🔧 [Troubleshooting](https://constructive.io/learn/troubleshooting)
Common issues and solutions for pgpm, PostgreSQL, and testing.

## Related Constructive Tooling

### 📦 Package Management

* [pgpm](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/pgpm/pgpm): **🖥️ PostgreSQL Package Manager** for modular Postgres development. Works with database workspaces, scaffolding, migrations, seeding, and installing database packages.

### 🧪 Testing

* [pgsql-test](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/postgres/pgsql-test): **📊 Isolated testing environments** with per-test transaction rollbacks—ideal for integration tests, complex migrations, and RLS simulation.
* [pglite-test](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/postgres/pglite-test): **🪶 Drop-in pgsql-test replacement backed by PGlite** — in-process Postgres, no server required, instance-per-suite isolation.
* [pgsql-seed](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/postgres/pgsql-seed): **🌱 PostgreSQL seeding utilities** for CSV, JSON, SQL data loading, and pgpm deployment.
* [supabase-test](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/postgres/supabase-test): **🧪 Supabase-native test harness** preconfigured for the local Supabase stack—per-test rollbacks, JWT/role context helpers, and CI/GitHub Actions ready.
* [graphile-test](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/graphile/graphile-test): **🔐 Authentication mocking** for Graphile-focused test helpers and emulating row-level security contexts.
* [pg-query-context](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive/tree/main/postgres/pg-query-context): **🔒 Session context injection** to add session-local context (e.g., `SET LOCAL`) into queries—ideal for setting `role`, `jwt.claims`, and other session settings.

### 🧠 Parsing & AST

* [pgsql-parser](https://www.npmjs.com/package/pgsql-parser): **🔄 SQL conversion engine** that interprets and converts PostgreSQL syntax.
* [libpg-query-node](https://www.npmjs.com/package/libpg-query): **🌉 Node.js bindings** for `libpg_query`, converting SQL into parse trees.
* [pg-proto-parser](https://www.npmjs.com/package/pg-proto-parser): **📦 Protobuf parser** for parsing PostgreSQL Protocol Buffers definitions to generate TypeScript interfaces, utility functions, and JSON mappings for enums.
* [@pgsql/enums](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pgsql/enums): **🏷️ TypeScript enums** for PostgreSQL AST for safe and ergonomic parsing logic.
* [@pgsql/types](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pgsql/types): **📝 Type definitions** for PostgreSQL AST nodes in TypeScript.
* [@pgsql/utils](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pgsql/utils): **🛠️ AST utilities** for constructing and transforming PostgreSQL syntax trees.

### 📚 Documentation & Skills

* [constructive-skills](https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive-skills): **📖 Platform documentation and AI agent skills** — feature catalog, blueprint reference, SDK guides (i18n, billing, limits, events, uploads, security, entities, search, AI), and deployment guides.

Install skills for AI coding agents:

```bash
# All platform skills (security, blueprints, codegen, billing, etc.)
npx skills add constructive-io/constructive-skills

# Individual repo skills (pgpm, testing, CLI, search, etc.)
npx skills add https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive --skill pgpm
npx skills add https://github.com/constructive-io/constructive --skill constructive-testing
```

## Credits

**🛠 Built by the [Constructive](https://constructive.io) team — creators of modular Postgres tooling for secure, composable backends. If you like our work, contribute on [GitHub](https://github.com/constructive-io).**

## Disclaimer

AS DESCRIBED IN THE LICENSES, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

No developer or entity involved in creating this software will be liable for any claims or damages whatsoever associated with your use, inability to use, or your interaction with other users of the code, including any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages, or loss of profits, cryptocurrencies, tokens, or anything else of value.