Tables

Define database tables and columns

Ponder's schema definition API is built on Drizzle, a modern TypeScript ORM. To define a table, use the onchainTable function and include column definitions.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const pets = onchainTable("pets", (t) => ({
  name: t.text().primaryKey(),
  age: t.integer().notNull(),
}));

Each table must be a named export from the ponder.schema.ts file. The build step ignores tables that are not exported.

Column types

The schema definition API supports most PostgreSQL data types – here's a quick reference for the most common options. Read the Drizzle documentation for a complete list.

name	description	TypeScript type	SQL data type
`text`	UTF‐8 character sequence	`string`	`TEXT`
`integer`	Signed 4‐byte integer	`number`	`INTEGER`
`real`	Signed 4-byte floating‐point value	`number`	`REAL`
`boolean`	`true` or `false`	`boolean`	`BOOLEAN`
`timestamp`	Date and time value (no time zone)	`Date`	`TIMESTAMP`
`json`	JSON object	`any` or custom	`JSON`

Ponder also includes a few extra column types built specifically for EVM indexing.

name	description	TypeScript type	SQL data type
`bigint`	Large integer (holds `uint256` and `int256`)	`bigint`	`NUMERIC(78,0)`
`hex`	UTF‐8 character sequence with `0x` prefix	`0x${string}`	`TEXT`

`bigint`

Use the bigint column type to store EVM uint256 or int256 values.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const accounts = onchainTable("accounts", (t) => ({
  address: t.hex().primaryKey(),
  balance: t.bigint().notNull(), 
}));

`hex`

Use the hex column type to store EVM address, bytes, or any other hex-encoded value.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const accounts = onchainTable("accounts", (t) => ({
  address: t.hex().primaryKey(), 
  balance: t.bigint().notNull(), 
}));

Enums

To define an enum, use the onchainEnum function. Then, use the value returned by onchainEnum as a column type. Under the hood, onchainEnum creates a PostgreSQL enumerated type.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainEnum, onchainTable } from "ponder"; 
 
export const color = onchainEnum("color", ["ORANGE", "BLACK"]); 
 
export const cats = onchainTable("cats", (t) => ({
  name: t.text().primaryKey(),
  color: color("color"), 
}));

Arrays

To define an array column, use the .array() modifier. Arrays are a good fit for small one-dimensional collections. Don't use arrays for relationships between records.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const cats = onchainTable("cats", (t) => ({
  name: t.text().primaryKey(),
  vaccinations: t.text().array(), // ["rabies", "distemper", "parvo"] //
}));

Not null

To mark a column as not null, use the .notNull() modifier. If you attempt to insert a row that does not include a value for a NOT NULL column, the database will throw an error.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const cats = onchainTable("cats", (t) => ({
  name: t.text().primaryKey(),
  age: t.integer().notNull(), 
}));

Default value

To set a default value for a column, use the .default() modifier and pass a string, number, boolean, or null.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const cats = onchainTable("cats", (t) => ({
  name: t.text().primaryKey(),
  livesRemaining: t.integer().default(9), 
}));

Alternatively, use the .$default() modifier to specify a JavaScript function that returns the default value. With this approach, the database driver calls the function to generate a default value for each row dynamically.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
import { generateId } from "../utils"; 
 
export const cats = onchainTable("cats", (t) => ({
  name: t.text().primaryKey(),
  age: t.integer().$default(() => generateId()), 
}));

Primary key

Every table must have a primary key. To define a primary key on a single column, use the .primaryKey() modifier.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const tokens = onchainTable("tokens", (t) => ({
  id: t.bigint().primaryKey(), 
}));

Composite primary key

To create a composite primary key, use the primaryKey() function exported by ponder. Each column that forms the primary key must be not null. Read more about composite primary keys.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable, primaryKey } from "ponder"; 
 
export const poolStates = onchainTable(
  "pool_states",
  (t) => ({
    poolId: t.bigint().notNull(),
    address: t.hex().notNull(),
    balance: t.bigint().notNull(),
  }),
  (table) => ({ 
    pk: primaryKey({ columns: [table.poolId, table.address] }), 
  }) 
);

Indexes

To create a database index, use the index() function. This example defines B-tree indexes on the persons.name column to support search queries, and on the dogs.ownerId column to support the persons.dogs relational query.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable, relations, index } from "ponder";
 
export const persons = onchainTable(
  "persons",
  (t) => ({
    id: t.text().primaryKey(),
    name: t.text(),
  }),
  (table) => ({
    nameIdx: index().on(table.name),
  })
);
 
export const personsRelations = relations(persons, ({ many }) => ({
  dogs: many(dogs),
}));
 
export const dogs = onchainTable(
  "dogs",
  (t) => ({
    id: t.text().primaryKey(),
    ownerId: t.text().notNull(),
  }),
  (table) => ({
    ownerIdx: index().on(table.ownerId),
  })
);
 
export const dogsRelations = relations(dogs, ({ one }) => ({
  owner: one(persons, { fields: [dogs.ownerId], references: [persons.id] }),
}));

The index() function supports specifying multiple columns, ordering, and custom index types like GIN and GIST. Read more in the Drizzle and PostgreSQL documentation.

Best practices

Primary keys

Select a primary key that matches the access pattern of your indexing logic. If a table has two or more columns that together form a unique identifier for a row, use a composite primary key – don't use a concatenated string.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable, primaryKey } from "ponder";
 
// ❌ Don't concatenate strings to form a primary key
export const allowances = onchainTable("allowances", (t) => ({
  id: t.string().primaryKey(), // `${owner}_${spender}` 
  owner: t.hex(),
  spender: t.hex(),
  amount: t.bigint(),
}));
 
// ✅ Use a composite primary key  
export const allowances = onchainTable(
  "allowances",
  (t) => ({
    owner: t.hex(),
    spender: t.hex(),
    amount: t.bigint(),
  }),
  (table) => ({ pk: primaryKey({ columns: [table.owner, table.spender] }) })  
);

Timestamps

Use the bigint column type to store block timestamps using their EVM-native Unix timestamp representation. This maintains consistency with Viem's approach, and avoids error-prone timezone manipulation code.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const events = onchainTable("events", (t) => ({
  id: t.text().primaryKey(),
  timestamp: t.bigint(), // Unix timestamp in seconds
}));

If you strongly prefer working with JavaScript Date objects, you can also use the timestamp column type, but we recommend doing this conversion in the view layer.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const events = onchainTable("events", (t) => ({
  id: t.text().primaryKey(),
  timestamp: t.timestamp(), // JavaScript Date object
}));

Custom types

Use the .$type() modifier to customize the TypeScript type for a column. Note that the .$type() modifier does not validate data at runtime or in the database, it only enforces a TypeScript type.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const tokens = onchainTable("tokens", (t) => ({
  id: t.bigint().primaryKey(),
  metadata: t.json().$type<{ name: string; symbol: string; decimals: number }>(), 
}));

`camelCase` vs `snake_case`

Use camelCase for TypeScript names and snake_case for SQL names. This guideline applies to all database objects and properties, including tables, columns, relations, and indexes.

ponder.schema.ts

import { onchainTable } from "ponder";
 
export const registrationEvents = onchainTable(
  "registration_events", // Use snake_case for the SQL table name
  (t) => ({
    createdAt: t.bigint(), // Drizzle automatically converts this to `created_at`
    invitedBy: t.text("invited_by"), // Avoid manual case conversion for columns
    // ...
  })
);

Examples

ERC20

Here's a schema for a simple ERC20 app.

ponder.schema.ts

import { index, onchainTable, primaryKey } from "ponder";
 
export const account = onchainTable("account", (t) => ({
  address: t.hex().primaryKey(),
  balance: t.bigint().notNull(),
  isOwner: t.boolean().notNull(),
}));
 
export const allowance = onchainTable(
  "allowance",
  (t) => ({
    owner: t.hex(),
    spender: t.hex(),
    amount: t.bigint().notNull(),
  }),
  (table) => ({
    pk: primaryKey({ columns: [table.owner, table.spender] }),
  })
);
 
export const transferEvent = onchainTable(
  "transfer_event",
  (t) => ({
    id: t.text().primaryKey(),
    amount: t.bigint().notNull(),
    timestamp: t.integer().notNull(),
    from: t.hex().notNull(),
    to: t.hex().notNull(),
  }),
  (table) => ({
    fromIdx: index().on(table.from),
  })
);
 
export const approvalEvent = onchainTable("approval_event", (t) => ({
  id: t.text().primaryKey(),
  amount: t.bigint().notNull(),
  timestamp: t.integer().notNull(),
  owner: t.hex().notNull(),
  spender: t.hex().notNull(),
}));

Column types

bigint

hex

Enums

Arrays

Not null

Default value

Primary key

Composite primary key

Indexes

Best practices

Primary keys

Timestamps

Custom types

camelCase vs snake_case

Examples

ERC20

`bigint`

`hex`

`camelCase` vs `snake_case`