How to configure Knex — Basic

SQL / Knex Migrations / seeds

Set up knexfile and database connection settings for PostgreSQL or other drivers.

Learn: Knex needs a knexfile describing the client (pg), connection string, and migration directory. The same config is used for queries, migrations, and seeds.

Supplementary examples

knexfile.js excerpt

module.exports = {
  development: {
    client: "pg",
    connection: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
    migrations: { directory: "./db/migrations" },
    seeds: { directory: "./db/seeds" },
  },
};

Shared connection module

const knex = require("knex");
const config = require("../knexfile");

module.exports = knex(config[process.env.NODE_ENV || "development"]);

Course example

// Update with your config settings
module.exports = {
development: {
client: "sqlite3",
connection: {
filename: "./dev.sqlite3",
},
},
test: {
client: "postgresql",
pool: { min: 1, max: 5 },
connection: {
database: "db_test",
user: "username_test",
password: "password_test",
},
},
staging: {
client: "postgresql",
connection: {
database: "db_staging",
user: "username_staging",
password: "password_staging",
},
pool: {
min: 2,
max: 10,
},
migrations: {
tableName: "knex_migrations",
},
},
production: {
client: "postgresql",
connection: {
database: "db_production",
user: "username_production",
password: "password_production",
},
pool: {
min: 2,
max: 10,
},
migrations: {
tableName: "knex_migrations",
},
},
};

Additional references & examples

Knex.js documentation
Query builder, migrations, seeds, and connection configuration.
Thinkful — Node, Express, Postgres starter
Starter repo used across Knex and Express lessons.