Multiple Schema Files and Model Inheritance

As your business expands, your schema file grows with it. ZenStack offers increased flexibility in managing your schema file through multiple schema files and model inheritance. An example project is provided below for your reference:

https://github.com/zenstackhq/sample-multiple-schema

Abstract Model Inheritance

You can use abstract model to include common fields that would be shared by multiple models. By extending abstract model, you can keep your schema DRY(Don’t repeat yourself). The abstract model can contain both fields and attributes like a normal model, but it is erased after generation and does not appear in the generated Prisma schema file.

You can have your model defined as:

abstract model Base {
    id Int @id @default(autoincrement())
    createdAt DateTime @default(now())
    updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt()

    //Logged-in users can view
    @@allow('read', auth() != null)

}

model Post extends Base
{
    title String
    content String?
    viewCount Int @default(0)
}

model ToDo extends Base
{
    title String
    completed Boolean @default(false)
}

The generated schema.prisma file would be:

/// @@allow('all', auth() != null && published)
model User {
    name String
    id Int @id() @default(autoincrement())
    createdAt DateTime @default(now())
    updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt()
    published Boolean @default(true)
}

/// @@allow('all', auth() != null && published)
model Post {
    title String
    content String?
    viewCount Int @default(0)
    comment Comment[]
    id Int @id() @default(autoincrement())
    createdAt DateTime @default(now())
    updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt()
    published Boolean @default(true)
}

/// @@allow('all', auth() != null && published)
model Comment {
    content String
    post Post @relation(fields: [postId], references: [id])
    postId Int
    id Int @id() @default(autoincrement())
    createdAt DateTime @default(now())
    updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt()
    published Boolean @default(true)
}

Inheriting from multiple bases

You can inherit from multiple abstract models from a single model. For example:

abstract model Base1 { ... }

abstract model Base2 { ... }

model Post extends Base1, Base2 { ... }

Multiple Schema Files

You can split your schema file into multiple files and use import statements to include the file you needed. When running zenstack generate, it recursively traverses all the imported models and combine them into a single model. For instance, you can split the above schema file into two files below:

• base.zmodel

  abstract model Base {
      id Int @id @default(autoincrement())
      createdAt DateTime @default(now())
      updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt()
      published Boolean @default(true)
  
      // author has full access
      @@allow('all', auth() != null && published)
  }

• schema.zmodel

  import "base"
  model User extends Base {
      name String
  }
  
  model Post extends Base {
      title String
      content String?
      viewCount Int @default(0)
      comment Comment[]
  }
  
  model Comment extends Base {
      content String
      post Post @relation(fields: [postId], references: [id])
      postId Int
  }

You can also import schema files from NPM packages by prefixing the import path with a package name (with or without organization scope). See the docs for more details. ZenStack user TGTGamer made this cool project demonstrating a component-based organization of a complex schema.