---
title: "Use a mature ORM for database code · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/databases-and-storage/orm
updated: 2026-10-21
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Use a mature ORM for database code

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers). Updated 2026-10-21.

For AI agents: [llms.txt](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) is a short guide that sends you to the rules your problem needs, and [rules.json](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/rules.json) holds every rule of this playbook as JSON.

- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Databases and storage](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/databases-and-storage)
- Rule: Write database code with Prisma in TypeScript and SQLAlchemy in Python, or with the Django ORM inside a Django project. Keep one ORM per codebase.
- Cost: Open source. Prisma is Apache-2.0, SQLAlchemy is MIT and Django is BSD-3-Clause. Prisma also sells paid hosted add-ons, which the ORM does not need.
- How: Prisma 2.0.0 was published on 9 June 2020, and 7.10.1 on 15 October 2026. Its client has about 11.1 million weekly npm downloads, under Apache-2.0. SQLAlchemy 1.0.0 came out on 16 April 2015, and 2.1.5 on 16 October 2026. It has about 87.6 million weekly PyPI downloads, under the MIT licence. Django 6.1.2 came out on 6 October 2026, and the 5.2 LTS line has fixes until April 2028. All three generate parameterised SQL, which closes the hole [Pass values as parameters](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data/queries-and-indexes/parameters) describes. Load related rows in one query, as [Load related rows in one query](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data/queries-and-indexes/no-n-plus-one) says. Drizzle has more weekly downloads than Prisma, about 18.3 million, but it is still before 1.0, at 0.45.4. Choose something else when the team wants SQL-shaped queries in TypeScript, and pick Drizzle once 1.0 ships.
- Check: The dependency list holds exactly one of `@prisma/client`, `drizzle-orm`, `typeorm`, `sequelize`, `sqlalchemy` or the Django ORM. No source file builds SQL by joining strings with user input.

## Examples

**Using these examples:** they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

### TypeScript example

```ts
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const prisma = new PrismaClient();
const orders = await prisma.order.findMany({
  where: { customerId, status: 'paid' },
  include: { lines: true },
  orderBy: { createdAt: 'desc' },
  take: 20,
});
```

### Python example

```python
from sqlalchemy import select
from sqlalchemy.orm import Session, selectinload

PAGE_SIZE = 20

def paid_orders(session: Session, customer_id: int) -> list[Order]:
    query = (select(Order)
             .where(Order.customer_id == customer_id, Order.status == "paid")
             .options(selectinload(Order.lines))
             .order_by(Order.created_at.desc())
             .limit(PAGE_SIZE))
    return list(session.scalars(query))
```

## Sources

- [Prisma ORM docs](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm)
- [SQLAlchemy](https://www.sqlalchemy.org/)
- [Django releases](https://www.djangoproject.com/download/)

## Related rules

- [Pass values as parameters](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data/queries-and-indexes/parameters) in Data
- [Load related rows in one query](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data/queries-and-indexes/no-n-plus-one) in Data

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/databases-and-storage/orm">Agent Wranglers software choices playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Use Redis 8 or Valkey for caches and queues](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/databases-and-storage/redis-or-valkey)
- Next: [Use the migration tool that comes with your ORM](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/databases-and-storage/migration-tool)
- [Databases and storage](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/databases-and-storage)