name: python-database-patterns
description: "SQLAlchemy and database patterns for Python. Triggers on: sqlalchemy, database, orm, migration, alembic, async database, connection pool, repository pattern, unit of work."
compatibility: "SQLAlchemy 2.0+, Python 3.10+. Async requires asyncpg (PostgreSQL) or aiosqlite."
allowed-tools: "Read Write Bash"
depends-on: [python-typing-patterns, python-async-patterns]
related-skills: [python-fastapi-patterns]

Python Database Patterns

SQLAlchemy 2.0 and database best practices.

SQLAlchemy 2.0 Basics

from sqlalchemy import create_engine, select
from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase, Mapped, mapped_column, Session

class Base(DeclarativeBase):
    pass

class User(Base):
    __tablename__ = "users"

    id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
    name: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(100))
    email: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(String(255), unique=True)
    is_active: Mapped[bool] = mapped_column(default=True)

# Create engine and tables
engine = create_engine("postgresql://user:pass@localhost/db")
Base.metadata.create_all(engine)

# Query with 2.0 style
with Session(engine) as session:
    stmt = select(User).where(User.is_active == True)
    users = session.execute(stmt).scalars().all()

Async SQLAlchemy

from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import (
    AsyncSession,
    async_sessionmaker,
    create_async_engine,
)
from sqlalchemy import select

# Async engine
engine = create_async_engine(
    "postgresql+asyncpg://user:pass@localhost/db",
    echo=False,
    pool_size=5,
    max_overflow=10,
)

# Session factory
async_session = async_sessionmaker(engine, expire_on_commit=False)

# Usage
async with async_session() as session:
    result = await session.execute(select(User).where(User.id == 1))
    user = result.scalar_one_or_none()

Model Relationships

from sqlalchemy import ForeignKey
from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship, Mapped, mapped_column

class User(Base):
    __tablename__ = "users"

    id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
    name: Mapped[str]

    # One-to-many
    posts: Mapped[list["Post"]] = relationship(back_populates="author")

class Post(Base):
    __tablename__ = "posts"

    id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
    title: Mapped[str]
    author_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(ForeignKey("users.id"))

    # Many-to-one
    author: Mapped["User"] = relationship(back_populates="posts")

Common Query Patterns

from sqlalchemy import select, and_, or_, func

# Basic select
stmt = select(User).where(User.is_active == True)

# Multiple conditions
stmt = select(User).where(
    and_(
        User.is_active == True,
        User.age >= 18
    )
)

# OR conditions
stmt = select(User).where(
    or_(User.role == "admin", User.role == "moderator")
)

# Ordering and limiting
stmt = select(User).order_by(User.created_at.desc()).limit(10)

# Aggregates
stmt = select(func.count(User.id)).where(User.is_active == True)

# Joins
stmt = select(User, Post).join(Post, User.id == Post.author_id)

# Eager loading
from sqlalchemy.orm import selectinload
stmt = select(User).options(selectinload(User.posts))

FastAPI Integration

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
from typing import Annotated

async def get_db() -> AsyncGenerator[AsyncSession, None]:
    async with async_session() as session:
        yield session

DB = Annotated[AsyncSession, Depends(get_db)]

@app.get("/users/{user_id}")
async def get_user(user_id: int, db: DB):
    result = await db.execute(select(User).where(User.id == user_id))
    user = result.scalar_one_or_none()
    if not user:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404)
    return user

Quick Reference

Operation	SQLAlchemy 2.0 Style
Select all	select(User)
Filter	.where(User.id == 1)
First	.scalar_one_or_none()
All	.scalars().all()
Count	select(func.count(User.id))
Join	.join(Post)
Eager load	.options(selectinload(User.posts))

Additional Resources

• ./references/sqlalchemy-async.md - Async patterns, session management
• ./references/connection-pooling.md - Pool configuration, health checks
• ./references/transactions.md - Transaction patterns, isolation levels
• ./references/migrations.md - Alembic setup, migration strategies

Assets

• ./assets/alembic.ini.template - Alembic configuration template

---

See Also

Prerequisites:

• python-typing-patterns - Mapped types and annotations
• python-async-patterns - Async database sessions

Related Skills:

• python-fastapi-patterns - Dependency injection for DB sessions
• python-pytest-patterns - Database fixtures and testing