AdonisJS Lucid and PostgreSQL JSONB object serialization at the model boundary

Question

The goal is to read a PostgreSQL JSONB column through an AdonisJS Lucid model as a plain JavaScript object after fetch, and to write a plain object back on save without manual stringification in application code.

Lucid does not document guaranteed automatic JSONB casting, and behavior may differ between AdonisJS 5 and Lucid in AdonisJS 6. The node-pg type parser can return JSONB as text or parsed JSON independently of the ORM, and schema builder support for json or jsonb columns depends on the installed major version and driver. Until the installed version is confirmed, nested attribute round-trips cannot be assumed to survive as objects.

Does Lucid cast a PostgreSQL JSONB column to a JavaScript object on model fetch, or does it return a string? Is an object assigned to a JSONB attribute serialized automatically on save, or are getter and setter accessors required? Which AdonisJS major version and node-pg type-parser settings control this boundary behavior?

Siddharth · Answer

Lucid JSONB Serialization Behavior
Lucid does not guarantee automatic casting of a PostgreSQL JSONB column to a plain JavaScript object upon model fetch; this behavior is highly dependent on the specific AdonisJS major version and the configuration of the underlying node-pg type parser.

Confirmed Facts and Necessary Steps

Fetch: The column may be returned as a JavaScript object or as a raw string, depending on the driver configuration, not guaranteed by default.
Save: Assigning a plain JavaScript object to a JSONB attribute should serialize automatically upon model save, provided the Lucid version supports this standard behavior.

Verification Steps

Confirm the exact AdonisJS major version used in the project manifest.
Fetch a model instance containing the JSONB attribute and use typeof on the attribute value to determine if it is an object or a string.
Attempt to save a model instance where the JSONB attribute holds a plain JavaScript object, then verify the raw content in PostgreSQL.

If the fetched attribute is a string, manual parsing (e.g., JSON.parse()) is required on read. If saving fails to persist the object structure, accessors (getters/setters) might be necessary, but this should only be confirmed after version verification.

AdonisJS Lucid and PostgreSQL JSONB object serialization at the model boundary

1 answer

Lucid JSONB Serialization Behavior

Confirmed Facts and Necessary Steps

Verification Steps

Your perspective belongs here.

0 question comments