JSON Scalars

Drizzle jsonb() columns are automatically mapped to the GraphQLJSON custom scalar type in the generated schema. This scalar accepts and returns arbitrary JSON values.

How it works

When the schema builder encounters a jsonb() column in a Drizzle table, it uses the JSON scalar type instead of a standard GraphQL scalar:

import { jsonb, pgTable, text, uuid } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core'

export const article = pgTable('article', {
  id: uuid('id').primaryKey().defaultRandom(),
  title: text('title').notNull(),
  metadata: jsonb('metadata'), // Maps to JSON scalar
})

This produces a GraphQL field of type JSON:

scalar JSON

type ArticleSelectItem {
  id: String!
  title: String!
  metadata: JSON
}

The `GraphQLJSON` scalar

The scalar handles serialization and parsing of JSON values in both directions:

Serialization — passes the value through as-is (objects, arrays, primitives, null)
Parsing — accepts any valid JSON value from variables or inline literals
Literal parsing — recursively parses GraphQL AST literals (objects, arrays, strings, numbers, booleans, null)

Using the scalar in custom schemas

The GraphQLJSON scalar is exported from the schema package for use in custom schemas or extensions:

import { GraphQLJSON } from '@graphql-suite/schema'

Filter behavior

JSON columns support the same filter operators as other scalar types (eq, ne, isNull, isNotNull). Comparison operators like lt/gt are available but their behavior depends on PostgreSQL’s JSONB comparison rules.