Install and pick your driver

forge ships no database driver of its own. You install only the driver for the database you use. Each one is an optional peer dependency, so npm install forge-orm on its own pulls nothing extra, and importing forge needs no driver at all.

Database	Connection string starts with	Install
PostgreSQL	postgres:// or postgresql://	npm install pg
PGlite (embedded PG)	pglite: (e.g. pglite:./data)	npm install @electric-sql/pglite
MySQL or MariaDB	mysql://	npm install mysql2
SQLite	sqlite: or file:	npm install better-sqlite3
MongoDB	mongodb:// or mongodb+srv://	npm install mongodb
DuckDB	duckdb:	npm install @duckdb/node-api
SQL Server (MSSQL)	mssql: or sqlserver:	npm install mssql
Browser (SQLite)	opfs:, opfs-sahpool:, :memory:	npm install @sqlite.org/sqlite-wasm
Browser (IndexedDB)	idb: or indexeddb:	none — browser built-in

Those are the same package names the per-dialect entry points (forge-orm/postgres, forge-orm/mysql, and so on) import statically, so the install step above does not change with how you choose to connect — see Connecting for what that choice actually decides.

npm install forge-orm      # the library, no drivers
npm install pg             # add the one you need

The driver loads lazily, the first time you actually run a query against that database. Importing forge, defining a schema, or using one database never needs the other databases' drivers installed. If a driver is missing when you connect, you get a clear message telling you what to install rather than a crash. (A per-dialect entry point trades that lazy load for a static import, which is the whole point of it — see option 2 below.)

There is no lock-in. No generated client to regenerate, no migration state you cannot leave, no framework module to wire in, and no driver bundled inside. It is plain TypeScript over the official drivers, and you can always call the driver directly if you outgrow it.

See more — docs/DRIVERS.md for the bring-your-own-driver pattern, every shipped wrapper, six worked wrappers (Neon HTTP, Turso, Cloudflare D1, Atlas Data API, Bun:sqlite, logging decorator), capability flags, and per-driver perf notes.

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