SeaORM

SeaORM is an async ORM built on sqlx - dynamic queries, relations, and codegen for service-style Rust backends.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

use sea_orm::{entity::*, query::*, Database};
 
let db = Database::connect(&database_url).await?;
let users = User::find()
    .filter(user::Column::Active.eq(true))
    .all(&db)
    .await?;

When to reach for this: You want async ORM ergonomics, relation helpers, and codegen without Diesel's sync-first model.

Working Example

use sea_orm::{entity::prelude::*, Database, Set};
 
mod item {
    use super::*;
    #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, DeriveEntityModel)]
    #[sea_orm(table_name = "items")]
    pub struct Model { #[sea_orm(primary_key)] pub id: i64, pub name: String }
    #[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, EnumIter, DeriveRelation)]
    pub enum Relation {}
    impl ActiveModelBehavior for ActiveModel {}
}
 
use item::{self, Entity as Item};
 
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), sea_orm::DbErr> {
    let db = Database::connect(&std::env::var("DATABASE_URL").unwrap()).await?;
    let am = item::ActiveModel { name: Set("widget".to_string()), ..Default::default() };
    let model = am.insert(&db).await?;
    let all = Item::find().all(&db).await?;
    println!("{:?} {:?}", model, all);
    Ok(())
}

What this demonstrates:

• DeriveEntityModel codegen for table mapping.
• ActiveModel for inserts with Set fields.
• Entity::find() fluent query API.
• Async Database connection throughout.

Deep Dive

How It Works

• SeaORM uses sqlx drivers under the hood.
• sea-orm-cli generates entities from migrations or database introspection.
• Relations express joins and eager loading helpers.

SeaORM vs sqlx Raw

Rust Notes

// Pagination
let page = Item::find().paginate(&db, 50);
let models = page.fetch_page(0).await?;

Gotchas

• ORM leakage into handlers - Returning ActiveModel from APIs. Fix: Map to DTOs at boundary.
• Implicit N+1 - load_related in loops. Fix: Eager find_with_related patterns.
• Migration dual stack - SeaORM migrations vs sqlx migrate confusion. Fix: Pick one migration tool per repo.
• Heavy codegen - Entity regen after schema change is mandatory. Fix: CI step sea-orm-cli generate.
• Complex reporting SQL - ORM struggles with analytic queries. Fix: Raw sqlx for reports only.

Alternatives

FAQs

Related

• sqlx - Underlying driver layer
• Diesel - Sync ORM alternative
• Migrations - Schema evolution
• Query Patterns & N+1 - Relation loading
• Connection Pooling - Pool config

Stack versions: This page was written for Rust 1.97.0 (edition 2024), Tokio 1.x, Axum 0.8, serde 1.0, sqlx 0.8, clap 4, and Polars 0.46+.