Sequelize CLI: Migrations, Seeders, Models
/cli
Sequelize CLI is the command-line companion to the Sequelize ORM, handling migrations, seeders, and model scaffolding through commands like db:migrate and model:generate. It turns schema changes into ordered, revertible files instead of ad hoc SQL run by hand. Reach for it the moment you're already running Sequelize and more than one person touches the schema; skip it if you're not using Sequelize's ORM at all.
Managing Databases with Sequelize CLI
Sequelize CLI is a Node.js command-line tool published as the sequelize-cli npm package, built to sit alongside an existing Sequelize ORM project rather than replace any part of it. Once installed as a dev dependency, it exposes commands under a sequelize binary for creating and running migrations, seeding data, generating models, and initializing the config/migrations/seeders folder structure Sequelize expects.
Core Database Operations
- ✓Migration lifecycle commands — db:migrate applies pending migrations, db:migrate:status lists their state, and db:migrate:undo / db:migrate:undo:all step back one or all of them.
- ✓Seeder commands mirror the migration set: db:seed runs a specified seeder, db:seed:all runs every seeder, and db:seed:undo / db:seed:undo:all remove seeded data.
- ✓db:create and db:drop create or drop the database named in the project's Sequelize configuration.
- ✓migration:generate (alias migration:create) and seed:generate (alias seed:create) scaffold new migration and seed files.
- ✓model:generate (alias model:create) writes both a model definition and its matching migration file in one command.
- ✓init, init:config, init:migrations, init:models, and init:seeders scaffold a fresh project's config file and folder structure piece by piece.
- ✓db:migrate:schema:timestamps:add is a one-off utility command for updating an older migration table to include timestamps.
When to Use the CLI
- •A team already on Sequelize that wants migrations reviewed and merged through pull requests instead of someone running raw ALTER statements by hand.
- •Seeding a fresh development or CI database with baseline rows via db:seed:all right after db:migrate, without writing a separate SQL fixture script.
- •Scaffolding a new model where the migration file should exist from the first commit — model:generate writes both together.
- •Rolling back a bad migration with db:migrate:undo instead of writing a manual reversal script.
Getting Started with Sequelize CLI
Sequelize CLI is installed as a project dev dependency: npm install --save-dev sequelize-cli. The README's one hard prerequisite is that Sequelize itself is already installed in the project — the CLI operates on an existing Sequelize setup rather than bootstrapping the ORM for you. After installing, npx sequelize --help lists the available commands and confirms the CLI is wired up.
Common CLI Commands
Commands run through npx sequelize <command>. sequelize init lays down the project's config, migrations, seeders, and models folders in one pass; the four init: subcommands (config, migrations, models, seeders) do the same one piece at a time. sequelize migration:generate (alias migration:create) and sequelize model:generate (alias model:create) create new migration and model files — model:generate additionally writes the migration that matches the model. Once migration files exist, sequelize db:migrate applies everything pending, sequelize db:migrate:status reports what's already applied, and sequelize db:migrate:undo or db:migrate:undo:all step back one migration or all of them. Seeders follow the same pattern: sequelize seed:generate creates a seed file, sequelize db:seed:all runs every seeder, and db:seed:undo:all reverses them. The CLI's own help output prints its version alongside the installed Node and Sequelize ORM versions — the README's own example shows Node 10.21.0, CLI 6.0.0, ORM 6.1.0, though installed versions will vary by project.
Strengths
- ✓Migration and seeder commands are symmetric — apply/status/undo/undo:all for migrations, run/all/undo/undo:all for seeders — so the mental model transfers between the two without relearning a different verb set.
- ✓model:generate saves a step by writing the model file and its migration together, instead of hand-writing both.
- ✓db:migrate:undo and db:migrate:undo:all give a documented rollback path, not just forward-only migrations.
- ✓MIT licensed, so there's no licensing friction to add it as a dev dependency.
- ✓init: subcommands let you scaffold just the config file or just the migrations folder instead of committing to the full init layout at once.
Potential Drawbacks
- △The README documents command names but not their flags or options in full — arguments for migration:generate, model:generate, or config overrides aren't spelled out inline, only pointed to via docs/README.md and the CLI Options doc.
- △Sequelize CLI is only useful if the project already runs the Sequelize ORM; it isn't a general-purpose or standalone migration runner for other query builders or ORMs.
- △The README's own usage example is pinned to specific versions (Node 10.21.0, CLI 6.0.0, ORM 6.1.0) with no version history or changelog included, so there's no way to confirm from the README alone what's changed since.
- △Deeper documentation — the migrations guide, CLI options, and FAQ — lives outside the README in linked docs/README.md, docs/FAQ.md, and the main Sequelize site, so the README alone isn't a complete reference.
Other Database Migration Tools
Sequelize CLI FAQs
Sequelize CLI exists to run the day-to-day database tasks a Sequelize ORM project needs — creating and applying migrations, seeding data, and scaffolding models and config — all from the command line instead of custom scripts.
Sequelize CLI's main commands cover migrations (db:migrate, db:migrate:undo, db:migrate:status), seeders (db:seed:all, db:seed:undo:all), database creation (db:create, db:drop), and generators for migrations, models, and seed files.
Install Sequelize CLI as a dev dependency with npm install --save-dev sequelize-cli in a project that already has Sequelize installed, then run npx sequelize --help to confirm it's wired up.
Sequelize CLI is released under the MIT license, per its GitHub repository.
Sequelize CLI requires the Sequelize ORM to already be installed in the project; the README lists that as the prerequisite before installing the CLI itself.
In Sequelize CLI, migrations change schema structure (db:migrate, db:migrate:undo) while seeders insert or remove data rows (db:seed:all, db:seed:undo:all) — both are generated, tracked, and reverted the same way but operate on structure versus data.
The problem it solves
Sequelize the ORM defines models in JavaScript, but nothing in the ORM package itself turns a model change into a file two teammates can both apply in the same order. Sequelize CLI exists specifically to close that gap: it generates timestamped migration and seed files, tracks which ones have run against a given database, and gives every environment — a laptop, CI, production — the same command, db:migrate, to bring its schema current.
Who should try it — and who should skip
Reach for Sequelize CLI if the project already runs the Sequelize ORM and multiple people touch the schema — the migration/seed command pairs and model:generate scaffolding pay off once that coordination cost exists. Skip it if the project isn't on Sequelize, since the CLI has no function without the ORM underneath it, or if a single developer is happy hand-editing a database with no need for versioned migration files at all.
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