# Define a database collection and schema for SvelteKit from the command line

A new model in a SvelteKit app means a database table, a migration, a Zod schema and TypeScript types that agree with each other. vela generate resource creates all of them from one field list, without opening an admin UI.

Pattern: [Generate a resource](https://velastack.dev/patterns/generate-resource) · Docs: https://docs.velastack.dev/generate/resource

Adding a table to a SvelteKit app is usually a tour: create the collection in the database admin, write a migration so teammates get it too, write a Zod schema for validation, and generate or hand-write the TypeScript types. Four places that describe the same fields and slowly drift apart. `vela generate resource` treats the field list as the single source and produces the rest: a PocketBase collection, a versioned migration, a Zod schema, and synced types.

## Prerequisites

A vela project with a backend. `npx vela create my-app` gives you one; `npx vela bless` adds the backend to an existing SvelteKit project ([more on that here](https://docs.velastack.dev/bless)). The `author:current_user` field below needs [authentication](https://velastack.dev/tutorials/sveltekit-login-and-signup) enabled.

## Run the command

```sh
$ vela generate resource articles title:text! body:editor author:current_user
✔ Created collection articles
✔ Created migrations/1788445216_created_articles.js
✔ Created src/lib/schemas/article.ts
✔ Synced types
```

Three things happened:

1. The `articles` collection now exists in your local PocketBase, with `title` required, `body` as rich text, and `author` as a relation to the `users` collection.
2. A migration file was written to `migrations/`, so the same collection is created wherever the app is deployed or cloned.
3. Types were synced: `Models["articles"]` and `Schemas["articles"]` from `@velastack/pocketbase` now describe the new collection.

## What was generated

The one source file is the Zod schema. The `satisfies` on the last line is the part that matters: it ties the schema to the synced type, so if a field changes in the database and the schema does not, the type checker says so.

**src/lib/schemas/article.ts**

```ts
import { z } from "zod";
import type { Schemas } from "@velastack/pocketbase";

export const articleSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string().optional(),
  collectionId: z.string().optional(),
  title: z.string().nonempty(),
  body: z.string().optional(),
  author: z.string(),
}) satisfies Schemas["articles"];
```

`author` is a plain string in the schema because relations are stored as record ids. The `current_user` type also does two things outside this file: forms generated for the model skip the field and fill it from the session, and the collection's access rules restrict rows to their owner.

## Use it

The collection is reachable through the PocketBase client on `locals`. `locals.pb` is scoped to the signed-in user; `locals.admin` sees everything:

**src/routes/(app)/articles/+page.server.ts**

```ts
export const load = async ({ locals }) => {
  const articles = await locals.pb.collection("articles").getFullList();
  return { articles };
};
```

The records are typed as `Models["articles"]`, so `article.title` autocompletes and `article.tittle` does not compile. To validate input before writing, use the schema exactly as the [form generator](https://velastack.dev/tutorials/sveltekit-form-validation-zod-superforms) does.

> **Tip:**
> If you want the pages as well as the model, [`vela generate scaffold`](https://velastack.dev/tutorials/sveltekit-crud-scaffold) takes the same field list and adds list, create, view and edit routes on top.

## Change the model later

The field list is not a one-shot. Once the collection exists, evolve it with a migration:

```sh
$ vela generate migration articles add published:bool
```

[Evolving your schema with migrations](https://velastack.dev/patterns/generate-migration) covers add, remove, rename and references.

## Going further

- [The field syntax](https://velastack.dev/tutorials/sveltekit-generator-field-syntax): every type, `!`, `select(...)`, relations and nested models like `users/articles`
- Undo with `vela destroy resource articles`, which drops the collection and removes the schema
- [Pattern page: Resource](https://velastack.dev/patterns/generate-resource) · [Docs: vela generate resource](https://docs.velastack.dev/generate/resource)