Nest.js Paginate

Pagination and filtering helper method for TypeORM repositories or query builders using Nest.js framework.

• Pagination conforms to JSON:API
• Sort by multiple columns
• Search across columns
• Select columns
• Filter using operators ($eq, $not, $null, $in, $gt, $gte, $lt, $lte, $btw, $ilike, $sw, $contains)
• Include relations and nested relations
• Virtual column support

Installation

npm install nestjs-paginate

Usage

Example

The following code exposes a route that can be utilized like so:

Endpoint

1http://localhost:3000/cats?limit=5&page=2&sortBy=color:DESC&search=i&filter.age=$gte:3&select=id,name,color,age

Result

1{
2  "data": [
3    {
4      "id": 4,
5      "name": "George",
6      "color": "white",
7      "age": 3
8    },
9    {
10      "id": 5,
11      "name": "Leche",
12      "color": "white",
13      "age": 6
14    },
15    {
16      "id": 2,
17      "name": "Garfield",
18      "color": "ginger",
19      "age": 4
20    },
21    {
22      "id": 1,
23      "name": "Milo",
24      "color": "brown",
25      "age": 5
26    },
27    {
28      "id": 3,
29      "name": "Kitty",
30      "color": "black",
31      "age": 3
32    }
33  ],
34  "meta": {
35    "itemsPerPage": 5,
36    "totalItems": 12,
37    "currentPage": 2,
38    "totalPages": 3,
39    "sortBy": [["color", "DESC"]],
40    "search": "i",
41    "filter": {
42      "age": "$gte:3"
43    }
44  },
45  "links": {
46    "first": "http://localhost:3000/cats?limit=5&page=1&sortBy=color:DESC&search=i&filter.age=$gte:3",
47    "previous": "http://localhost:3000/cats?limit=5&page=1&sortBy=color:DESC&search=i&filter.age=$gte:3",
48    "current": "http://localhost:3000/cats?limit=5&page=2&sortBy=color:DESC&search=i&filter.age=$gte:3",
49    "next": "http://localhost:3000/cats?limit=5&page=3&sortBy=color:DESC&search=i&filter.age=$gte:3",
50    "last": "http://localhost:3000/cats?limit=5&page=3&sortBy=color:DESC&search=i&filter.age=$gte:3"
51  }
52}

Code

1import { Controller, Injectable, Get } from '@nestjs/common'
2import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm'
3import { FilterOperator, FilterSuffix, Paginate, PaginateQuery, paginate, Paginated } from 'nestjs-paginate'
4import { Repository, Entity, PrimaryGeneratedColumn, Column } from 'typeorm'
5
6@Entity()
7export class CatEntity {
8  @PrimaryGeneratedColumn()
9  id: number
10
11  @Column('text')
12  name: string
13
14  @Column('text')
15  color: string
16
17  @Column('int')
18  age: number
19
20  @Column({ nullable: true })
21  lastVetVisit: Date | null
22
23  @CreateDateColumn()
24  createdAt: string
25}
26
27@Injectable()
28export class CatsService {
29  constructor(
30    @InjectRepository(CatEntity)
31    private readonly catsRepository: Repository<CatEntity>
32  ) {}
33
34  public findAll(query: PaginateQuery): Promise<Paginated<CatEntity>> {
35    return paginate(query, this.catsRepository, {
36      sortableColumns: ['id', 'name', 'color', 'age'],
37      nullSort: 'last',
38      defaultSortBy: [['id', 'DESC']],
39      searchableColumns: ['name', 'color', 'age'],
40      select: ['id', 'name', 'color', 'age', 'lastVetVisit'],
41      filterableColumns: {
42        name: [FilterOperator.EQ, FilterSuffix.NOT],
43        age: true,
44      },
45    })
46  }
47}
48
49@Controller('cats')
50export class CatsController {
51  constructor(private readonly catsService: CatsService) {}
52
53  @Get()
54  public findAll(@Paginate() query: PaginateQuery): Promise<Paginated<CatEntity>> {
55    return this.catsService.findAll(query)
56  }
57}

Config

1const paginateConfig: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> {
2  /**
3   * Required: true (must have a minimum of one column)
4   * Type: (keyof CatEntity)[]
5   * Description: These are the columns that are valid to be sorted by.
6   */
7  sortableColumns: ['id', 'name', 'color'],
8
9  /**
10   * Required: false
11   * Type: 'first' | 'last'
12   * Description: Define whether to put null values at the beginning
13   * or end of the result set.
14   */
15  nullSort: 'last',
16
17  /**
18   * Required: false
19   * Type: [keyof CatEntity, 'ASC' | 'DESC'][]
20   * Default: [[sortableColumns[0], 'ASC]]
21   * Description: The order to display the sorted entities.
22   */
23  defaultSortBy: [['name', 'DESC']],
24
25  /**
26   * Required: false
27   * Type: (keyof CatEntity)[]
28   * Description: These columns will be searched through when using the search query
29   * param. Limit search scope further by using `searchBy` query param.
30   */
31  searchableColumns: ['name', 'color'],
32
33  /**
34   * Required: false
35   * Type: (keyof CatEntity)[]
36   * Default: None
37   * Description: TypeORM partial selection. Limit selection further by using `select` query param.
38   * https://typeorm.io/select-query-builder#partial-selection
39   * Note: You must include the primary key in the selection.
40   */
41  select: ['id', 'name', 'color'],
42
43  /**
44   * Required: false
45   * Type: number
46   * Default: 100
47   * Description: The maximum amount of entities to return per page.
48   * Set it to -1, in conjunction with limit=-1 on query param, to disable pagination.
49   */
50  maxLimit: 20,
51
52  /**
53   * Required: false
54   * Type: number
55   * Default: 20
56   */
57  defaultLimit: 50,
58
59  /**
60   * Required: false
61   * Type: TypeORM find options
62   * Default: None
63   * https://typeorm.io/#/find-optionsfind-options.md
64   */
65  where: { color: 'ginger' },
66
67  /**
68   * Required: false
69   * Type: { [key in CatEntity]?: FilterOperator[] } - Operators based on TypeORM find operators
70   * Default: None
71   * https://typeorm.io/#/find-options/advanced-options
72   */
73  filterableColumns: { age: [FilterOperator.EQ, FilterOperator.IN] },
74
75  /**
76   * Required: false
77   * Type: RelationColumn<CatEntity>
78   * Description: Indicates what relations of entity should be loaded.
79   */
80  relations: [],
81
82  /**
83   * Required: false
84   * Type: boolean
85   * Default: false
86   * Description: Load eager relations using TypeORM's eager property.
87   * Only works if `relations` is not defined.
88   */
89  loadEagerRelations: true,
90
91  /**
92   * Required: false
93   * Type: boolean
94   * Description: Disables the global condition of "non-deleted" for the entity with delete date columns.
95   * https://typeorm.io/select-query-builder#querying-deleted-rows
96   */
97  withDeleted: false,
98
99  /**
100   * Required: false
101   * Type: string
102   * Description: Allow user to choose between limit/offset and take/skip.
103   * Default: PaginationType.TAKE_AND_SKIP
104   *
105   * However, using limit/offset can cause problems with relations.
106   */
107  paginationType: PaginationType.LIMIT_AND_OFFSET,
108
109  /**
110   * Required: false
111   * Type: boolean
112   * Default: false
113   * Description: Generate relative paths in the resource links.
114   */
115  relativePath: true,
116
117  /**
118   * Required: false
119   * Type: string
120   * Description: Overrides the origin of absolute resource links if set.
121   */
122  origin: 'http://cats.example',
123
124  /**
125   * Required: false
126   * Type: boolean
127   * Default: false
128   * Description: Prevent `searchBy` query param from limiting search scope further. Search will depend upon `searchableColumns` config option only
129   */
130  ignoreSearchByInQueryParam: true,
131
132  /**
133   * Required: false
134   * Type: boolean
135   * Default: false
136   * Description: Prevent `select` query param from limiting selection further. Partial selection will depend upon `select` config option only
137   */
138  ignoreSelectInQueryParam: true,
139
140  /**
141   * Required: false
142   * Type: boolean
143   * Default: false
144   * Description: Enable multi-word search behavior. When true, each word in the search query
145   * will be treated as a separate search term, allowing for more flexible matching.
146   */
147  multiWordSearch: false,
148}

Usage with Query Builder

You can paginate custom queries by passing on the query builder:

Example

1const queryBuilder = repo
2  .createQueryBuilder('cats')
3  .leftJoinAndSelect('cats.owner', 'owner')
4  .where('cats.owner = :ownerId', { ownerId })
5
6const result = await paginate<CatEntity>(query, queryBuilder, config)

Usage with Relations

Similar as with repositories, you can utilize relations as a simplified left-join form:

Example

Endpoint

1http://localhost:3000/cats?filter.toys.name=$in:Mouse,String

Code

1const config: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> = {
2  relations: ['toys'],
3  sortableColumns: ['id', 'name', 'toys.name'],
4  filterableColumns: {
5    'toys.name': [FilterOperator.IN],
6  },
7}
8
9const result = await paginate<CatEntity>(query, catRepo, config)

Note: Embedded columns on relations have to be wrapped with brackets:

1const config: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> = {
2  sortableColumns: ['id', 'name', 'toys.(size.height)', 'toys.(size.width)'],
3  searchableColumns: ['name'],
4  relations: ['toys'],
5}

Usage with Nested Relations

Similar as with relations, you can specify nested relations for sorting, filtering and searching:

Example

Endpoint

1http://localhost:3000/cats?filter.home.pillows.color=pink

Code

1const config: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> = {
2  relations: { home: { pillows: true } },
3  sortableColumns: ['id', 'name', 'home.pillows.color'],
4  searchableColumns: ['name', 'home.pillows.color'],
5  filterableColumns: {
6    'home.pillows.color': [FilterOperator.EQ],
7  },
8}
9
10const result = await paginate<CatEntity>(query, catRepo, config)

Usage with Eager Loading

Eager loading should work with TypeORM's eager property out of the box:

Example

Code

1@Entity()
2export class CatEntity {
3  // ...
4
5  @OneToMany(() => CatToyEntity, (catToy) => catToy.cat, {
6    eager: true,
7  })
8  toys: CatToyEntity[]
9}
10
11const config: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> = {
12  loadEagerRelations: true,
13  sortableColumns: ['id', 'name', 'toys.name'],
14  filterableColumns: {
15    'toys.name': [FilterOperator.IN],
16  },
17}
18
19const result = await paginate<CatEntity>(query, catRepo, config)

Filters

Filter operators must be whitelisted per column in PaginateConfig.

Examples

Code

1const config: PaginateConfig<CatEntity> = {
2  // ...
3  filterableColumns: {
4    // Enable individual operators on a column
5    id: [FilterOperator.EQ, FilterSuffix.NOT],
6
7    // Enable all operators on a column
8    age: true,
9  },
10}

?filter.name=$eq:Milo is equivalent with ?filter.name=Milo

?filter.age=$btw:4,6 where column age is between 4 and 6

?filter.id=$not:$in:2,5,7 where column id is not 2, 5 or 7

?filter.summary=$not:$ilike:term where column summary does not contain term

?filter.summary=$sw:term where column summary starts with term

?filter.seenAt=$null where column seenAt is NULL

?filter.seenAt=$not:$null where column seenAt is not NULL

?filter.createdAt=$btw:2022-02-02,2022-02-10 where column createdAt is between the dates 2022-02-02 and 2022-02-10

?filter.createdAt=$lt:2022-12-20T10:00:00.000Z where column createdAt is before iso date 2022-12-20T10:00:00.000Z

?filter.roles=$contains:moderator where column roles is an array and contains the value moderator

?filter.roles=$contains:moderator,admin where column roles is an array and contains the values moderator and admin

Jsonb Filters

You can filter on jsonb columns by using the dot notation. Json columns is limited to $eq operators only.

?filter.metadata.enabled=$eq:true where column metadata is jsonb and contains an object with the key enabled.

Multi Filters

Multi filters are filters that can be applied to a single column with a comparator.

Examples

?filter.createdAt=$gt:2022-02-02&filter.createdAt=$lt:2022-02-10 where column createdAt is after 2022-02-02 and before 2022-02-10

?filter.roles=$contains:moderator&filter.roles=$or:$contains:admin where column roles is an array and contains moderator or admin

?filter.id=$gt:3&filter.id=$and:$lt:5&filter.id=$or:$eq:7 where column id is greater than 3 and less than 5 or equal to 7

Note: The $and comparators are not required. The above example is equivalent to:

?filter.id=$gt:3&filter.id=$lt:5&filter.id=$or:$eq:7

Note: The first comparator on the the first filter is ignored because the filters are grouped by the column name and chained with an $and to other filters.

...&filter.id=5&filter.id=$or:7&filter.name=Milo&...

is resolved to:

WHERE ... AND (id = 5 OR id = 7) AND name = 'Milo' AND ...

Swagger

You can use two default decorators @ApiOkResponsePaginated and @ApiPagination to generate swagger documentation for your endpoints

@ApiOkPaginatedResponse is for response body, return http status is 200

@ApiPaginationQuery is for query params

1  @Get()
2  @ApiOkPaginatedResponse(
3    UserDto,
4    USER_PAGINATION_CONFIG,
5  )
6  @ApiPaginationQuery(USER_PAGINATION_CONFIG)
7  async findAll(
8    @Paginate()
9    query: PaginateQuery,
10  ): Promise<Paginated<UserEntity>> {
11
12  }

There is also some syntax sugar for this, and you can use only one decorator @PaginatedSwaggerDocs for both response body and query params

1  @Get()
2  @PaginatedSwaggerDocs(UserDto, USER_PAGINATION_CONFIG)
3  async findAll(
4    @Paginate()
5    query: PaginateQuery,
6  ): Promise<Paginated<UserEntity>> {
7
8  }

Troubleshooting

The package does not report error reasons in the response bodies. They are instead reported as debug level logging.

Common errors include missing sortableColumns or filterableColumns (the latter only affects filtering).