Auto-generated Timestamps

By default, Sequelize automatically adds the attributes createdAt and updatedAt to every model, using the data type DataTypes.DATE. Those attributes are automatically managed as well - whenever you use Sequelize to create or update something, those attributes will be set correctly.

The createdAt attribute will contain the timestamp representing the moment of creation, and the updatedAt will contain the timestamp of the latest update.

Note: The value of these attributes are updated by Sequelize in JavaScript (i.e. not done with SQL triggers). This means that direct SQL queries (for example queries performed without Sequelize by any other means) will not cause these attributes to be updated automatically.

info

A third Auto-generated Timestamp called deletedAt exists. It is used by Paranoid Models to mark a row as deleted.

TypeScript

If you're using TypeScript, you'll want to type these attributes. You can do so by simply adding them to your model as follows:

import { InferCreationAttributes, InferAttributes, Model, CreationOptional } from '@sequelize/core';

class User extends Model<InferAttributes<User>, InferCreationAttributes<User>> {
  declare createdAt: CreationOptional<Date>;
  declare updatedAt: CreationOptional<Date>;
}

You don't need to decorate them, as they're automatically configured by Sequelize.

Disabling Auto-Timestamp Attributes

All auto-generated timestamp attributes can be removed from your model by setting the timestamps option to false:

@Table({ timestamps: false })
class User extends Model {}

The timestamps option can also be disabled globally, on the Sequelize instance:

class User extends Model {}

const sequelize = new Sequelize({
  dialect: SqliteDialect,
  define: {
    timestamps: false,
  },
  models: [User],
});

It is also possible to disable only some auto-generated timestamp attributes by setting the createdAt or updatedAt option to false:

@Table({
  // don't generate a "createdAt" attribute
  createdAt: false,
  // don't generate an "updatedAt" attribute
  updatedAt: false,
})
class User extends Model {}

Renaming Auto-Timestamp Attributes

You may also be interested in renaming the attributes. There are two parts to this:

• Renaming the JavaScript name (the attribute name)
• Renaming the Database name (the column name)

Changing the Attribute Name

Changing the attribute name is done by using the @CreatedAt, @UpdatedAt, or @DeletedAt decorators on the attribute of your choice.

TypeScript

import { InferCreationAttributes, InferAttributes, Model, CreationOptional } from '@sequelize/core';
import { CreatedAt, UpdatedAt, DeletedAt } from '@sequelize/core/decorators-legacy';

class User extends Model<InferAttributes<User>, InferCreationAttributes<User>> {
  @CreatedAt
  declare creationDate: CreationOptional<Date>;

  @UpdatedAt
  declare lastUpdateDate: CreationOptional<Date>;

  @DeletedAt
  declare deletionDate: Date | null;
}

JavaScript

import { Model } from '@sequelize/core';
import { CreatedAt, UpdatedAt, DeletedAt } from '@sequelize/core/decorators-legacy';

class User extends Model {
  @CreatedAt
  creationDate;

  @UpdatedAt
  lastUpdateDate;

  @DeletedAt
  deletionDate;
}

Paranoid Mode

Using @DeletedAt on your model will automatically enable Paranoid Mode for that model.

Changing the Column Name

Changing the Column Name is done by using the @ColumnName decorator on the timestamp attribute. If @ColumnName is not used, the Column Name will be automatically inferred from the Attribute Name.

Read more on this in the Naming Strategies API documentation.

note

Notice how in the example below, we do not configure the data type or the nullability of these attributes. These properties will be configured automatically by Sequelize.

TypeScript

import { Model, InferCreationAttributes, InferAttributes, CreationOptional } from '@sequelize/core';
import { ColumnName } from '@sequelize/core/decorators-legacy';

class User extends Model<InferAttributes<User>, InferCreationAttributes<User>> {
  // sets the Database name to 'created_at'
  @ColumnName('created_at')
  declare createdAt: CreationOptional<Date>;

  // sets the Database name to 'updated_at'
  @ColumnName('updated_at')
  declare updatedAt: CreationOptional<Date>;

  // for Paranoid Models
  // sets the Database name to 'deleted_at'
  @ColumnName('deleted_at')
  declare deletedAt: Date | null;
}

JavaScript

import { Model } from '@sequelize/core';
import { ColumnName } from '@sequelize/core/decorators-legacy';

class User extends Model {
  // sets the Database name to 'created_at'
  @ColumnName('created_at')
  createdAt;

  // sets the Database name to 'updated_at'
  @ColumnName('updated_at')
  updatedAt;

  // for Paranoid Models
  // sets the Database name to 'deleted_at'
  @ColumnName('deleted_at')
  deletedAt;
}