Developers - FlinDB Documentation

Quick Start

From zero to storing data in under a minute.

Install FLIN

FlinDB is included with the FLIN language. Install with a single command.

$ curl -fsSL https://flin.sh | bash

Define Your Entity

Create a data model with simple, declarative syntax. No SQL, no migrations.

                                    
app.flin

                                entity Todo {
    title: text
    completed: bool = false
    priority: int = 1
    created: time = now
}

Create and Save

Instantiate entities and save them. That's it. No boilerplate.

                                    
app.flin

                                // Create entity
todo = Todo { title: "Learn FlinDB" }

// Save to database
save todo

// Done! Auto-assigned: id, created_at, version

Query Your Data

Use the intuitive query builder to retrieve and filter data.

                                    
app.flin

                                // Get all todos
todos = Todo.all

// Filter
active = Todo.where(completed == false)

// Time travel
yesterday_state = todo@yesterday

Entity Definition

Define your data models with simple, declarative syntax.

Field Types

Type	Description	Example
text	UTF-8 string	"Hello"
int	64-bit integer	42
number	64-bit float	3.14
bool	Boolean	true
time	UTC timestamp	now
money	Currency	1000 CFA
file	File reference	upload
semantic text	AI-searchable	"desc"

                                
                                
                                
                            
entities.flin

                            // Basic entity
entity User {
    name: text
    email: text
    age: int
}

// With defaults
entity Todo {
    title: text
    done: bool = false
    created: time = now
}

// Optional fields
entity Profile {
    user: User
    bio: text?        // Optional
    avatar: file?     // Optional
}
                        

CRUDD Operations

FlinDB uses CRUDD (Create, Read, Update, Delete, Destroy) with soft and hard delete options.

Operations

save entity Create or update an entity
Entity.find(id) Find entity by ID
Entity.all Get all entities
Entity.count Count entities
delete entity Soft delete (recoverable)
restore entity Restore soft-deleted entity
destroy entity Hard delete (permanent)

                                
                                
                                
                            
crud.flin

                            // CREATE
user = User { name: "Juste" }
save user

// READ
user = User.find(1)
users = User.all
count = User.count

// UPDATE
user.name = "Juste G."
save user  // New version created

// DELETE (soft - recoverable)
delete user
restore user  // Undo delete

// DESTROY (hard - permanent)
destroy user  // GDPR compliant
                        

Querying

Chain query methods for powerful filtering, ordering, and pagination.

Query Methods

.where(condition) Filter by condition
.order(field, dir) Sort results (asc/desc)
.limit(n) Limit number of results
.offset(n) Skip first n results
.first(condition) Get first matching entity

Comparison Operators

== != > < >= <= && ||

                                
                                
                                
                            
queries.flin

                            // Simple filter
active = Todo.where(done == false)

// Multiple conditions
urgent = Todo
    .where(done == false)
    .where(priority > 3)

// Ordering
newest = Todo.all.order(created, desc)

// Chained query
results = Product
    .where(category == "tech")
    .where(price < 1000)
    .order(rating, desc)
    .limit(10)

// Pagination
page2 = User.all.limit(20).offset(20)
                        

Temporal Queries

Query any entity at any point in time using the @ operator.

Temporal Syntax

entity@-1 Previous version
entity@-n n versions back
entity@"date" State on specific date
entity@yesterday State yesterday
entity.history() All versions

Keywords

now today yesterday tomorrow last_week last_month

                                
                                
                                
                            
temporal.flin

                            // Version-based
previous = user@-1
two_back = user@-2

// Date-based
state = user@"2024-01-15"
precise = user@"2024-01-15 14:30"

// Keywords
yesterday_state = user@yesterday
last_week_state = user@last_week

// Full history
versions = user.history()
count = user.history().length

// Compare versions
old = user@-1
if user.email != old.email {
    log("Email changed!")
}
                        

Relationships

Define relationships between entities naturally.

Relationship Types

field: Entity One-to-one / Many-to-one
field: [Entity] One-to-many / Many-to-many
field: Entity? Optional relationship

                                
                                
                                
                            
relationships.flin

                            // One-to-many
entity User { name: text }
entity Post {
    title: text
    author: User
}

// Many-to-many
entity Tag { name: text }
entity Article {
    title: text
    tags: [Tag]
}

// Self-reference (tree)
entity Category {
    name: text
    parent: Category?
}
                        

Developer Guide