Query Object Builder

A fluent, immutable, fully-typed SQL query builder for PHP 8.4+.

You compose a query from small, type-safe expression objects and render it to a parameterized SQL string with bound arguments — never by concatenating strings. The package ships two dialect families, each modelling its own SQL rather than a lowest-common-denominator subset:

PostgreSQL\Q — the PostgreSQL builder.
MySQL\Q — a single MySQL-family builder covering both MySQLandMariaDB. Every construct is buildable regardless of engine or version; where the two engines diverge you build the engine's own form, and an opt-in target-validation pass reports any construct the engine (and version) you are targeting cannot express.

Both families share the same design — fluent, immutable, type-state builders and the Q / Q\Func facade split — so once you know one, you know the other.

Why Query Object Builder?

Dialect-native, not lowest-common-denominator — each family's facade and builders model that engine's own SQL (PostgreSQL arrays and ON CONFLICT; MySQL/MariaDB JSON_TABLE, ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE, backtick quoting). No feature is dropped to fit a shared subset.
JSON-first — first-class support for building hierarchical data directly in the database (json_build_object / json_agg on PostgreSQL, JSON_OBJECT / JSON_ARRAYAGG on MySQL/MariaDB).
Complete feature set — CTEs, window functions and frames, grouping, subqueries, upserts, RETURNING, set-returning / table functions, and more.
Type-safe — builder methods only expose what is valid in the current context, so invalid queries are hard to express.
Immutable — every builder method returns a new instance, so base queries can be shared and specialised without surprises.
Runtime target validation — the MySQL family renders both engines from one builder and can report (never silently rewrite) any construct a specific engine or version cannot express.
Zero runtime dependencies — requires only PHP 8.4+. Everything else is a dev-only dependency (PHPUnit, Pest, PHPStan).

Requirements

PHP 8.4 or newer

Installation

composer require flowpack/query-object-builder

The two dialect families

Pick the facade for your database; the fluent API is the same shape on both.

	PostgreSQL	MySQL / MariaDB
Import	`Flowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\PostgreSQL\Q`	`Flowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q`
Placeholders	numbered `$1`, `$2`, …	positional `?`
Identifier quoting	`"col"` (when needed)	`col` (when needed)
Boolean literal	`true` / `false`	`TRUE` / `FALSE`
Function casing	`count(*)`, `json_agg(...)`	`COUNT(*)`, `JSON_ARRAYAGG(...)`
Cast	`expr::type`	`CAST(expr AS type)` / `CONVERT(...)`
Engines	PostgreSQL	MySQL and MariaDB (one builder)

PostgreSQL\Q and MySQL\Q do not share types — a query built with one is rendered by its own QueryBuilder.

Quick start

PostgreSQL:

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\PostgreSQL\Q;
$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'), Q::n('email'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('active')->eq(Q::arg(true)))
->orderBy(Q::n('name'));
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->toSql();
echo$sql; // SELECT name,email FROM users WHERE active = $1 ORDER BY namevar_dump($args); // [true]

MySQL / MariaDB:

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'), Q::n('email'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('active')->eq(Q::arg(true)))
->orderBy(Q::n('name'));
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->toSql();
echo$sql; // SELECT name,email FROM users WHERE active = ? ORDER BY namevar_dump($args); // [true]

Q::build($q)->toSql() returns a [$sql, $args] pair: a SQL string with the dialect's placeholders and the positional argument list to bind. See Executing queries for how to run it.

Core concepts

The `Q` facade

Q is the single entry point for building queries. It exposes the builder package as static factory methods so you never reference the underlying builder types directly:

Statements: Q::select(), Q::insertInto(), Q::update(), Q::deleteFrom(), Q::with(), Q::withRecursive() (MySQL family adds Q::replaceInto()).
Identifiers: Q::n('table.column') for names/columns.
Literals: Q::string(), Q::int(), Q::float(), Q::bool(), Q::null(), Q::default() (PostgreSQL adds Q::array(), Q::interval()).
Parameters: Q::arg() (positional), Q::bind() (named).
Composition: Q::and(), Q::or(), Q::not(), Q::exists(), Q::any(), Q::all(), Q::case(), Q::coalesce(), Q::func().

The `Q\Func` facade

SQL functions live on Q\Func. On PostgreSQL: Q\Func::jsonBuildObject(), Q\Func::jsonAgg(), Q\Func::count(), Q\Func::rowNumber(), Q\Func::unnest(), … On MySQL/MariaDB: Q\Func::jsonObject(), Q\Func::jsonArrayAgg(), Q\Func::count(), Q\Func::groupConcat(), Q\Func::rank(), … It is named Func (not Fn) because fn is a reserved keyword in PHP.

Q\Func is the expression facade: every method returns something usable anywhere an expression is valid. Constructs that are not general expressions — a statement, or a FROM-only producer like JSON_TABLE — live on Q instead (Q::jsonTable(), PostgreSQL's Q::rowsFrom()).

Immutability

Every builder method returns a new builder — the original is never mutated. This makes base queries safe to reuse:

$base = Q::select(Q::n('*'))->from(Q::n('users'));
$active = $base->where(Q::n('active')->eq(Q::bool(true)));
$recent = $base->where(Q::n('created_at')->gt(Q::string('2024-01-01')));
// $base is unchanged

Operators on expressions

Expressions returned by Q::n(), Q::arg(), literals and functions carry the SQL operators as fluent methods; what reads as a function is built through the facade. Each family models the operator set its dialect actually has:

Shared: ->eq(), ->neq(), ->lt(), ->lte(), ->gt(), ->gte(), ->like(), ->in(), ->isNull(), ->isNotNull(), ->plus(), ->minus(), ->mult(), ->and()/->or(), …
PostgreSQL-specific: ->ilike(), ->cast('text') (::), ->concat() (||), array/JSON operators.
MySQL/MariaDB-specific: ->nullSafeEq() (<=>), ->regexp(), ->memberOf() (MEMBER OF), ->jsonExtract() / ->jsonExtractText() (-> / ->>, MySQL), the bitwise operators (->bitAnd(), ->bitOr(), ->shiftLeft(), …).

Parentheses are added automatically based on each dialect's operator precedence.

Building and rendering

A finished query is handed to Q::build($q) to configure rendering, then ->toSql() produces the [$sql, $args] pair:

[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->toSql(); // validate + render
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->withoutValidation()->toSql(); // skip value checks
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->withNamedArgs([...])->toSql(); // bind Q::bind() names

See Validation & errors for what is checked and how to opt out, and the MySQL-only target validation pass.

MySQL & MariaDB: one builder, two engines

The MySQL family is a single builder for both MySQL and MariaDB. The two engines share ~95% of their grammar and all of their rendering conventions (backtick identifiers, ? placeholders, string escaping), so one builder models both. This section is the design goal that makes that safe.

Nothing is gated at build time. Every construct is buildable regardless of engine or version — the builder never refuses a feature because your engine is the wrong flavour or too old. Engine and version are inputs to the opt-in validation pass below, which reports (never rewrites or blocks) what a target cannot express. This is also why the PostgreSQL builder carries no version: it models a single engine, so it needs no target at all.

Rendering is determined by construction

Rendering never branches on a dialect flag. What you build is exactly what is rendered — so the engine-divergent constructs are reached by building the engine's own form, not by toggling a mode:

Intent	MySQL	MariaDB
Shared row lock	`->forShare()`	`->lockInShareMode()`
Upsert proposed-row ref	`->as('new')` + `Q::n('new.col')`	`Q::values('col')`(also works on MySQL)
JSON path	`->jsonExtract()` / `->jsonExtractText()`	`Q\Func::jsonExtract()` / `Q\Func::jsonUnquote()`
Pretty-print JSON	`Q\Func::jsonPretty()`	`Q\Func::jsonDetailed()`
`RETURNING`	— (not supported)	`->returning(...)`
`LATERAL`	`->joinLateral()` / `->fromLateral()`	— (no equivalent)

Building without a target renders precisely what you constructed and never fails on dialect grounds.

Opt-in target validation

To check a query against a specific engine (and, optionally, version), opt in with withValidateTarget(). Each divergent construct reports itself while rendering, so you get a QueryBuilderException naming what the target cannot express:

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Builder\Target;
$q = Q::select(Q::n('id'))->from(Q::n('t'))->forShare(); // FOR SHARE is MySQL-only
Q::build($q)->withValidateTarget(Target::mysql())->toSql(); // ok
Q::build($q)->withValidateTarget(Target::mariaDb())->toSql(); // throws QueryBuilderException:// "FOR SHARE requires MySQL, but the query is validated against MariaDB"

Target::mysql($version) / Target::mariaDb($version) carry an optional version. Version-gated features are checked only when a version is supplied — a leading WITH on UPDATE/DELETE is valid on MySQL and on MariaDB 12.3+, so it passes against Target::mariaDb('12.3') but fails against Target::mariaDb('11.4'). A target with no version only checks the dialect.

Worked per-engine variants for each divergent construct are in the Examples below.

Examples

How to read these examples. Unless a snippet is labelled for a specific engine, the PHP builds identically on both facades — import PostgreSQL\Q or MySQL\Q as Q. Only the rendered SQL differs by dialect ($1 vs ?, identifier quoting, true vs TRUE, lower- vs upper-case function names). Divergent constructs show a snippet per engine. The builder emits compact, single-line SQL; the SQL below is formatted for readability.

Jump to:

Basic queries · Joins · Aggregation & grouping · Window functions · JSON · Arrays (PostgreSQL) · Subqueries · CTEs (WITH) · INSERT & upsert · UPDATE · DELETE · Functions & operators · Locking

Basic queries

SELECT with WHERE

$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'), Q::n('email'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('active')->eq(Q::arg(true)));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT name, email FROM users WHERE active = $1-- args: [true]-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECT name, email FROM users WHERE active = ? -- args: [true]

Multiple conditions

$q = Q::select(Q::n('*'))
->from(Q::n('employees'))
->where(Q::and(
Q::or(
Q::n('firstname')->like(Q::arg('John%')),
Q::n('lastname')->like(Q::arg('John%')),
),
Q::n('active')->eq(Q::bool(true)),
));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT*FROM employees
WHERE (firstname LIKE $1OR lastname LIKE $2) AND active = true
-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECT*FROM employees
WHERE (firstname LIKE ? OR lastname LIKE ?) AND active = TRUE

PostgreSQL also has ->ilike() for case-insensitive matching; MySQL/MariaDB use ->like() (case-insensitivity follows the column collation) or ->regexp().

DISTINCT

$q = Q::select(Q::n('department'))->distinct()->from(Q::n('employees'));

-- PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDBSELECT DISTINCT department FROM employees

ORDER BY, LIMIT and OFFSET

$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'), Q::n('salary'))
->from(Q::n('employees'))
->orderBy(Q::n('salary'))->desc()
->limit(Q::int(10))
->offset(Q::int(20));

-- PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDBSELECT name, salary FROM employees ORDER BY salary DESCLIMIT10 OFFSET 20

NULLS FIRST / NULLS LAST (->nullsLast()) is PostgreSQL-only.

Joins

join(), leftJoin(), rightJoin(), crossJoin() are shared; alias with ->as() and constrain with ->on(...) or ->using('col').

$q = Q::select(Q::n('u.name'), Q::n('p.title'))
->from(Q::n('users'))->as('u')
->leftJoin(Q::n('posts'))->as('p')->on(Q::n('u.id')->eq(Q::n('p.user_id')));

-- PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDBSELECTu.name, p.titleFROM users AS u
LEFT JOIN posts AS p ONu.id=p.user_id

LATERAL join

Supported by PostgreSQL and MySQL — MariaDB has no LATERAL.

$q = Q::select(Q::n('*'))
->from(Q::n('orders'))->as('o')
->joinLateral(
Q::select(Q::n('*'))->from(Q::n('items'))->as('i')
->where(Q::n('i.order_id')->eq(Q::n('o.id')))
->limit(Q::int(3)),
)->as('top')->on(Q::bool(true));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT*FROM orders AS o
JOIN LATERAL (SELECT*FROM items AS i WHEREi.order_id=o.idLIMIT3) AS top ON true
-- MySQLSELECT*FROM orders AS o
JOIN LATERAL (SELECT*FROM items AS i WHEREi.order_id=o.idLIMIT3) AS top ON TRUE

fromLateral(), leftJoinLateral() and crossJoinLateral() are also available. Within the MySQL family, LATERAL is MySQL-only — validating against Target::mariaDb() reports "LATERAL requires MySQL".

Aggregation & grouping

$q = Q::select(Q::n('department'), Q\Func::count(Q::n('*')))->as('n')
->from(Q::n('employees'))
->groupBy(Q::n('department'))
->having(Q\Func::count(Q::n('*'))->gt(Q::int(5)));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT department, count(*) AS n FROM employees
GROUP BY department HAVINGcount(*) >5-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECT department, COUNT(*) AS n FROM employees
GROUP BY department HAVINGCOUNT(*) >5

ROLLUP

The engines spell super-aggregate grouping differently:

// PostgreSQL: GROUP BY ROLLUP (...)$q = Q::select(Q::n('department'), Q::n('job_title'), Q\Func::sum(Q::n('salary')))
->from(Q::n('employees'))
->groupBy()->rollup(Q::exps(Q::n('department')), Q::exps(Q::n('job_title')));
// SELECT department, job_title, sum(salary) FROM employees// GROUP BY ROLLUP (department, job_title)// MySQL / MariaDB: GROUP BY ... WITH ROLLUP$q = Q::select(Q::n('department'), Q::n('job_title'), Q\Func::sum(Q::n('salary')))
->from(Q::n('employees'))
->groupBy(Q::n('department'), Q::n('job_title'))->withRollup();
// SELECT department, job_title, SUM(salary) FROM employees// GROUP BY department, job_title WITH ROLLUP

PostgreSQL also supports ->groupingSets(...) and ->cube(...).

Window functions

Aggregate and window functions carry ->over() (inline) or ->over('w') (named), refined with ->partitionBy(...), ->orderBy(...) and frame clauses.

$q = Q::select(
Q::n('name'),
Q::n('salary'),
Q\Func::rowNumber()->over()->partitionBy(Q::n('department'))->orderBy(Q::n('salary'))->desc(),
)->from(Q::n('employees'));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT name, salary,
row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER BY salary DESC)
FROM employees
-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECT name, salary,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY department ORDER BY salary DESC)
FROM employees

Named windows

$q = Q::select(
Q\Func::sum(Q::n('salary'))->over('w'),
Q\Func::avg(Q::n('salary'))->over('w'),
)
->from(Q::n('empsalary'))
->window('w')->as()->partitionBy(Q::n('depname'))->orderBy(Q::n('salary'))->desc();

-- MySQL / MariaDB (PostgreSQL renders the same, lower-cased)SELECTSUM(salary) OVER w, AVG(salary) OVER w
FROM empsalary
WINDOW w AS (PARTITION BY depname ORDER BY salary DESC)

Frames

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
// Running total: ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING$q = Q::select(
Q\Func::sum(Q::n('val'))->over()
->partitionBy(Q::n('subject'))->orderBy(Q::n('time'))
->rows(Q::unboundedPreceding()),
)->from(Q::n('observations'));
// SELECT SUM(val) OVER (PARTITION BY subject ORDER BY time ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING) FROM observations// Moving average: ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND 1 FOLLOWING$q = Q::select(
Q\Func::avg(Q::n('val'))->over()
->partitionBy(Q::n('subject'))->orderBy(Q::n('time'))
->rows(Q::preceding(Q::int(1)), Q::following(Q::int(1))),
)->from(Q::n('observations'));
// SELECT AVG(val) OVER (PARTITION BY subject ORDER BY time ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND 1 FOLLOWING) FROM observations

MariaDB additionally offers distribution aggregates — Q\Func::median(), Q\Func::percentileCont() / percentileDisc() with ->withinGroup() — which validate against Target::mariaDb() only.

JSON

Both families build hierarchical data in the database, but with each engine's own function set.

Build a JSON object

Both families build objects from key/value properties with a ->prop() builder, under each dialect's own function name:

// PostgreSQL: json_build_object()$q = Q::select(
Q\Func::jsonBuildObject()
->prop('id', Q::n('id'))
->prop('name', Q::n('name')),
)->from(Q::n('users'));
// SELECT json_build_object('id', id, 'name', name) FROM users// MySQL / MariaDB: JSON_OBJECT()$q = Q::select(
Q\Func::jsonObject()
->prop('id', Q::n('id'))
->prop('name', Q::n('name')),
)->from(Q::n('users'));
// SELECT JSON_OBJECT('id', id, 'name', name) FROM users

The builder keeps insertion order, and ->propIf($cond, 'key', $value) / ->applyIf(...) / ->unset('key') let you shape the object incrementally:

$obj = Q\Func::jsonObject()
->prop('id', Q::n('id'))
->propIf($includeName, 'name', Q::n('name'));

Property keys are string literals; for a computed key, drop to the Q::func('json_build_object'|'JSON_OBJECT', ...) escape hatch.

JSON-first query (`selectJson`)

When a query's primary output is a single JSON object, Q::selectJson($obj) makes it the first select element; refine it later with applySelectJson() and name it with ->as(). Both families support it — pass the family's own object builder.

$q = Q::selectJson(
// PostgreSQL: Q\Func::jsonBuildObject() — MySQL / MariaDB: Q\Func::jsonObject()Q\Func::jsonObject()
->prop('id', Q::n('authors.author_id'))
->prop('name', Q::n('authors.name')),
)
->from(Q::n('authors'))
->where(Q::n('authors.author_id')->eq(Q::arg(123)));
// The builder is a blueprint — add to the JSON selection later:$q = $q->applySelectJson(fn ($obj) => $obj->prop('postCount', Q\Func::count(Q::n('posts'))));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT json_build_object('id', authors.author_id, 'name', authors.name, 'postCount', count(posts))
FROM authors WHEREauthors.author_id= $1-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECT JSON_OBJECT('id', authors.author_id, 'name', authors.name, 'postCount', COUNT(posts))
FROM authors WHEREauthors.author_id= ?

Aggregate rows into a JSON array

// PostgreSQL: json_agg(...)$q = Q::select(
Q::n('department'),
Q\Func::jsonAgg(
Q\Func::jsonBuildObject()->prop('name', Q::n('name'))->prop('salary', Q::n('salary')),
)->orderBy(Q::n('name')),
)->from(Q::n('employees'))->groupBy(Q::n('department'));
// SELECT department, json_agg(json_build_object('name', name, 'salary', salary) ORDER BY name)// FROM employees GROUP BY department// MySQL / MariaDB: JSON_ARRAYAGG(...); COALESCE with JSON_ARRAY() to avoid NULL on empty sets$q = Q::select(
Q::n('department'),
Q::coalesce(
Q\Func::jsonArrayAgg(
Q\Func::jsonObject()->prop('name', Q::n('name'))->prop('salary', Q::n('salary')),
),
Q\Func::jsonArray(),
),
)->from(Q::n('employees'))->groupBy(Q::n('department'));
// SELECT department, COALESCE(JSON_ARRAYAGG(JSON_OBJECT('name', name, 'salary', salary)), JSON_ARRAY())// FROM employees GROUP BY department

JSON path access — MySQL family

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
// MySQL: the -> and ->> operators$q = Q::select(Q::n('doc')->jsonExtract(Q::string('$.name')))->from(Q::n('t'));
// SELECT doc -> '$.name' FROM t// MariaDB: the function form (also works on MySQL)$q = Q::select(Q\Func::jsonExtract(Q::n('doc'), Q::string('$.name')))->from(Q::n('t'));
// SELECT JSON_EXTRACT(doc, '$.name') FROM t

The -> / ->> operators validate against Target::mysql() only; the JSON_EXTRACT / JSON_UNQUOTE function form is portable across both engines.

JSON_TABLE — MySQL family

Q::jsonTable(doc, path) is a FROM-clause table function; define its columns with ->columns(closure). ->column() opens a value column and ->path() gives its JSON path; ->forOrdinality() / ->existsPath() pick the other leaf forms, the miss handlers (->defaultOnEmpty() / ->nullOnError() / …) attach, and ->nested()->path()->columns() recurses.

$q = Q::select(Q::n('jt.id'), Q::n('jt.tag'))
->from(Q::n('t'))
->from(
Q::jsonTable(Q::n('t.doc'), '$[*]')->columns(fn ($c) => $c
->column('id', 'INT')->path('$.id')
->column('ord')->forOrdinality()
->nested()->path('$.tags[*]')->columns(fn ($tags) => $tags
->column('tag', 'VARCHAR(50)')->path('$'))),
)->as('jt');

-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECTjt.id, jt.tagFROM t,
JSON_TABLE(t.doc, '$[*]' COLUMNS (
id INTPATH'$.id',
ord FOR ORDINALITY,
NESTED PATH'$.tags[*]' COLUMNS (tag VARCHAR(50) PATH'$'))) AS jt

Arrays (PostgreSQL)

Native arrays are a PostgreSQL feature.

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\PostgreSQL\Q;
$q = Q::select(
Q\Func::arrayAppend(Q::array(Q::int(1), Q::int(2)), Q::int(3)),
Q\Func::arrayLength(Q::array(Q::int(1), Q::int(2), Q::int(3)), Q::int(1)),
);
// SELECT array_append(ARRAY[1,2], 3), array_length(ARRAY[1,2,3], 1)$q = Q::select(Q::n('*'))
->from(Q\Func::unnest(Q::array(Q::string('a'), Q::string('b'))))
->as('t')->columnAliases('value');
// SELECT * FROM unnest(ARRAY['a','b']) AS t (value)

Subqueries

EXISTS and IN

$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::exists(
Q::select(Q::int(1))
->from(Q::n('posts'))
->where(Q::n('posts.user_id')->eq(Q::n('users.id'))),
));

-- PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDBSELECT name FROM users
WHERE EXISTS (SELECT1FROM posts WHEREposts.user_id=users.id)

IN with bound arguments

$ids = [1, 2, 3];
$q = Q::select(Q::n('username'))
->from(Q::n('accounts'))
->where(Q::n('id')->in(Q::args(...$ids)));

-- PostgreSQLSELECT username FROM accounts WHERE id IN ($1, $2, $3) -- args: [1, 2, 3]-- MySQL / MariaDBSELECT username FROM accounts WHERE id IN (?, ?, ?) -- args: [1, 2, 3]

ANY / ALL

$q = Q::select(Q::n('id'))->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('id')->eq(Q::any(
Q::select(Q::n('user_id'))->from(Q::n('orders')),
)));

-- PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDBSELECT id FROM users WHERE id = ANY (SELECT user_id FROM orders)

CTEs (WITH)

$q = Q::with('recent_orders')->as(
Q::select(Q::n('*'))
->from(Q::n('orders'))
->where(Q::n('created_at')->gt(Q::arg('2023-01-01'))),
)
->select(Q::n('customer_name'), Q\Func::count(Q::n('*')))
->from(Q::n('recent_orders'))
->groupBy(Q::n('customer_name'));

-- PostgreSQL (MySQL/MariaDB render the same, with ? and upper-cased count)
WITH recent_orders AS (
SELECT*FROM orders WHERE created_at > $1
)
SELECT customer_name, count(*) FROM recent_orders GROUP BY customer_name

Q::withRecursive('t')->columnNames(...)->as(...) builds recursive CTEs, and ->appendWith(...) chains several. On PostgreSQL a WITH precedes any statement; on the MySQL family a leading WITH before UPDATE/DELETE is MySQL-only (and MariaDB 12.3+):

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
$q = Q::with('stale')->as(Q::select(Q::n('id'))->from(Q::n('sessions'))->where(Q::n('expired')->eq(Q::int(1))))
->deleteFrom(Q::n('users'))->where(Q::n('id')->in(Q::select(Q::n('id'))->from(Q::n('stale'))));
// WITH stale AS (SELECT id FROM sessions WHERE expired = 1) DELETE FROM users WHERE id IN (SELECT id FROM stale)// ok against Target::mysql() and Target::mariaDb('12.3'); reported against Target::mariaDb('11.4')

INSERT & upsert

The basic INSERT surface is shared: ->columnNames(...), ->values(...) (repeat for multiple rows), ->setMap([...]), and ->query(...) to insert from a SELECT.

$q = Q::insertInto(Q::n('users'))
->columnNames('name', 'email')
->values(Q::arg('Jane Doe'), Q::arg('jane@example.com'));

-- PostgreSQLINSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES ($1, $2) -- args: ['Jane Doe', 'jane@example.com']-- MySQL / MariaDBINSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?) -- args: ['Jane Doe', 'jane@example.com']

Upsert

The engines model conflict handling differently:

// PostgreSQL: INSERT ... ON CONFLICT ... DO UPDATEuseFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\PostgreSQL\Q;
$q = Q::insertInto(Q::n('distributors'))
->columnNames('did', 'dname')
->values(Q::int(5), Q::string('Gizmo Transglobal'))
->onConflict(Q::n('did'))->doUpdate()
->set('dname', Q::n('EXCLUDED.dname'));
// INSERT INTO distributors (did, dname) VALUES (5, 'Gizmo Transglobal')// ON CONFLICT (did) DO UPDATE SET dname = EXCLUDED.dname

// MySQL / MariaDB: INSERT ... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATEuseFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
// MySQL: alias the proposed row with AS new, reference it as new.col$q = Q::insertInto(Q::n('t'))
->columnNames('id', 'hits')->values(Q::arg(1), Q::arg(10))->as('new')
->onDuplicateKeyUpdate()->set('hits', Q::n('new.hits'));
// INSERT INTO t (id,hits) VALUES (?,?) AS new ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE hits = new.hits// Portable: the VALUES(col) function works on both engines$q = Q::insertInto(Q::n('t'))
->columnNames('id', 'hits')->values(Q::arg(1), Q::arg(10))
->onDuplicateKeyUpdate()->set('hits', Q::values('hits'));
// INSERT INTO t (id,hits) VALUES (?,?) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE hits = VALUES(hits)

->as('new') is MySQL-only (reported against MariaDB). The MySQL family also has Q::insertInto(...)->ignore() (INSERT IGNORE) and Q::replaceInto(...) (a REPLACE statement with the same surface).

RETURNING

// PostgreSQLuseFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\PostgreSQL\Q;
$q = Q::insertInto(Q::n('users'))
->columnNames('name')->values(Q::arg('Jane'))
->returning(Q::n('id'), Q::n('created_at'));
// INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ($1) RETURNING id, created_at

// MariaDB (INSERT / REPLACE / single-table DELETE) — reported against Target::mysql()useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
$q = Q::insertInto(Q::n('t'))->columnNames('a')->values(Q::arg(1))
->returning(Q::n('id'))->as('new_id');
// INSERT INTO t (a) VALUES (?) RETURNING id AS new_id

UPDATE

$q = Q::update(Q::n('films'))
->set('kind', Q::arg('Dramatic'))
->where(Q::n('kind')->eq(Q::arg('Drama')));

-- PostgreSQLUPDATE films SET kind = $1WHERE kind = $2-- args: ['Dramatic', 'Drama']-- MySQL / MariaDBUPDATE films SET kind = ? WHERE kind = ? -- args: ['Dramatic', 'Drama']

Joining another table is spelled per family — PostgreSQL uses UPDATE ... FROM, the MySQL family uses a multi-table JOIN:

// PostgreSQL$q = Q::update(Q::n('employees'))->as('e')
->set('department_name', Q::n('d.name'))
->from(Q::n('departments'))->as('d')
->where(Q::n('e.department_id')->eq(Q::n('d.id')));
// UPDATE employees AS e SET department_name = d.name FROM departments AS d WHERE e.department_id = d.id// MySQL / MariaDB$q = Q::update(Q::n('t1'))
->leftJoin(Q::n('t2'))->on(Q::n('t1.id')->eq(Q::n('t2.id')))
->set('t1.col1', Q::n('t2.col1'))
->where(Q::n('t2.col2')->isNull());
// UPDATE t1 LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id SET t1.col1 = t2.col1 WHERE t2.col2 IS NULL

On the MySQL family, ->orderBy() / ->limit() are available on single-table UPDATE only; combining them with a join raises a QueryBuilderException when the query is built.

DELETE

$q = Q::deleteFrom(Q::n('films'))
->where(Q::n('kind')->neq(Q::arg('Musical')));

-- PostgreSQLDELETEFROM films WHERE kind <> $1-- args: ['Musical']-- MySQL / MariaDBDELETEFROM films WHERE kind <> ? -- args: ['Musical']

Joining is DELETE ... USING on PostgreSQL and a multi-table JOIN on the MySQL family:

// PostgreSQL$q = Q::deleteFrom(Q::n('films'))
->using(Q::n('producers'))
->where(Q::n('producer_id')->eq(Q::n('producers.id')));
// DELETE FROM films USING producers WHERE producer_id = producers.id// MySQL / MariaDB$q = Q::deleteFrom(Q::n('t1'))
->leftJoin(Q::n('t2'))->on(Q::n('t1.id')->eq(Q::n('t2.id')))
->where(Q::n('t2.id')->isNull());
// DELETE t1.* FROM t1 LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id WHERE t2.id IS NULL

Functions & operators

CASE

$q = Q::select(
Q::n('name'),
Q::case()
->when(Q::n('salary')->lt(Q::int(30000)))->then(Q::string('Low'))
->when(Q::n('salary')->lt(Q::int(70000)))->then(Q::string('Medium'))
->else(Q::string('High'))
->end(),
)->from(Q::n('employees'));

-- PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDBSELECT name,
CASE WHEN salary <30000 THEN 'Low'
WHEN salary <70000 THEN 'Medium'
ELSE 'High' END
FROM employees

Casts

// PostgreSQL: the :: operator via ->cast()$q = Q::select(Q::n('articles.content')->cast('text'))->from(Q::n('articles'));
// SELECT articles.content::text FROM articles// MySQL / MariaDB: CAST / CONVERT through the facade$q = Q::select(Q::cast(Q::n('a'), 'UNSIGNED'), Q::convert(Q::n('a'), 'DECIMAL(10,2)'));
// SELECT CAST(a AS UNSIGNED), CONVERT(a, DECIMAL(10,2))

Scalar functions

Each family exposes its own curated function set via Q\Func:

// PostgreSQL$q = Q::select(Q\Func::upper(Q::n('name')), Q\Func::extract('year', Q::n('created_at')))
->from(Q::n('users'));
// SELECT upper(name), EXTRACT(year FROM created_at) FROM users// MySQL / MariaDB$q = Q::select(Q\Func::upper(Q::n('name')), Q\Func::dateAdd(Q::n('created'), Q::interval(Q::int(1), 'DAY')))
->from(Q::n('users'));
// SELECT UPPER(name), DATE_ADD(created, INTERVAL 1 DAY) FROM users

Anything not on Q\Func is reachable through the raw escape hatch Q::func('NAME', ...args).

Locking

->forUpdate() (optionally ->nowait() / ->skipLocked()) is shared. The shared lock diverges within the MySQL family:

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
// MySQL: FOR SHARE (+ of() / nowait() / skipLocked())$q = Q::select(Q::n('id'))->from(Q::n('t'))->forShare()->of('t')->nowait();
// SELECT id FROM t FOR SHARE OF t NOWAIT// MariaDB: LOCK IN SHARE MODE$q = Q::select(Q::n('id'))->from(Q::n('t'))->lockInShareMode();
// SELECT id FROM t LOCK IN SHARE MODE

->of(...) is MySQL-only even on FOR UPDATE; validating a query that uses it against Target::mariaDb() reports it.

Parameters

Positional parameters

Each Q::arg() becomes a placeholder in order of appearance — $1, $2, … on PostgreSQL, ? on the MySQL family:

$q = Q::select(Q::n('*'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::and(
Q::n('name')->like(Q::arg('John%')),
Q::n('active')->eq(Q::arg(true)),
));
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->toSql();
// PostgreSQL: SELECT * FROM users WHERE name LIKE $1 AND active = $2 args: ['John%', true]// MySQL: SELECT * FROM users WHERE name LIKE ? AND active = ? args: ['John%', true]

Named parameters

Q::bind() declares a named placeholder; bind the values with withNamedArgs():

$q = Q::select(Q::n('*'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('name')->like(Q::bind('search')));
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->withNamedArgs(['search' => 'John%'])->toSql();

On PostgreSQL a reused name reuses its $n placeholder. On the MySQL family a ? placeholder is not reusable, so each occurrence of a name emits its own ?, each bound to the same value. Named and positional parameters can be mixed.

Validation & errors

By default the builder validates while rendering; problems are collected and thrown together as one QueryBuilderException from toSql(). There are three mechanisms:

Advisory value checks — a suspect value or modifier in an otherwise well-formed statement: an invalid identifier or cast type, an empty CASE, a DISTINCT on an aggregate whose grammar rejects it. These throw when built but still render under Q::build($q)->withoutValidation()->toSql() — the escape hatch for callers who know better.
```
Q::build(Q::n('foo bar'))->toSql(); // throws: identifier: invalid: foo bar
[$sql] = Q::build(Q::n('foo bar'))->withoutValidation()->toSql(); // 'foo bar'
```
Mutually-exclusive builder state — two options that cannot coexist in one statement (e.g. setting both values and a query on an INSERT, or ORDER BY/LIMIT on a multi-table UPDATE/DELETE). This is builder-API misuse, so it always throws, even with validation disabled.
Target validation (MySQL family only, opt-in) — Q::build($q)->withValidateTarget(Target::mysql() | mariaDb($version)) reports constructs the target engine/version cannot express. See MySQL & MariaDB.

Executing queries

The builder is driver-agnostic: it produces a SQL string with the dialect's placeholders and a positional argument list. Feed both to any layer that speaks that dialect's placeholders.

PostgreSQL (e.g. the pgsql extension):

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\PostgreSQL\Q;
$conn = pg_connect('host=localhost dbname=app user=app');
$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'), Q::n('email'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('active')->eq(Q::arg(true)));
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->toSql();
$result = pg_query_params($conn, $sql, $args);
while ($row = pg_fetch_assoc($result)) {
printf("Name: %s, Email: %s\n", $row['name'], $row['email']);
}

MySQL / MariaDB (e.g. PDO):

useFlowpack\QueryObjectBuilder\MySQL\Q;
$pdo = newPDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=app', 'app', 'secret');
$q = Q::select(Q::n('name'), Q::n('email'))
->from(Q::n('users'))
->where(Q::n('active')->eq(Q::arg(true)));
[$sql, $args] = Q::build($q)->toSql();
$stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
$stmt->execute($args);
foreach ($stmtas$row) {
printf("Name: %s, Email: %s\n", $row['name'], $row['email']);
}

Best practices

Reuse expressions and base queries

$userName = Q::n('users.name');
$userEmail = Q::n('users.email');
$q = Q::select($userName, $userEmail)->from(Q::n('users'));

Build queries conditionally with `applyIf`

Builders expose applyIf() so optional clauses read top-to-bottom without breaking the fluent chain:

$q = Q::update(Q::n('films'))
->set('kind', Q::arg('Dramatic'))
->where(Q::n('kind')->eq(Q::arg('Drama')))
->applyIf($onlyActive, fn ($q) => $q->where(Q::n('archived')->eq(Q::bool(false))));

Organise complex reports with CTEs

Break a large query into named, readable parts with Q::with() and chain several CTEs with appendWith().

Development

composer install
composer test# run the Pest test suite
composer analyse # run PHPStan (level max)

Both must pass for any change.

License

Licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 16 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
devbox.d/php		devbox.d/php
docs		docs
src		src
tests		tests
.envrc		.envrc
.gitignore		.gitignore
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
composer.json		composer.json
composer.lock		composer.lock
devbox.json		devbox.json
devbox.lock		devbox.lock
phpstan.neon		phpstan.neon
phpunit.xml		phpunit.xml

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