Instance Methods

Instances in Sequelize Dart come with several helpful methods to manage their state.

save()

Persists the current state of the instance to the database. If the instance was retrieved from the database, it performs an UPDATE. If it's a new instance (not yet created), it performs an INSERT.

user.firstName = 'New Name';
await user.save();

reload()

Refreshes the instance with the latest data from the database. This is useful if you suspect the data might have changed elsewhere or if you want to reset local changes.

final user = await Users.model.findOne(where: (u) => u.id.eq(1));

// ... some operations ...

// Re-fetch data from DB
await user.reload();

destroy()

Deletes the instance from the database. For paranoid models (with deletedAt column), this performs a soft delete by default.

final user = await Users.model.findOne(where: (u) => u.id.eq(1));

// Soft delete (for paranoid models)
await user?.destroy();

// Hard delete (permanent removal)
await user?.destroy(force: true);

Options

Option	Type	Description
force	bool	If true, performs a hard delete even on paranoid models
hooks	bool	If false, skips lifecycle hooks

restore()

Restores a soft-deleted instance. This is only available for paranoid models (models with a deletedAt column).

// First, find the soft-deleted user
final user = await Users.model.findOne(
  where: (u) => u.id.eq(1),
  paranoid: false,  // Include soft-deleted records
);

// Restore the user
await user?.restore();

// The user is now visible in normal queries
final restored = await Users.model.findOne(where: (u) => u.id.eq(1));
print(restored != null);  // true

Options

Option	Type	Description
hooks	bool	If false, skips lifecycle hooks
logging	bool	If false, disables logging for this operation

Complete Example

// Create a user
final user = await Users.model.create(
  CreateUsers(email: 'test@example.com', firstName: 'Test'),
);

// Modify and save
user.firstName = 'Updated';
await user.save();

// Reload from database
await user.reload();

// Soft delete
await user.destroy();

// Find and restore
final deleted = await Users.model.findOne(
  where: (u) => u.id.eq(user.id),
  paranoid: false,
);
await deleted?.restore();

// Permanently delete
await deleted?.destroy(force: true);