Indexes

Indexes let you document the indexing strategy for your tables directly in the ERD. Define single-column indexes, composite indexes, and unique constraints — all from the table edit panel.

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Access the Indexes section

1. Click a table on the canvas to open the edit panel
2. Scroll down to the Indexes section (below Columns and Foreign Keys)

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Add an index

1. Click + Add Index in the Indexes section
2. Configure the index properties:

Property	Description
Name	Index name (e.g., idx_users_email, idx_orders_status_date)
Columns	One or more columns included in the index
Unique	Whether this index enforces a uniqueness constraint

3. Select columns from the dropdown — the list shows all columns defined on the current table
4. The index is saved along with the table

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Composite indexes

A composite index spans multiple columns. This is useful for queries that filter or sort on combinations of fields.

To create a composite index:

1. Click + Add Index
2. Enter the index name
3. Add multiple columns — select each column from the dropdown
4. The column order in the index matters for query optimization — arrange them according to your most common query patterns

Example

For an orders table with frequent queries filtering by status and created_at:

Property	Value
Name	idx_orders_status_created
Columns	status, created_at
Unique	No

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Unique indexes

Toggle the Unique checkbox to mark an index as unique. A unique index enforces that no two rows can have the same combination of values in the indexed columns.

Common use cases:

Table	Columns	Purpose
users	email	Ensure no duplicate emails
team_members	team_id, user_id	Prevent duplicate memberships
slugs	resource_type, slug	Unique slug per resource type

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Edit an index

Click on an existing index in the Indexes section to expand it. You can:

• Rename the index
• Add or remove columns
• Toggle the unique flag

Changes are saved with the table.

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Delete an index

Click the delete icon next to the index row to remove it.

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Tips

• Follow a consistent naming convention for indexes — e.g., idx_{table}_{columns} makes indexes easy to identify in migration scripts
• Put the most selective column first in composite indexes — this helps the database optimizer choose the index efficiently
• Use unique indexes to enforce business rules at the database level (not just application level)
• When exporting your schema to SQL, indexes are included in the generated DDL statements
• Document indexes in your ERD even if they are already in your migration files — it helps the team see the full picture at a glance