Models Introduction

Models are structs that map to database tables. Each model instance represents a row. Nimbus models embed database.Model for ID, timestamps, and soft deletes, and use GORM under the hood for queries and hooks, while exposing framework-agnostic APIs for table names, relations, and metadata.

What is a model?

A model combines:

• Table mapping — Struct fields map to columns (Nimbus convention via Table() or automatic pluralization)
• CRUD operations — Create, Read, Update, Delete via GORM
• Relationships — hasMany, belongsTo, manyToMany with eager loading
• Hooks — BeforeSave, AfterCreate, etc.

Base model

Embed database.Model for standard fields (including soft deletes):

type Model struct {
    ID        uint
    CreatedAt time.Time
    UpdatedAt time.Time
    DeletedAt gorm.DeletedAt  // soft delete (used by GORM + Nimbus helpers)
}

Defining a model

type Post struct {
    database.Model
    Title   string
    Content string
    Status  string
}

// Optional: override logical table name (used by Nimbus helpers).
func (Post) Table() string { return "posts" }

When no Table() is defined, Nimbus derives the table name from the struct name using snake_case + pluralization: Blog → blogs, UserProfile → user_profiles.

Fillable metadata

For mass-assignment and scaffolding, models can optionally implement Fillable() []string to declare which fields are safe to assign from input. Nimbus helpers like admin UIs or request binders can use this metadata.

func (Post) Fillable() []string {
    return []string{"Title", "Content", "Status"}
}

Creating a model

Use the CLI:

nimbus make:model Post