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Exposed — choose between a Kotlin SQL DSL and DAO-style database access

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Stars
9,289
Primary language
Kotlin
License
Apache-2.0
Repository last updated
Sep 21, 2026

Overview

Exposed is JetBrains' Kotlin SQL framework, providing a type-safe SQL DSL and lightweight DAO API with separate JDBC and R2DBC transport modules.

Features and best fit

Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:

Express SQL-like queries through a type-safe Kotlin DSL

Tables, columns, expressions, joins, inserts, selects, and updates are represented through Kotlin APIs while retaining SQL-like structure.

Sources: [2][3]

Compose JDBC/R2DBC transport with optional DAO and migration modules

Core database access can be extended with DAO, schema migration, JSON/date-time support, Spring integration, and other modules.

Sources: [2][3]

For Kotlin applications that want SQL visibility plus static typing

It suits teams that prefer more SQL control than heavyweight ORM abstractions while still benefiting from Kotlin DSLs and types.

Sources: [2]

Check DAO/R2DBC compatibility and module-specific JDK requirements

DAO only works with the JDBC module, while R2DBC and several Spring-related modules require newer JDK versions than the basic modules.

Sources: [2][4]

Official sources

  1. [1]JetBrains/Exposed repository(2026-09-21)
  2. [2]Exposed README(2026-09-21)
  3. [3]Exposed documentation(2026-09-21)
  4. [4]Exposed 1.0 migration guide(2026-09-21)
  5. [5]Exposed Apache-2.0 license(2026-09-21)
Supplemental curator note

Exposed is not only an ORM abstraction: it offers a SQL-oriented type-safe DSL alongside a DAO API. R2DBC is supported in the 1.0 line, but the DAO API is JDBC-only and does not work with R2DBC. Module-specific JDK requirements should also be checked.

Try it in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Get the source

    git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JetBrains/Exposed.git
  2. 2

    Enter the repository

    cd Exposed
  3. 3

    Check the official steps

    Continue with the commands in the README Installation, Quick Start, or Getting Started section.

    find . -maxdepth 1 -iname 'README*' -exec sed -n '1,220p' {} \; -quit
Check the official README

Growth

Growth trends · Last 30 days

9,289 Stars

Trend data is still being collected.

Development activity

Last 90 days · weekly

Commits (last 30 days)
29
Open PRs
42

Development activity is still being collected.

Built with

Categories and tags

GitHub data

GitHub dataView detailed GitHub data

GitHub Topics

  • kotlin
  • sql
  • dao
  • orm
Stars
9,289
Forks
799
Watchers
134
Open issues
125
Contributors
239
Primary language
Kotlin
License
Apache-2.0
Repository last updated
Sep 21, 2026
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