ZenStack V2 – RLS alternative with declarative Auth rules in Prisma

In plain words

ZenStack V2 is a TypeScript toolkit built on Prisma ORM that provides fine-grained authorization rules, auto-generated type-safe APIs, and frontend hooks. It allows developers to define access control policies declaratively within their schema, supporting multiple authorization patterns like RBAC, ABAC, PBAC, and ReBAC. The tool targets developers seeking an alternative to traditional row-level security, with features including polymorphic relations, edge support, and optimistic updates, making authorization management simpler and more maintainable.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

ZenStack is the modern data layer for TypeScript apps - with a type-safe ORM, built-in access control, and automatic query services.

Define a thoughtful data model, and let it power every part of your application. Define a thoughtful data model, and let it power every part of your application. Define a thoughtful data model, and let it power every part of your application. Schema-first data modeling with an intuitive language: terse, expressive, extensible. Compatible with Prisma schema. Use a concise and extensible schema language to define data models. Compared to traditional ORMs, ZenStack reduces scattered configuration and boilerplate, delivering structured and expressive modeling. Schema-first data modeling with an intuitive language: terse, expressive, extensible. Compatible with Prisma schema. A fully typed ORM…from zenstack.dev

In the maker’s words, at launch

Half a year ago, we posed a Show HN about ZenStack V1 as "DSL to define data and access rules closer to the database" Throughout the month, we've attracted quite a few early adopters. Some of them, such as MermaidChart, have successfully launched into production. After talking with them, we realized that many…

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  ZenStack2023 · github.com · ▲119

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  ZenStack V3 – TypeScript ORM Combines Strength of Prisma + Drizzle2025 · github.com · ▲16

  We launched ZenStack V2(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40205699) one year ago. It is built on Prisma, adding advanced features like access control, polymorphism, API/Hook generation, etc. But as we added more features, we felt more constrained by our foundation, Prisma(Check out the specific constraints here https://zenstack.dev/blog/next-chapter-1). Therefore, we made a bold decision for ZenStack V3 to reimplement the ORM part from scratch, keeping full compatibility with the Prisma schema and API. As a result, you could get the best of both…

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  ZenStack – DSL to define data and access rules closer to the database2023 · github.com · ▲19

  We're excited to announce the launch of ZenStack V1 after a year of refinement. With ZenStack, we introduce ZModel, a domain-specific language (DSL) that simplifies the definition of data and access rules, bringing it closer to the database level. This eliminates the need for extensive, repetitive coding on the application side. We would love to hear your feedback and opinions on it. Thank you!

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  ZenStack – access control at the ORM layer, built for coding agentsJul 2026 · zenstack.framer.website · ▲8

  Hi HN, I'm Jiasheng, co-creator of ZenStack. Access control usually ends up scattered across app code instead of living with the data model — and that's riskier when the code is written by an agent, since it's easy to ship a query with a missing or incomplete authorization check. ZenStack enforces policy (RBAC/ABAC/relation-based) directly at the ORM layer, on top of Kysely, so every query gets checked the same way regardless of who wrote it and who is calling it. Postgres RLS is an option too, but it's hard to maintain and scale, and it's Postgres-only — ZenStack's approach is…

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