Defining own accessor methods on generated structs

[dolzenko]

So I wanted to add my own methods to generated structs, is it possible out of the box? Sorry wasn't able to figure out from the docs. Using https://docs.sqlc.dev/en/stable/tutorials/getting-started-postgresql.html as an example I want to add e.g.

func (a *Author) IsClassic() bool {
  return a.Name == "Hemingway" || a.Name == "Tolstoy"
}

PS. Big thanks for all the folks opensoursing and maintaining this ❤️

[kokoc30]

Yes—add a normal, handwritten Go file in the same directory/package as the generated model. No sqlc plugin or template customization is required.

The linked PostgreSQL tutorial configures package: "tutorial" and out: "tutorial". For that layout, create tutorial/author_methods.go alongside models.go:

package tutorial

func (a *Author) IsClassic() bool {
    return a.Name == "Hemingway" || a.Name == "Tolstoy"
}

Keep the generated models.go unchanged; your additional file is compiled into the package with it and stays separate from regenerated files. Use your actual configured package name/path if they differ from the tutorial.

The relevant restriction is Go's method receiver rule: the receiver's base type must be defined in the same package as the method. Putting this in your importing application's main package with a receiver such as *db.Author would therefore fail. If you want the behavior to live outside the generated package, use a helper function or your own wrapper type instead.