@DbEntity

Marks a data class as a database entity. Kiln generates a repository and a columns object for every class annotated with @DbEntity.

Signature

@Target(AnnotationTarget.CLASS)
@Retention(AnnotationRetention.SOURCE)
annotation class DbEntity(
    val tableName: String = ""
)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
tableName	String	""	The SQLite table name. If empty, the class name is used as-is (no automatic snake_case conversion). Set this explicitly to control the table name.

Always set tableName explicitly

Relying on the class name as the table name means renaming the class changes the table name — which looks like a dropped table to the migrator. Set tableName to a stable string.

Examples

@DbEntity(tableName = "users")
data class User(
    @PrimaryKey(autoGenerate = true) val id: Long = 0,
    val name: String,
    val email: String
)
// Generated: UserRepository, UserColumns
// SQLite table: "users"

@DbEntity  // tableName defaults to "UserProfile"
data class UserProfile(
    @PrimaryKey val userId: Long,
    val bio: String = ""
)
// Generated: UserProfileRepository, UserProfileColumns
// SQLite table: "UserProfile"

Constraints

Must be a data class

@DbEntity must be applied to a data class. Applying it to an abstract class, sealed class, interface, or regular class produces a compile-time error:

Kiln: @DbEntity must be applied to a data class

At least one @PrimaryKey required

Every @DbEntity class must have at least one property annotated with @PrimaryKey. Zero produces a compile-time error; annotate two or more to form a composite key.

Generated output

For @DbEntity(tableName = "users") data class User(...):

• UserRepository — the full repository with createTable(), CRUD, reactive, and DSL methods.
• UserColumns — a companion object with a Column<T> property for every non-ignored field, used inside findWhere { }, observeWhere { }, deleteWhere { }, and count { }.