Prisma ORM v7 Expert Skill

Comprehensive guidance for working with Prisma ORM version 7.x and later.

Core v7 Changes

1. ES Modules (ESM) Required

Prisma v7 ships as an ES module. Your project must use ESM:

package.json:

{
  "type": "module"
}

tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "Node",
    "target": "ES2023",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true
  }
}

2. Driver Adapters Required

All databases now require driver adapters. The Rust-free client provides better performance and smaller bundle sizes.

Available Adapters:

• PostgreSQL: @prisma/adapter-pg (with pg driver)
• MySQL/MariaDB: @prisma/adapter-mariadb (with mariadb driver)
• SQLite: @prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3 (with better-sqlite3)
• CockroachDB: @prisma/adapter-pg (with pg driver)
• Neon: @prisma/adapter-neon (with @neondatabase/serverless)
• PlanetScale: @prisma/adapter-planetscale (with @planetscale/database)
• D1 (Cloudflare): @prisma/adapter-d1
• MSSQL: @prisma/adapter-mssql

3. Generator Configuration

The output field is now required and the new prisma-client provider is standard:

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "./generated/prisma"
}

Note: Client is no longer generated in node_modules by default.

4. Prisma Config File (prisma.config.ts)

Database URLs and CLI configuration now live in prisma.config.ts instead of the schema file.

Basic setup:

import 'dotenv/config'
import { defineConfig, env } from 'prisma/config'

export default defineConfig({
  schema: 'prisma/schema.prisma',
  migrations: {
    path: 'prisma/migrations',
  },
  datasource: {
    url: env('DATABASE_URL'),
  },
})

Note: For Bun, skip import 'dotenv/config' as it auto-loads .env files.

5. Schema Datasource Block

Remove url, directUrl, and shadowDatabaseUrl from schema.prisma:

v7 schema.prisma:

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  // url field removed - now in prisma.config.ts
}

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "./generated/prisma"
}

Installation & Setup

New Project

# Install dependencies
npm install prisma@latest @prisma/client@latest

# Choose appropriate adapter
npm install @prisma/adapter-pg pg          # PostgreSQL
npm install @prisma/adapter-mariadb mariadb # MySQL/MariaDB
npm install @prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3 better-sqlite3 # SQLite

# Install dev tools
npm install -D tsx dotenv

# Initialize Prisma (creates prisma.config.ts automatically)
npx prisma init

Upgrading from v6

# Update packages
npm install prisma@latest @prisma/client@latest

# Install adapter for your database
npm install @prisma/adapter-pg pg  # for PostgreSQL

# Install dotenv if not using Bun
npm install dotenv

# Regenerate client
npx prisma generate

Client Instantiation

PostgreSQL Example

import { PrismaClient } from './generated/prisma/client'
import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg'
import 'dotenv/config'

const adapter = new PrismaPg({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL
})

const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter })

export default prisma

MySQL/MariaDB Example

import { PrismaClient } from './generated/prisma/client'
import { PrismaMariaDb } from '@prisma/adapter-mariadb'
import 'dotenv/config'

const adapter = new PrismaMariaDb({
  host: 'localhost',
  port: 3306,
  connectionLimit: 5
})

const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter })

export default prisma

SQLite Example

import { PrismaClient } from './generated/prisma/client'
import { PrismaBetterSqlite3 } from '@prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3'
import 'dotenv/config'

const adapter = new PrismaBetterSqlite3({
  url: process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'file:./dev.db'
})

const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter })

export default prisma

Prisma Accelerate (Caching/Pooling)

If using Prisma Accelerate for caching, do NOT use a driver adapter:

import { PrismaClient } from './generated/prisma/client'
import { withAccelerate } from '@prisma/extension-accelerate'

const prisma = new PrismaClient({
  accelerateUrl: process.env.DATABASE_URL // prisma:// or prisma+postgres:// URL
}).$extends(withAccelerate())

export default prisma

Important: Never pass prisma:// or prisma+postgres:// URLs to driver adapters.

Schema Best Practices

Complete Schema Example

// schema.prisma
datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
}

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "./generated/prisma"
}

model User {
  id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  email     String   @unique
  name      String?
  posts     Post[]
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt
}

model Post {
  id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  title     String
  content   String?
  published Boolean  @default(false)
  author    User     @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  authorId  Int
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt

  @@index([authorId])
}

Relations

One-to-Many:

model User {
  id    Int    @id @default(autoincrement())
  posts Post[]
}

model Post {
  id       Int  @id @default(autoincrement())
  author   User @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  authorId Int
  
  @@index([authorId])
}

Many-to-Many:

model Post {
  id         Int        @id @default(autoincrement())
  categories Category[]
}

model Category {
  id    Int    @id @default(autoincrement())
  posts Post[]
}

One-to-One:

model User {
  id      Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  profile Profile?
}

model Profile {
  id     Int  @id @default(autoincrement())
  user   User @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
  userId Int  @unique
}

Common Commands

# Generate Prisma Client
npx prisma generate

# Create and apply migration
npx prisma migrate dev --name init

# Apply migrations in production
npx prisma migrate deploy

# Reset database (dev only)
npx prisma migrate reset

# Open Prisma Studio
npx prisma studio

# Format schema
npx prisma format

# Validate schema
npx prisma validate

# Pull schema from database
npx prisma db pull

# Push schema to database (prototyping)
npx prisma db push

# Seed database
npx prisma db seed

Prisma Client Queries

Basic CRUD

// Create
const user = await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    email: 'user@example.com',
    name: 'John Doe',
  },
})

// Read
const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({
  where: { id: 1 },
})

const users = await prisma.user.findMany({
  where: { email: { contains: '@example.com' } },
  orderBy: { createdAt: 'desc' },
  take: 10,
})

// Update
const user = await prisma.user.update({
  where: { id: 1 },
  data: { name: 'Jane Doe' },
})

// Delete
const user = await prisma.user.delete({
  where: { id: 1 },
})

Relations

// Create with relations
const user = await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    email: 'user@example.com',
    posts: {
      create: [
        { title: 'First Post', content: 'Content...' },
        { title: 'Second Post', content: 'More content...' },
      ],
    },
  },
})

// Query with relations
const userWithPosts = await prisma.user.findUnique({
  where: { id: 1 },
  include: {
    posts: true,
  },
})

// Select specific fields
const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({
  where: { id: 1 },
  select: {
    id: true,
    email: true,
    posts: {
      select: {
        id: true,
        title: true,
      },
    },
  },
})

Advanced Queries

// Filtering
const posts = await prisma.post.findMany({
  where: {
    OR: [
      { title: { contains: 'Prisma' } },
      { content: { contains: 'database' } },
    ],
    published: true,
    author: