# Editor support (/docs/orm/contract-authoring/editor-support)

What the Prisma VS Code extension does for a Prisma ORM contract, and what to do when it stops accepting the file.

Location: ORM > Contract authoring > Editor support

Install the [Prisma VS Code extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Prisma.prisma) to get error checking, formatting, and completion in your `.prisma` file.

In Prisma ORM 8 that file is the [data contract](/guides/contract-authoring-the-data-contract): the description of your models that Prisma ORM 7 called the schema. Its path is the `contract` setting in your `prisma.config.ts`, which is `prisma/contract.prisma` in the config [`orm init`](/guides/orm-orm-init) writes; see [Configuration](/guides/introduction-6-configuration#config-file).

Coming from Prisma ORM 7? Start with [Coming from Prisma ORM 7](/guides/introduction-2-orm-coming-from-prisma-orm-7). This page covers VS Code only.

## The file header

The extension only works on `.prisma` files whose first non-blank line is:

```prisma title="prisma/contract.prisma"
// use prisma-8
```

A file without that line gets no error checking, no completion, and no formatting. [`prisma contract emit`](/guides/orm-contract-emit) also skips it without a warning, and when none of the files that the `contract` setting names has the line, `contract emit` fails with `CONTRACT.SOURCE_LOAD_FAILED`. [`orm init`](/guides/orm-orm-init) and [`contract infer`](/guides/orm-contract-infer) write the line for you. Add it yourself when you create a contract by hand.

## What the editor does

- **Errors** appear inline as you type. They are the same errors you would get from [`prisma contract emit`](/guides/orm-contract-emit), the command that checks the contract and writes `contract.json` and `contract.d.ts`.
- **Formatting** reformats the whole file. In VS Code, run **Format Document**.
- **Completion** starts when you type `@` or `@@`. The editor lists attribute names such as `@id`, `@default`, and `@@index`, each with a short description. Inside an attribute, it lists the names of the arguments you have not filled in yet and suggests values for them. It also suggests values inside `[ ]` and `{ }`. In a MongoDB index's field list, it suggests the option and its values in the parentheses after a field name, such as `sort` and `Desc` in `@@index([createdAt(sort: Desc)])`. Where an attribute expects a field name, it suggests only scalar fields. When an attribute has required arguments, VS Code inserts them as placeholders named after each argument, which you tab through.
- **Signature help** appears when you type `(` or `,` inside an attribute. It shows the attribute's arguments and describes the one you are typing.

The list of attributes comes from your `prisma.config.ts`: the database it declares and the Prisma extension packs listed under `extensions`; see [Extension packs](/guides/introduction-6-configuration#extension-packs) for that config. Extension packs are add-on packages for database features such as [pgvector](/guides/extensions-using-extensions). If your config lists the pgvector pack, the editor also suggests pgvector's attributes. No database connection is needed.

## False errors after an upgrade

If the editor marks attributes as errors in a contract that `prisma contract emit` accepts, the likely cause is an old ORM package. That is the `@prisma/orm-postgres`, `@prisma/orm-mongo`, or `@prisma/orm-sqlite` package your project installs for its database. Check the installed version:

```bash title="Terminal"
npm ls @prisma/orm-postgres
```

If it prints a version below `8.0.0-rc.9`, update it to the current release:

#### bun

```bash title="Terminal"
bun add @prisma/orm-postgres@latest
```

#### pnpm

```bash title="Terminal"
pnpm add @prisma/orm-postgres@latest
```

#### yarn

```bash title="Terminal"
yarn add @prisma/orm-postgres@latest
```

#### npm

```bash title="Terminal"
npm install @prisma/orm-postgres@latest
```

Replace `orm-postgres` with `orm-mongo` or `orm-sqlite` to match your database. Then reload the editor window. In VS Code, run **Developer: Reload Window** from the Command Palette.

## Related pages

- [`Author in PSL`](/guides/contract-authoring-psl-syntax): Write the Prisma ORM contract in the Prisma schema language you already know, plus the Prisma ORM 8 additions.
- [`Author in TypeScript`](/guides/contract-authoring-typescript-schema-builder): Define the Prisma ORM contract with a typed builder in TypeScript instead of a schema file. Same models, same `contract.json` and `contract.d.ts`, no separate language.
- [`contract.json and contract.d.ts`](/guides/contract-authoring-the-contract-artifact): contract.json and contract.d.ts are the two files every other part of Prisma ORM reads. Here is what is inside them.
- [`Supported database features`](/guides/contract-authoring-capabilities): The contract records which database features your packages support, so Prisma ORM can reject an unsupported one early with a clear error.
- [`The data contract`](/guides/contract-authoring-the-data-contract): The data contract is the one description of your data model and how it is stored. Prisma ORM types your queries, plans your migrations, and checks your database against it.

## Related pages

- [Authentication & Tools](./authentication-tools-index.md)
- [Build](./build-index.md)
- [Changelog](../changelog.md)
- [Concepts](./concepts-index.md)
- [Console commands](./console-commands-index.md)
- [Contract Authoring](./contract-authoring-index.md)
- [Core Concepts](./core-concepts-index.md)
- [Data Modeling](./data-modeling-index.md)
- [Database](./database-index.md)
- [DB commands](./db-commands-index.md)

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