# contract emit (/docs/cli/contract-emit)

Emit Prisma ORM contract artifacts.

Location: CLI > contract emit

`contract emit` reads your contract source (TypeScript or Prisma schema) and writes the generated artifacts used by the runtime, verification, and migration tooling.

The command is offline. It does not need a database connection.

A Prisma schema source can be one `.prisma` file or a glob that matches several files; see [Split the schema across several files](/guides/introduction-6-configuration#split-the-schema-across-several-files). `contract emit` reads only the `.prisma` files whose first line is `// use prisma-8`, and skips any other file without a warning. When no file starts with that line, it fails with `CONTRACT.SOURCE_LOAD_FAILED` and reports the problem with the code `PSL_NO_OPTED_IN_SCHEMA_FILES`.

## Usage

#### bun

```bash
bunx prisma contract emit
```

#### pnpm

```bash
pnpm prisma contract emit
```

#### yarn

```bash
yarn prisma contract emit
```

#### npm

```bash
npx prisma contract emit
```

## Options

| Option                | What it does                                                          |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--output-path <dir>` | Writes `contract.json` and `contract.d.ts` into a specific directory. |
| `--config <path>`     | Read this config file instead of `./prisma.config.ts`.                |
| `--json`              | Prints a machine-readable result.                                     |

## What it creates

The command emits:

- `contract.json`, the canonical machine-readable contract
- `contract.d.ts`, the generated TypeScript contract declarations

Do not edit these files by hand. Re-run `contract emit` after changing the contract source or extension pack list. The first emit after you upgrade from a release before `8.0.0-rc.12` reorders the entries in `contract.d.ts` to follow the order in `contract.json`, which needs no change to your code. The first emit after you upgrade to `8.0.0-rc.13` renames two keys in `contract.json`: each generated default under `execution.mutations.defaults` names its target as `entry` and `field` instead of `table` and `column`. The client refuses a contract that has the old keys, so run `contract emit` after you upgrade. `contract emit` does not rewrite the contract snapshots under `migrations/snapshots/`. In each snapshot that has an `execution` section, rename `table` to `entry` and `column` to `field` in every `ref` under `execution.mutations.defaults`, in both `contract.json` and `contract.d.ts`. Leave the snapshot's `executionHash` as it is.

When the contract source cannot be read, the command fails with `CONTRACT.SOURCE_LOAD_FAILED` and prints each finding, meaning each problem it found in the source, with the file and line where it knows them. In `--json` output, the findings are the entries of the `envelope.diagnostics` array in the final `result` event, next to `envelope.error`. Each entry has a `code`, a `summary`, and, where known, `where.path` and `where.line`. If an entry's `code` is `CONTRACT.SOURCE_DIAGNOSTIC`, the code of the specific problem, such as `PSL_NO_OPTED_IN_SCHEMA_FILES`, is in its `meta.code`.

## Run it automatically

In development, a Vite plugin runs `contract emit` for you: once when the dev server starts, and again whenever the contract source or `prisma.config.ts` changes. It needs Vite 7 or 8, and comes with your database package, so there is nothing to install:

```typescript title="vite.config.ts"
import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { prismaVitePlugin } from "@prisma/orm-postgres/vite-plugin-contract-emit";

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [prismaVitePlugin()],
});
```

On MongoDB, import it from `@prisma/orm-mongo/vite-plugin-contract-emit`. The plugin reads `prisma.config.ts` from the Vite root; pass another path as the first argument, `prismaVitePlugin("config/prisma.config.ts")`. A second argument takes `debounceMs` (how long to wait after a change before emitting, 150 by default) and `logLevel` (`"silent"`, `"info"`, or `"debug"`). The dev server prints one line per emit:

```text
[prisma-vite-plugin-contract-emit] Emitted contract (storageHash: ab5014a0...)
```

An emit that fails shows in Vite's error overlay. The plugin does nothing in a production build, so builds and CI still run the command themselves. With any other bundler, or for a build, add the command as a `prebuild` script, which npm, pnpm, and yarn run before `build`:

```json title="package.json (excerpt)"
{
  "scripts": {
    "prebuild": "prisma contract emit",
    "build": "next build"
  }
}
```

## Examples

#### bun

```bash
bunx prisma contract emit
bunx prisma contract emit --output-path ./generated
bunx prisma contract emit --json
```

#### pnpm

```bash
pnpm prisma contract emit
pnpm prisma contract emit --output-path ./generated
pnpm prisma contract emit --json
```

#### yarn

```bash
yarn prisma contract emit
yarn prisma contract emit --output-path ./generated
yarn prisma contract emit --json
```

#### npm

```bash
npx prisma contract emit
npx prisma contract emit --output-path ./generated
npx prisma contract emit --json
```

## Next steps

After emitting, choose the database workflow:

- use [`db init`](/guides/orm-db-init) for first-time bootstrap
- use [`db update`](/guides/orm-db-update) for direct reconciliation
- use [`migration plan`](/guides/migration-migration-plan) for checked-in migrations
- use [`db verify`](/guides/orm-db-verify) to check drift

## Related pages

- [`auth`](/guides/platform-auth): Sign in to your Prisma account from the CLI, sign out, and manage workspace sessions.
- [`branch`](/guides/platform-branch): List platform branches for a project.
- [`bucket`](/guides/platform-bucket): Create and manage object-store buckets.
- [`Configuration`](/guides/introduction-6-configuration): Configure Prisma ORM CLI commands with prisma.config.ts and global flags.
- [`contract infer`](/guides/orm-contract-infer): Infer a starter contract from an existing database.

## 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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