Generating Prisma Client

Prisma Client is a generated database client that's tailored to your database schema. By default, Prisma Client is generated into the node_modules/.prisma/client folder, but we highly recommend you specify an output location.

To generate and instantiate Prisma Client:

1. Ensure that you have Prisma CLI installed on your machine.

   • bun
   • pnpm
   • yarn
   • npm

   bun add prisma@6.19.3 --dev

   pnpm add prisma@6.19.3 --save-dev

   yarn add prisma@6.19.3 --dev

   npm install prisma@6.19.3 --save-dev

   2. Add the following generator definition to your Prisma schema:

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

      [!NOTE]

   You can change the output location to match your application. Common directories are prisma, src, or even the root of your project.

   3. Install the @prisma/client npm package:

2. Add the following generator definition to your Prisma schema:

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

3. Install the @prisma/client npm package:

   • bun
   • pnpm
   • yarn
   • npm

   bun add @prisma/client@6.19.3

   pnpm add @prisma/client@6.19.3

   yarn add @prisma/client@6.19.3

   npm install @prisma/client@6.19.3

   4. Generate Prisma Client with the following command:

4. Generate Prisma Client with the following command:

   • bun
   • pnpm
   • yarn
   • npm

   bunx prisma generate

   pnpm prisma generate

   yarn prisma generate

   npx prisma generate

   5. You can now instantiate Prisma Client in your code:

      import { PrismaClient } from "./prisma/generated/client";
      const prisma = new PrismaClient();
      // use `prisma` in your application to read and write data in your DB

   Important: You need to re-run the prisma generate command after every change that's made to your Prisma schema to update the generated Prisma Client code.

   Here is a graphical illustration of the typical workflow for generation of Prisma Client:

   

5. You can now instantiate Prisma Client in your code:

   import { PrismaClient } from "./prisma/generated/client";
   
   const prisma = new PrismaClient();
   
   // use `prisma` in your application to read and write data in your DB

Important: You need to re-run the prisma generate command after every change that's made to your Prisma schema to update the generated Prisma Client code.

Here is a graphical illustration of the typical workflow for generation of Prisma Client:

You can also specify a custom output path on the generator configuration, for example (assuming your schema.prisma file is located at the default prisma subfolder):

generator client {

  provider = "prisma-client"

  output   = "../src/generated/"

}

After running prisma generate for that schema file, the Prisma Client package will be located in:

./src/generated/client

To import the PrismaClient from a custom location (for example, from a file named ./src/script.ts):

import { PrismaClient } from "./generated/client";

To load environment variables in your Prisma application, you can use the prisma.config.ts file along with the env helper from prisma/config.

1. First, install the required dependency:

   • bun
   • pnpm
   • yarn
   • npm

   bun add dotenv --dev

   pnpm add dotenv --save-dev

   yarn add dotenv --dev

   npm install dotenv --save-dev

   2. Create a .env file in your project root (if it doesn't exist) and add your database connection string:

      DATABASE_URL="your_database_connection_string_here"

   3. Update your prisma.config.ts file in your project root:

      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"),
        },
      });

2. Create a .env file in your project root (if it doesn't exist) and add your database connection string:

   DATABASE_URL="your_database_connection_string_here"

3. Update your prisma.config.ts file in your project root:

   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"),
   
     },
   
   });

The @prisma/client npm package consists of two key parts:

• The @prisma/client module itself, which only changes when you re-install the package
• The .prisma/client folder, which is the default location for the unique Prisma Client generated from your schema

@prisma/client/index.d.ts exports .prisma/client:

export * from ".prisma/client";

This means that you still import @prisma/client in your own .ts files:

import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client";

Prisma Client is generated from your Prisma schema and is unique to your project. Each time you change the schema (for example, by performing a schema migration) and run prisma generate, Prisma Client's code changes:

The .prisma folder is unaffected by pruning in Node.js package managers.