# MongoDB

Create a Prisma ORM app with MongoDB, apply the first migration, and run your first query against seeded data.

:::callout{intent="note"}
Using Prisma ORM 7?

Prisma ORM 8 is the current release, as a release candidate. Prisma ORM 7 remains fully supported; its docs live at [/orm/v7](/guides/introduction-7-v7) and its setup paths at [/v7/getting-started](/guides/getting-started-2-getting-started).

For what release candidate means, when the final release is expected, and how to stay on version 7, see [Release status](/guides/prisma-orm-orm-release-status).
:::

## [Quick start](#quick-start)

::::tabs
:::tab{title="bun"}
```
bun create prisma@latest --provider mongodb --no-deploy
```
:::

:::tab{title="pnpm"}
```bash
pnpm create prisma@latest --provider mongodb --no-deploy
```
:::

:::tab{title="yarn"}
```bash
yarn create prisma@latest --provider mongodb --no-deploy
```
:::

:::tab{title="npm"}
```bash
npm create prisma@latest -- --provider mongodb --no-deploy
```

Run this from a Node.js 22.18 or newer (on the 24 line, 24.11 or newer) environment; Node.js 24 is recommended. The command preselects MongoDB and prompts you for the project name, the template, the contract authoring style (PSL or TypeScript), your package manager, and whether to install agent skills.

Setup gives you the app template, a starter contract, `prisma-8.md`, project-level Prisma ORM skills for your coding agent, and package scripts for the database steps below. Answer no at the skills prompt, or pass `--skills none`, to skip the agent skill files; to remove them later, see [`skills sync`](/guides/utility-skills) and the [`skills` config section](/guides/introduction-6-configuration#agent-skills). Sample users are seeded automatically the first time the app queries the database, so there is no separate seed step.

A standalone `mongod` is enough to work through this quickstart. A replica set is only needed for transactions and change streams, and MongoDB Atlas already gives you one. The connection string the scaffold writes assumes a single-node replica set named `rs0` on port 27017, so either run one locally or edit the string to point at your standalone server. If you use a standalone `mongod`, remove `replicaSet=rs0` from the connection strings below (keep `directConnection=true`); a URL that names a replica set only connects to a server that belongs to one.
:::
::::

Run this from a Node.js 22.18 or newer (on the 24 line, 24.11 or newer) environment; Node.js 24 is recommended. The command preselects MongoDB and prompts you for the project name, the template, the contract authoring style (PSL or TypeScript), your package manager, and whether to install agent skills.

Setup gives you the app template, a starter contract, `prisma-8.md`, project-level Prisma ORM skills for your coding agent, and package scripts for the database steps below. Answer no at the skills prompt, or pass `--skills none`, to skip the agent skill files; to remove them later, see [`skills sync`](/guides/utility-skills) and the [`skills` config section](/guides/introduction-6-configuration#agent-skills). Sample users are seeded automatically the first time the app queries the database, so there is no separate seed step.

A standalone `mongod` is enough to work through this quickstart. A replica set is only needed for transactions and change streams, and MongoDB Atlas already gives you one. The connection string the scaffold writes assumes a single-node replica set named `rs0` on port 27017, so either run one locally or edit the string to point at your standalone server. If you use a standalone `mongod`, remove `replicaSet=rs0` from the connection strings below (keep `directConnection=true`); a URL that names a replica set only connects to a server that belongs to one.

## [1. Set the database connection](#1-set-the-database-connection)

The scaffold writes a `.env` with a local replica-set connection string:

```title=".env"
DATABASE_URL="mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb?replicaSet=rs0&directConnection=true"
```

The generated scripts read environment variables directly rather than `.env`, and the CLI and the app use different variable names: the CLI commands read `MONGODB_URL`, and the app reads `DATABASE_URL`. Export both in the shell you work in:

```
export MONGODB_URL="mongodb://localhost:27017/mydb?replicaSet=rs0&directConnection=true"

export DATABASE_URL="$MONGODB_URL"
```

If you use MongoDB Atlas, use the connection string from your Atlas cluster instead.

## [2. Create the migration plan](#2-create-the-migration-plan)

Create the first migration plan from the starter contract.

:::code-group
```title="bun"
bun run migration:plan --name init
```

```bash title="pnpm"
pnpm run migration:plan --name init
```

```bash title="yarn"
yarn migration:plan --name init
```

```bash title="npm"
npm run migration:plan -- --name init
```
:::

The output reports the planned operations: creating the `users` and `posts` collections and a unique index on `users.email`.

## [3. Apply the migration](#3-apply-the-migration)

Apply the planned migration to MongoDB.

::::tabs
:::tab{title="bun"}
```
bun run migrate
```
:::

:::tab{title="pnpm"}
```bash
pnpm run migrate
```
:::

:::tab{title="yarn"}
```bash
yarn migrate
```
:::

:::tab{title="npm"}
```bash
npm run migrate
```

The output ends with a summary like `Applied 3 operation(s) across 1 contract space`. If it fails with a connection error, confirm `MONGODB_URL` is exported in this shell and points at a running MongoDB deployment; if the string still names `replicaSet=rs0`, that replica set has to exist.
:::
::::

The output ends with a summary like `Applied 3 operation(s) across 1 contract space`. If it fails with a connection error, confirm `MONGODB_URL` is exported in this shell and points at a running MongoDB deployment; if the string still names `replicaSet=rs0`, that replica set has to exist.

## [4. Run the app](#4-run-the-app)

Start the app and confirm the sample query runs successfully.

:::code-group
```title="bun"
bun run dev
```

```bash title="pnpm"
pnpm run dev
```

```bash title="yarn"
yarn dev
```

```bash title="npm"
npm run dev
```
:::

Use the URL or terminal output shown by your template. You should see the seeded users returned from MongoDB.

## [Next steps](#next-steps)

- Open `src/prisma/contract.prisma` or `src/prisma/contract.ts` and change the starter model.
- Use the [MongoDB existing-project guide](/guides/prisma-orm-2-prisma-orm-add-to-existing-project-mongodb) if you already have an app and database.
- Read the [Prisma ORM overview](/guides/introduction-2-orm) when you want the concepts behind contracts, query APIs, and migrations.

## 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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