Prisma CLI reference

This document describes the Prisma CLI commands, arguments, and options.

Commands

version (-v)

The version command outputs information about your current prisma version, platform, and engine binaries.

Options

The version command recognizes the following options to modify its behavior:

Option	Required	Description
--json	No	Outputs version information in JSON format.

Examples

Output version information

prisma version

Show CLI results

Output version information (-v)

prisma -v

Show CLI results

Output version information as JSON

prisma version --json

Show CLI results

init

Bootstraps a fresh Prisma ORM project within the current directory.

The init command does not interpret any existing files. Instead, it creates a prisma directory containing a bare-bones schema.prisma file within your current directory.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--datasource-provider	No	Specifies the value for the provider field in the datasource block. Options are sqlite, postgresql, mysql, sqlserver, mongodb and cockroachdb.	postgresql
--url	No	Define a custom datasource url.
--generator-provider	No	Define the generator provider to use.	prisma-client-js
--preview-feature	No	Define the Preview features to use. To define multiple Preview features, you have to provide the flag multiple times for each Preview feature. See example
--output	No	Specifies the output location for the generated client.	node_modules/.prisma/client

Examples

Run prisma init

prisma init

Show CLI results

Run prisma init --datasource-provider sqlite

prisma init --datasource-provider sqlite

The command output contains helpful information on how to use the generated files and begin using Prisma ORM with your project.

Run prisma init --preview-feature

prisma init --preview-feature multiSchema

Show Prisma schema results

prisma init --preview-feature multiSchema --preview-feature metrics

Show Prisma schema results

Generated Assets

prisma/schema.prisma

An initial schema.prisma file to define your schema in:

// This is your Prisma schema file,
// learn more about it in the docs: https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

.env

A file to define environment variables for your project:

# Environment variables declared in this file are automatically made available to Prisma.
# See the documentation for more detail: https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema#using-environment-variables

# Prisma supports the native connection string format for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server, MongoDB and CockroachDB.
# See the documentation for all the connection string options: https://pris.ly/d/connection-strings

DATABASE_URL="file:./dev.db"

Run prisma init --url mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/mydb

prisma init --url mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/mydb

The command output contains helpful information on how to use the generated files and begin using Prisma with your project.

Generated Assets

prisma/schema.prisma

A minimal schema.prisma file to define your schema in:

// This is your Prisma schema file,
// learn more about it in the docs: https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema

datasource db {
  provider = "mysql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

.env

A file to define environment variables for your project:

# Environment variables declared in this file are automatically made available to Prisma.
# See the documentation for more detail: https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema#using-environment-variables

# Prisma supports the native connection string format for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server, MongoDB and CockroachDB.
# See the documentation for all the connection string options: https://pris.ly/d/connection-strings

DATABASE_URL="mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/mydb"

generate

The generate command generates assets like Prisma Client based on the generator and data model blocks defined in your prisma/schema.prisma file.

The generate command is most often used to generate Prisma Client with the prisma-client-js generator. This does three things:

1. Searches the current directory and parent directories to find the applicable npm project. It will create a package.json file in the current directory if it cannot find one.
2. Installs the @prisma/client into the npm project if it is not already present.
3. Inspects the current directory to find a Prisma schema file to process. It will then generate a customized Prisma Client for your project.

Prerequisites

To use the generate command, you must add a generator definition in your schema.prisma file. The prisma-client-js generator, used to generate Prisma Client, can be added by including the following in your schema.prisma file:

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--data-proxy	No	The generate command will generate Prisma Client for use with Prisma Accelerate prior to Prisma 5.0.0. Mutually exclusive with --accelerate and --no-engine.
--accelerate	No	The generate command will generate Prisma Client for use with Prisma Accelerate. Mutually exclusive with --data-proxy and --no-engine. Available in Prisma 5.1.0 and later.
--no-engine	No	The generate command will generate Prisma Client without an accompanied engine for use with Prisma Accelerate. Mutually exclusive with --data-proxy and --accelerate. Available in Prisma ORM 5.2.0 and later.
--watch	No	The generate command will continue to watch the schema.prisma file and re-generate Prisma Client on file changes.

warning

Deprecation Warning

As of Prisma 5.2.0, --data-proxy and --accelerate are deprecated in favor of --no-engine as Prisma Client no longer requires an option to work with Prisma Accelerate. All options are available and work similarly, but we recommend --no-engine as it prevents an engine from being downloaded which will greatly impact the size of apps deployed to serverless and edge functions.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma, ./prisma/schema.prisma
--generator	No	Specifies which generator to use to generate assets. This option may be provided multiple times to include multiple generators. By default, all generators in the target schema will be run.

Examples

Generate Prisma Client using the default schema.prisma path

prisma generate

Show CLI results

Generate Prisma Client using a non-default schema.prisma path

prisma generate --schema=./alternative/schema.prisma

Continue watching the schema.prisma file for changes to automatically re-generate Prisma Client

prisma generate --watch

Show CLI results

Run the generate command with only a specific generator

prisma generate --generator client

Run the generate command with multiple specific generators

prisma generate --generator client --generator zod_schemas

Generated Assets

The prisma-client-js generator creates a customized client for working with your database within the ./node_modules/.prisma/client directory by default - you can customize the output folder.

introspect

warning

Deprecation warning
From Prisma ORM 3.0.0 onwards, the prisma introspect command is deprecated and replaced with the prisma db pull command.

validate

Validates the Prisma Schema Language of the Prisma schema file.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma, ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

Validate a schema without errors

prisma validate

Show CLI results

Validate a schema with validation errors

prisma validate

Show CLI results

format

Formats the Prisma schema file, which includes validating, formatting, and persisting the schema.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma, ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

Validate a schema without errors

prisma format

Show CLI results

Formatting a schema with validation errors

prisma format

Show CLI results

debug

Prints information for debugging and bug reports.

info

This is available from version 5.6.0 and newer.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma, ./prisma/schema.prisma
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message

Example

prisma debug

Show CLI results

If you're using an older version of Prisma, you can use this command by running:

npx prisma@latest debug

db

db pull

The db pull command connects to your database and adds Prisma models to your Prisma schema that reflect the current database schema.

warning

Warning: The command will overwrite the current schema.prisma file with the new schema. Some manual changes or customization can be lost. Be sure to back up your current schema.prisma file (or commit your current state to version control to be able to revert any changes) before running db pull if it contains important modifications.

info

Introspection with the db pull command on the MongoDB connector samples the data instead of reading a schema.

Prerequisites

Before using the db pull command, you must define a valid datasource within your schema.prisma file.

For example, the following datasource defines a SQLite database file within the current directory:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  url      = "file:my-database.db"
}

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--force	No	Force overwrite of manual changes made to schema. The generated schema will be based on the introspected schema only.
--print	No	Prints the created schema.prisma to the screen instead of writing it to the filesystem.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma, ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

Analyze the database and write its schema to the schema.prisma file

prisma db pull

Show CLI results

Specify an alternative schema.prisma file to read and write to

prisma db pull --schema=./alternative/schema.prisma

Show CLI results

Display the generated schema.prisma file instead of writing it to the filesystem

prisma db pull --print

Show CLI results

db push

The db push command pushes the state of your Prisma schema file to the database without using migrations. It creates the database if the database does not exist.

This command is a good choice when you do not need to version schema changes, such as during prototyping and local development.

See also:

• Conceptual overview of db push and when to use it over Prisma Migrate
• Schema prototyping with db push

Prerequisites

Before using the db push command, you must define a valid datasource within your schema.prisma file.

For example, the following datasource defines a SQLite database file within the current directory:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  url      = "file:my-database.db"
}

Options

Options	Required	Description
--skip-generate	No	Skip generation of artifacts such as Prisma Client
--force-reset	No	Resets the database and then updates the schema - useful if you need to start from scratch due to unexecutable migrations.
--accept-data-loss	No	Ignore data loss warnings. This option is required if as a result of making the schema changes, data may be lost.
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

Push the schema:

prisma db push

Push the schema, accepting data loss:

prisma db push --accept-data-loss

Push the schema with a custom schema location:

prisma db push --schema=/tmp/schema.prisma

db seed

db seed changed from Preview to Generally Available (GA) in 3.0.1.

See Seeding your database

Options

Options	Required	Description
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message
--	No	Allows the use of custom arguments defined in a seed file

The -- argument/ delimiter/ double-dash is available from version 4.15.0 or later.

Examples

prisma db seed

db execute

info

The db execute command is Generally Available in versions 3.13.0 and later. If you're using a version between 3.9.0 and 3.13.0, it is available behind a --preview-feature CLI flag.

warning

This command is currently not supported on MongoDB.

This command applies a SQL script to the database without interacting with the Prisma migrations table. The script takes two inputs:

• the SQL script, which can be provided either on standard input or in a file
• the data source, which can either be the URL of the data source or the path to your Prisma schema file

The output of the command is connector-specific, and is not meant for returning data, but only to report success or failure.

See also:

• Migration troubleshooting in production

Prerequisites

Before using the db execute command, if you do not use the --url option you must define a valid datasource within your schema.prisma file.

For example, the following datasource defines a SQLite database file within the current directory:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  url      = "file:my-database.db"
}

Options

One of the following data source inputs is required:

Options	Description
--url	URL of the data source to run the command on
--schema	Path to a Prisma schema file, uses the URL in the datasource block

One of the following script inputs is required:

Options	Description
--stdin	Use the terminal standard input as the script to be executed
--file	Path to a file. The content will be sent as the script to be executed

Other options:

Options	Required	Description
--help	No	Displays the help message.

Examples

• Take the content of a SQL file located at ./script.sql and execute it on the database specified by the URL in the datasource block of your schema.prisma file:

  prisma db execute --file ./script.sql --schema schema.prisma

• Take the SQL script from standard input and execute it on the database specified by the data source URL given in the DATABASE_URL environment variable:

  echo 'TRUNCATE TABLE dev;' | prisma db execute --stdin --url="$DATABASE_URL"

Prisma Migrate

Prisma Migrate changed from Preview to Generally Available (GA) in 2.19.0.

info

Does not apply for MongoDB
Instead of migrate dev and related commands, db push is used for MongoDB.

migrate dev

For use in development environments only, requires shadow database

The migrate dev command:

1. Reruns the existing migration history in the shadow database in order to detect schema drift (edited or deleted migration file, or a manual changes to the database schema)
2. Applies pending migrations to the shadow database (for example, new migrations created by colleagues)
3. Generates a new migration from any changes you made to the Prisma schema before running migrate dev
4. Applies all unapplied migrations to the development database and updates the _prisma_migrations table
5. Triggers the generation of artifacts (for example, Prisma Client)

warning

This command is not supported on MongoDB. Use db push instead.

See also:

• Conceptual overview of Prisma Migrate
• Developing with Prisma Migrate

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--create-only	No	Creates a new migration based on the changes in the schema but does not apply that migration. Run migrate dev to apply migration.
--skip-seed	No	Skip triggering seed
--skip-generate	No	Skip triggering generators (for example, Prisma Client)
--name / -n	No	Name the migration (e.g. prisma migrate dev --name added_job_title)
--help / -h	No	Displays the help message

info

If a schema drift is detected while running prisma migrate dev using --create-only, you will be prompted to reset your database.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--name	No	The name of the migration. If no name is provided, the CLI will prompt you.
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

Apply all migrations, then create and apply any new migrations:

prisma migrate dev

Apply all migrations and create a new migration if there are schema changes, but do not apply it:

prisma migrate dev --create-only

migrate reset

For use in development environments only

This command:

1. Drops the database/schema if possible, or performs a soft reset if the environment does not allow deleting databases/schemas
2. Creates a new database/schema with the same name if the database/schema was dropped
3. Applies all migrations
4. Runs seed scripts

warning

This command is not supported on MongoDB. Use db push instead.

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--force	No	Skip the confirmation prompt
--skip-generate	No	Skip triggering generators (for example, Prisma Client)
--skip-seed	No	Skip triggering seed
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

prisma migrate reset

migrate deploy

The migrate deploy command applies all pending migrations, and creates the database if it does not exist. Primarily used in non-development environments. This command:

• Does not look for drift in the database or changes in the Prisma schema
• Does not reset the database or generate artifacts
• Does not rely on a shadow database

warning

This command is not supported on MongoDB. Use db push instead.

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

prisma migrate deploy

migrate resolve

The migrate resolve command allows you to solve migration history issues in production by marking a failed migration as already applied (supports baselining) or rolled back.

Note that this command can only be used with a failed migration. If you try to use it with a successful migration you will receive an error.

warning

This command is not supported on MongoDB. Use db push instead.

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--applied	No*	Record a specific migration as applied - for example --applied "20201231000000_add_users_table"
--rolled-back	No*	Record a specific migration as rolled back - for example --rolled-back "20201231000000_add_users_table"	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

You must specify either --rolled-back or --applied.

Examples

prisma migrate resolve --applied 20201231000000_add_users_table

prisma migrate resolve --rolled-back 20201231000000_add_users_table

migrate status

The prisma migrate status command looks up the migrations in ./prisma/migrations/* folder and the entries in the _prisma_migrations table and compiles information about the state of the migrations in your database.

warning

This command is not supported on MongoDB. Use db push instead.

For example:

Status
3 migrations found in prisma/migrations

Your local migration history and the migrations table from your database are different:

The last common migration is: 20201127134938_new_migration

The migration have not yet been applied:
20201208100950_test_migration

The migrations from the database are not found locally in prisma/migrations:
20201208100950_new_migration

In versions 4.3.0 and later, prisma migrate status exits with exit code 1 in the following cases:

• a database connection error occurs
• there are migration files in the migrations directory that have not been applied to the database
• the migration history in the migrations directory has diverged from the state of the database
• no migration table is found
• failed migrations are found

Options

Option	Required	Description	Default
--help / --h	No	Displays the help message

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

prisma migrate status

migrate diff

info

The migrate diff command is Generally Available in versions 3.13.0 and later. If you're using a version between 3.9.0 and 3.13.0, it is available behind a --preview-feature CLI flag.

warning

This command is only partially supported for MongoDB. See the command options below for details.

This command compares two database schema sources and outputs a description of a migration taking the first to the state of the second.

The output can be given either as a human-readable summary (the default) or an executable script.

warning

The migrate diff command can only compare database features that are supported by Prisma. If two databases differ only in unsupported features, such as views or triggers, then migrate diff will not show any difference between them.

The format of the command is:

prisma migrate diff --from-... <source1> --to-... <source2>

where the --from-... and --to-... options are selected based on the type of database schema source. The supported types of sources are:

• live databases
• migration histories
• Prisma schema data models
• an empty schema

Both schema sources must use the same database provider. For example, a diff comparing a PostgreSQL data source with a SQLite data source is not supported.

See also:

• Migration troubleshooting in production

Prerequisites

Before using the migrate diff command, if you are using the --from-schema-datasource or --to-schema-datasource you must define a valid datasource within your schema.prisma file.

For example, the following datasource defines a SQLite database file within the current directory:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  url      = "file:my-database.db"
}

Options

One of the following --from-... options is required:

Options	Description	Notes
--from-url	A data source URL
--from-migrations	Path to the Prisma Migrate migrations directory	Not supported in MongoDB
--from-schema-datamodel	Path to a Prisma schema file, uses the data model for the diff
--from-schema-datasource	Path to a Prisma schema file, uses the URL in the datasource block for the diff
--from-empty	Assume that you the data model you are migrating from is empty
--from-local-d1	Path to a local D1 instance (learn more)	Available since 5.12.0

One of the following --to-... options is required:

Options	Description	Notes
--to-url	A data source URL
--to-migrations	Path to the Prisma Migrate migrations directory	Not supported in MongoDB
--to-schema-datamodel	Path to a Prisma schema file, uses the data model for the diff
--to-schema-datasource	Path to a Prisma schema file, uses the URL in the datasource block for the diff
--to-empty	Assume that you the data model you are migrating to is empty
--to-local-d1	Path to a local D1 instance (learn more)	Available since 5.12.0

Other options:

Options	Required	Description	Notes
--shadow-database-url	No	URL for the shadow database	Only required if using --to-migrations or --from-migrations
--script	No	Outputs a SQL script instead of the default human-readable summary	Not supported in MongoDB
-o, --output	No	Writes to a file instead of stdout	Available since 5.12.1
--exit-code	No	Change the exit code behavior to signal if the diff is empty or not (Empty: 0, Error: 1, Not empty: 2). Default behavior is Success: 0, Error: 1.
--help	No	Displays the help message.

Examples

• Compare two databases specified by their data source URL, and output the default human-readable summary:

  prisma migrate diff \
    --from-url "$DATABASE_URL" \
    --to-url "postgresql://login:password@localhost:5432/db2"

• Compare the state of a database with a URL of $DATABASE_URL to the schema defined by the migrations in the ./prisma/migrations directory, and output the differences to a script script.sql:

  prisma migrate diff \
   --from-url "$DATABASE_URL" \
   --to-migrations ./prisma/migrations \
   --shadow-database-url $SHADOW_DATABASE_URL \
   --script > script.sql

Prisma Data Platform

platform (Early Access)

The platform command provides access to the Prisma Data Platform through the Prisma CLI starting in version 5.10.0 or later.

• Authentication:

  • platform auth login: Opens a browser window for login or account creation.
  • platform auth logout: Logs out of the platform.
  • platform auth show: Displays information about the currently authenticated user.

• Workspace Management:

  • platform workspace show: Lists all workspaces available to your account.

• Project Management:

  • platform project show: Lists all projects within the specified workspace.
  • platform project create: Creates a new project within the specified workspace.
  • platform project delete: Deletes the specified project.

• Environment Management:

  • platform environment show: Lists all environments for the specified project.
  • platform environment create: Creates a new environment within the specified project.
  • platform environment delete: Deletes the specified environment.

• API Key Management:

  • platform apikey show: Lists all API keys for the specified environment.
  • platform apikey create: Creates a new API key for the specified environment.
  • platform apikey delete: Deletes the specified API key.

• Prisma Accelerate:

  • platform accelerate enable: Enables Prisma Accelerate for the specified environment.
  • platform accelerate disable: Disables Prisma Accelerate for the specified environment.

• Prisma Pulse:

  • platform pulse enable: Enables Prisma Pulse for the specified environment.
  • platform pulse disable: Disables Prisma Pulse for the specified environment.

You can find the complete list of available commands with the arguments here.

Studio

studio

The studio command allows you to interact with and manage your data interactively. It does this by starting a local web server with a web app configured with your project's data schema and records.

Prerequisites

Before using the studio command, you must define a valid datasource within your schema.prisma file.

For example, the following datasource defines a SQLite database file within the current directory:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  url      = "file:my-database.db"
}

Options

The studio command recognizes the following options:

Option	Required	Description	Default
-b, --browser	No	The browser to auto-open Studio in.	<your-default-browser>
-h, --help	No	Show all available options and exit
-p, --port	No	The port number to start Studio on.	5555

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description	Default
--schema	No	Specifies the path to the desired schema.prisma file to be processed instead of the default path. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.	./schema.prisma ./prisma/schema.prisma

Examples

Start Studio on the default port and open a new browser tab to it

prisma studio

Start Studio on a different port and open a new browser tab to it

prisma studio --port 7777

Start Studio and open a Firefox tab to it

prisma studio --browser firefox

Start Studio without opening a new browser tab to it

prisma studio --browser none

package.json entry options

schema

The path to the desired schema.prisma file can be specified with the prisma.schema entry in the package.json file. The path defines the file the Prisma CLI should use when you run any of the CLI commands. Both absolute and relative paths are supported.

"package.json"

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "prisma": {
    "schema": "./custom-path-to-schema/schema.prisma"
  }
}

This is available from version 2.7.0 and later.

seed

The command used to populate the datasource is specified in the prisma.seed entry in the package.json file. It is used when prisma db seed is invoked or triggered.

See Seeding your database

"package.json"

{
  "name": "my-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "prisma": {
    "seed": "node ./prisma/seed.js"
  }
}

This is available from version 3.0.1 and later.

Using a HTTP proxy for the CLI

Prisma CLI supports custom HTTP proxies. This is particularly relevant when being behind a corporate firewall.

To activate usage of the proxy, provide either of the following environment variables:

• HTTP_PROXY or http_proxy: Proxy URL for http traffic, for example http://localhost:8080
• HTTPS_PROXY or https_proxy: Proxy URL for https traffic, for example https://localhost:8080