Configuration

Prisma ORM CLI commands read prisma.config.ts in your project root. The file has one section per part of the CLI. The Prisma ORM data commands read the orm section; the agent skills commands read the skills section.

Config file

The outer definePrismaConfig comes from prisma/config and marks the file as a Prisma ORM 8 CLI config. A Prisma ORM 7 prisma.config.ts without that marker is rejected rather than misread. The import resolves from your project's node_modules, so prisma must be a local dependency. The orm section uses the config helper for your database. For PostgreSQL:

import "dotenv/config";
import { definePrismaConfig } from "prisma/config";
import { defineConfig as ormConfig } from "@prisma/orm-postgres/config";

export default definePrismaConfig({
  orm: ormConfig({
    contract: "./prisma/contract.prisma",
    db: {
      connection: process.env["DATABASE_URL"]!,
    },
  }),
});

For MongoDB projects, import the section helper from @prisma/orm-mongo/config instead. defineConfig from @prisma/cli-engine is the former name of definePrismaConfig and still works, so configs scaffolded by earlier release candidates keep evaluating.

orm init writes this file for you. Pass --config when your config file is not at ./prisma.config.ts:

bunx prisma@latest contract emit --config ./config/prisma.config.ts

Emit-only config

contract emit does not connect to a database, so the orm section can omit db.connection:

import { definePrismaConfig } from "prisma/config";
import { defineConfig as ormConfig } from "@prisma/orm-postgres/config";

export default definePrismaConfig({
  orm: ormConfig({
    contract: "./prisma/contract.prisma",
  }),
});

Add db.connection before running commands such as db verify, db sign, db init, db update, db schema, contract infer, or db migrate.

Extension packs

Add extension control descriptors to the orm section when your contract uses extension-provided types:

import { definePrismaConfig } from "prisma/config";
import { defineConfig as ormConfig } from "@prisma/orm-postgres/config";
import pgvector from "@prisma/orm-extension-pgvector/control";

export default definePrismaConfig({
  orm: ormConfig({
    contract: "./prisma/contract.prisma",
    extensions: [pgvector],
    db: {
      connection: process.env["DATABASE_URL"]!,
    },
  }),
});

Re-run contract emit after changing extension packs, then update the matching runtime client.

Agent skills

The skills section controls the agent skills commands and the staleness check:

import { definePrismaConfig } from "prisma/config";

export default definePrismaConfig({
  skills: {
    agents: ["claude", "cursor"],
    check: true,
  },
});

init scaffolds this section for you.

Database URLs

Database commands accept --db <url>. If you omit it, Prisma ORM uses the database connection from prisma.config.ts.

bunx prisma@latest db verify --db "$DATABASE_URL"

Environment variables

Platform environment variables

The platform commands read these:

Output modes

Use the default text output when running commands locally. Use --json in CI or automation:

bunx prisma@latest db verify --db "$DATABASE_URL" --json

For an AI agent that reads the output as text rather than parsing JSON, use --format markdown; see Global flags.

Use --no-interactive for scripts that must never pause for user input. Use --confirm <token> to grant a consent prompt non-interactively. For example, db update asks for the database name before a destructive change.

JSON output

In --json mode, commands emit newline-delimited JSON events. Progress events have kind: "step-finished". The final event has kind: "result" and carries the envelope object your script branches on:

• envelope.ok: true or false.
• envelope.result: the command's data, when ok is true.
• envelope.error.code: a dotted NAMESPACE.SUBCODE, for example PROJECT.NOT_FOUND or SERVICE.PROJECT_SETUP_REQUIRED.
• envelope.error.summary and envelope.error.why: what failed and why it was rejected.
• envelope.nextActions: machine-readable follow-up commands, so agents can drive the CLI.

Branch on envelope.error.code, not the message text: codes are a stable contract, while message wording can change between releases.