The PostgreSQL data source connector connects Prisma to a PostgreSQL database server.

Example

To connect to a PostgreSQL database server, you need to configure a datasource block in your Prisma schema file:

schema.prisma
1datasource db {
2 provider = "postgresql"
3 url = env("DATABASE_URL")
4}

The fields passed to the datasource block are:

Connection details

Connection URL

Prisma is based on the official PostgreSQL format for connection URLs, but does not support all arguments and includes additional arguments such as schema. Here's an overview of the components needed for a PostgreSQL connection URL:

Structure of the PostgreSQL connection URL

Base URL and path

Here is an example of the structure of the base URL and the path using placeholder values in uppercase letters:

postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE

The following components make up the base URL of your database, they are always required:

NamePlaceholderDescription
HostHOSTIP address/domain of your database server, e.g. localhost
PortPORTPort on which your database server is running, e.g. 5432
UserUSERName of your database user, e.g. janedoe
PasswordPASSWORDPassword for your database user
DatabaseDATABASEName of the database you want to use, e.g. mydb

You must percentage-encode special characters.

Arguments

A connection URL can also take arguments. Here is the same example from above with placeholder values in uppercase letters for three arguments:

postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE?KEY1=VALUE&KEY2=VALUE&KEY3=VALUE

The following arguments can be used:

Argument nameRequiredDefaultDescription
schemaYespublicName of the schema you want to use, e.g. myschema
connection_limitNonum_cpus * 2 + 1Maximum size of the connection pool
connect_timeoutNo5Maximum number of seconds to wait for a new connection to be opened, 0 means no timeout
pool_timeoutNo10Maximum number of seconds to wait for a new connection from the pool, 0 means no timeout
sslmodeNopreferConfigures whether to use TLS. Possible values: prefer, disable, require
sslcertNoPath of the server certificate. Certificate paths are resolved relative to the ./prisma folder
sslidentityNoPath to the PKCS12 certificate
sslpasswordNoPassword that was used to secure the PKCS12 file
sslacceptNoaccept_invalid_certsConfigures whether to check for missing values in the certificate. Possible values: accept_invalid_certs, strict
hostNoPoints to a directory that contains a socket to be used for the connection
socket_timeoutNoMaximum number of seconds to wait until a single query terminates
pgbouncerNofalseConfigure the Engine to enable PgBouncer compatibility mode
application_nameNoSince 3.3.0: Specifies a value for the application_name configuration parameter
channel_bindingNopreferSince 4.8.0: Specifies a value for the channel_binding configuration parameter
optionsNoSince 3.8.0: Specifies command line options to send to the server at connection start

As an example, if you want to connect to a schema called myschema, set the connection pool size to 5 and configure a timeout for queries of 3 seconds. You can use the following arguments:

postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE?schema=myschema&connection_limit=5&socket_timeout=3

Configuring an SSL connection

You can add various parameters to the connection URL if your database server uses SSL. Here's an overview of the possible parameters:

  • sslmode=(disable|prefer|require):
    • prefer (default): Prefer TLS if possible, accept plain text connections.
    • disable: Do not use TLS.
    • require: Require TLS or fail if not possible.
  • sslcert=<PATH>: Path to the server certificate. This is the root certificate used by the database server to sign the client certificate. You need to provide this if the certificate doesn't exist in the trusted certificate store of your system. For Google Cloud this likely is server-ca.pem. Certificate paths are resolved relative to the ./prisma folder
  • sslidentity=<PATH>: Path to the PKCS12 certificate database created from client cert and key. This is the SSL identity file in PKCS12 format which you will generate using the client key and client certificate. It combines these two files in a single file and secures them via a password (see next parameter). You can create this file using your client key and client certificate by using the following command (using openssl):
    openssl pkcs12 -export -out client-identity.p12 -inkey client-key.pem -in client-cert.pem
  • sslpassword=<PASSWORD>: Password that was used to secure the PKCS12 file. The openssl command listed in the previous step will ask for a password while creating the PKCS12 file, you will need to provide that same exact password here.
  • sslaccept=(strict|accept_invalid_certs):
    • strict: Any missing value in the certificate will lead to an error. For Google Cloud, especially if the database doesn't have a domain name, the certificate might miss the domain/IP address, causing an error when connecting.
    • accept_invalid_certs (default): Bypass this check. Be aware of the security consequences of this setting.

Your database connection URL will look similar to this:

postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE?sslidentity=client-identity.p12&sslpassword=mypassword&sslcert=rootca.cert

Connecting via sockets

To connect to your PostgreSQL database via sockets, you must add a host field as a query parameter to the connection URL (instead of setting it as the host part of the URI). The value of this parameter then must point to the directory that contains the socket, e.g.: postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@localhost/database?host=/var/run/postgresql/

Note that localhost is required, the value itself is ignored and can be anything.

Note: You can find additional context in this GitHub issue.

Type mapping between PostgreSQL to Prisma schema

The PostgreSQL connector maps the scalar types from the Prisma data model as follows to native column types:

Alternatively, see Prisma schema reference for type mappings organized by Prisma type.

Native type mapping from Prisma to PostgreSQL

PrismaPostgreSQL
Stringtext
Booleanboolean
Intinteger
BigIntbigint
Floatdouble precision
Decimaldecimal(65,30)
DateTimetimestamp(3)
Jsonjsonb
Bytesbytea

Native type mappings

When introspecting a PostgreSQL database, the database types are mapped to Prisma according to the following table:

PostgreSQL (Type | Aliases)PrismaSupportedNative database type attributeNotes
bigint | int8BigInt✔️@db.BigInt**Default mapping for BigInt - no type attribute added to schema.
boolean | boolBool✔️@db.Boolean**Default mapping for Bool - no type attribute added to schema.
timestamp with time zone | timestamptzDateTime✔️@db.Timestamptz(x)
time without time zone | timeDateTime✔️@db.Time(x)
time with time zone | timetzDateTime✔️@db.Timetz(x)
numeric(p,s) | decimal(p,s)Decimal✔️@db.Decimal(x, y)
real | float, float4Float✔️@db.Real
double precision | float8Float✔️@db.DoublePrecision**Default mapping for Float - no type attribute added to schema.
smallint | int2Int✔️@db.SmallInt
integer | int, int4Int✔️@db.Int**Default mapping for Int - no type attribute added to schema.
smallserial | serial2Int✔️@db.SmallInt @default(autoincrement())
serial | serial4Int✔️@db.Int @default(autoincrement())
bigserial | serial8Int✔️@db.BigInt @default(autoincrement()
character(n) | char(n)String✔️@db.Char(x)
character varying(n) | varchar(n)String✔️@db.VarChar(x)
moneyDecimal✔️@db.Money
textString✔️@db.Text**Default mapping for String - no type attribute added to schema.
timestampDateTime✔️@db.TimeStamp**Default mapping for DateTime - no type attribute added to schema.
dateDateTime✔️@db.Date
enumEnum✔️N/A
inetString✔️@db.Inet
bit(n)String✔️@Bit(x)
bit varying(n)String✔️@VarBit
oidInt✔️@db.Oid
uuidString✔️@db.Uuid
jsonJson✔️@db.Json
jsonbJson✔️@db.JsonB**Default mapping for Json - no type attribute added to schema.
byteaBytes✔️@db.ByteA**Default mapping for Bytes - no type attribute added to schema.
xmlString✔️@db.Xml
Array types[]✔️
citextString✔️*@db.Citext* Only available if Citext extension is enabled.
intervalUnsupportedNot yet
cidrUnsupportedNot yet
macaddrUnsupportedNot yet
tsvectorUnsupportedNot yet
tsqueryUnsupportedNot yet
int4rangeUnsupportedNot yet
int8rangeUnsupportedNot yet
numrangeUnsupportedNot yet
tsrangeUnsupportedNot yet
tstzrangeUnsupportedNot yet
daterangeUnsupportedNot yet
pointUnsupportedNot yet
lineUnsupportedNot yet
lsegUnsupportedNot yet
boxUnsupportedNot yet
pathUnsupportedNot yet
polygonUnsupportedNot yet
circleUnsupportedNot yet
Composite typesn/aNot yet
Domain typesn/aNot yet

Introspection adds native database types that are not yet supported as Unsupported fields:

schema.prisma
1model Device {
2 id Int @id @default(autoincrement())
3 name String
4 data Unsupported("circle")
5}
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