How to use Prisma ORM and Prisma Postgres with Deno

Introduction

Deno is a secure JavaScript and TypeScript runtime built on V8 with built-in TypeScript support, a permissions system, and web-standard APIs. In this guide, you will set up a Deno project with Prisma ORM and a Prisma Postgres database. You will create a simple HTTP server that reads from the database and returns the results.

Prerequisites

Deno v2.0 or later installed on your system
A Prisma Postgres database (created during setup)
Basic knowledge of JavaScript/TypeScript
Deno extension for VS Code (recommended)

1. Setting up your Deno project

First, create a directory for your project and navigate to it:

mkdir deno-prisma
cd deno-prisma

Then, initialize a new Deno project:

deno init

This creates a basic Deno project with a deno.json configuration file and a main.ts file.

1.1. Configure Deno for Prisma

Update the deno.json file with the following configuration to set up Node.js compatibility, import maps, and Prisma-related task scripts:

deno.json

{
  "nodeModulesDir": "auto",
  "compilerOptions": {
    "lib": ["deno.window"],
    "types": ["node"]
  },
  "imports": {
    "@prisma/adapter-pg": "npm:@prisma/adapter-pg@^7.0.0",
    "@prisma/client": "npm:@prisma/client@^7.0.0",
    "prisma": "npm:prisma@^7.0.0"
  },
  "tasks": {
    "dev": "deno run -A --env=.env --watch main.ts",
    "db:generate": "deno run -A --env=.env npm:prisma generate",
    "db:push": "deno run -A --env=.env npm:prisma db push",
    "db:migrate": "deno run -A --env=.env npm:prisma migrate dev",
    "db:seed": "deno run -A --env=.env npm:prisma db seed"
  }
}

The nodeModulesDir: "auto" setting allows Deno to automatically manage a node_modules directory, which is needed for Prisma's generated client. The import map entries let you use bare specifiers like @prisma/client in your code.

2. Installing and configuring Prisma

2.1. Initialize Prisma ORM with Prisma Postgres

Initialize Prisma ORM with Prisma Postgres in your project:

deno run -A npm:prisma init --db

You'll need to answer a few questions while setting up your Prisma Postgres database. Select the region closest to your location and a memorable name for your database like "My Deno Project".

This command creates:

A prisma/ directory with your schema.prisma file
A new Prisma Postgres database
A prisma.config.ts file
A .env file with your DATABASE_URL

2.2. Update the Prisma config file

Open the generated prisma.config.ts file. Since Deno loads environment variables using the --env=.env flag (configured in deno.json tasks), you can remove the dotenv/config import if it was generated:

prisma.config.ts

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"),
  },
});

2.3. Configure environment variables for direct connection

We're going to use a direct connection string for connecting to Prisma Postgres. To get your direct connection string:

Navigate to your recently created Prisma Postgres project dashboard (e.g. "My Deno Project")
Click the API Keys tab in the project's sidebar
Click the Create API key button
Provide a name for the API key and click Create
Copy the connection string starting with postgres://

Update your .env file to replace the DATABASE_URL with the new connection string:

.env

DATABASE_URL="your_database_url_here" // [!code --]
DATABASE_URL="your_direct_connection_string_here" // [!code ++]

2.4. Update your Prisma schema

Open prisma/schema.prisma and update it to include the Deno runtime and your data model:

prisma/schema.prisma

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

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
}

model User { 
  id    Int     @id @default(autoincrement()) 
  email String  @unique
  name  String?
}

The runtime = "deno" setting in the generator block is required for Prisma Client to work correctly with the Deno runtime.

3. Generate Prisma Client and run migrations

Generate the Prisma Client and apply your schema to the database:

deno task db:migrate --name init
deno task db:generate

This command:

Creates the database tables based on your schema
Generates the Prisma Client in the generated/prisma directory

4. Setting up database configuration and creating a seed script

4.1. Create a database utility file

Create a db.ts file in your project root to configure PrismaClient:

db.ts

import { PrismaClient } from "./generated/prisma/client.ts";
import { PrismaPg } from "@prisma/adapter-pg";

const adapter = new PrismaPg({
  connectionString: Deno.env.get("DATABASE_URL")!,
});

export const prisma = new PrismaClient({
  adapter,
});

4.2. Create a seed script

Create a seed script in the prisma folder to populate your database with sample data:

prisma/seed.ts

import { PrismaClient } from "../generated/prisma/client.ts";
import { PrismaPg } from "@prisma/adapter-pg";

const adapter = new PrismaPg({
  connectionString: Deno.env.get("DATABASE_URL")!,
});

const prisma = new PrismaClient({
  adapter,
});

async function main() {
  // Create multiple users
  await prisma.user.createMany({
    data: [
      { email: "alice@example.com", name: "Alice" },
      { email: "bob@example.com", name: "Bob" },
      { email: "charlie@example.com", name: "Charlie" },
      { email: "diana@example.com", name: "Diana" },
      { email: "eve@example.com", name: "Eve" },
      { email: "frank@example.com", name: "Frank" },
      { email: "grace@example.com", name: "Grace" },
      { email: "henry@example.com", name: "Henry" },
      { email: "isabella@example.com", name: "Isabella" },
      { email: "jack@example.com", name: "Jack" },
    ],
    skipDuplicates: true, // prevents errors if you run the seed multiple times
  });

  console.log("Seed data inserted!");
}

main()
  .catch((e) => {
    console.error(e);
    Deno.exit(1);
  })
  .finally(async () => {
    await prisma.$disconnect();
  });

4.3. Add the seed script to Prisma Config

Update the prisma.config.ts file to include the seed command:

prisma.config.ts

import { defineConfig, env } from "prisma/config";

export default defineConfig({
  schema: "prisma/schema.prisma",
  migrations: {
    path: "prisma/migrations",
    seed: "deno run -A --env=.env ./prisma/seed.ts", 
  },
  datasource: {
    url: env("DATABASE_URL"),
  },
});

Run the seed script to populate your database:

deno task db:seed

5. Creating your Deno server

Replace the main.ts file contents with the following code to build a simple HTTP server that uses Prisma ORM to fetch and display users:

main.ts

import { prisma } from "./db.ts";

async function handler(req: Request): Promise<Response> {
  const { pathname } = new URL(req.url);

  // Skip favicon route
  if (pathname === "/favicon.ico") {
    return new Response(null, { status: 204 });
  }

  // Return all users
  const users = await prisma.user.findMany();

  // Count all users
  const count = await prisma.user.count();

  // Format the response with JSON
  return new Response(
    JSON.stringify({
      users: users,
      totalUsers: count,
    }),
    { headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } },
  );
}

Deno.serve({ port: 8000 }, handler);

6. Running your application

Start your Deno server:

deno task dev

You should see the server running on http://localhost:8000 in the console. When you visit http://localhost:8000 in your browser, you'll see a JSON response with all the users in your database and the total count.

Next steps

Now that you have a Deno application connected to a Prisma Postgres database, you can continue by:

Extending your Prisma schema with additional models and relationships
Implementing authentication and authorization
Adding input validation with Zod
Exploring Deno's built-in testing tools
Deploying your application to Deno Deploy

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