# Configuring error formatting (Prisma ORM v6) (/docs/orm/v6/prisma-client/setup-and-configuration/error-formatting)

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This page explains how to configure the formatting of errors when using Prisma Client.

Location: ORM > v6 > Prisma Client > Setup and Configuration > Configuring error formatting

By default, Prisma Client uses [ANSI escape characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code) to pretty print the error stack and give recommendations on how to fix a problem. While this is very useful when using Prisma Client from the terminal, in contexts like a GraphQL API, you only want the minimal error without any additional formatting.

This page explains how error formatting can be configured with Prisma Client.

## Formatting levels [#formatting-levels]

There are 3 error formatting levels:

1. **Pretty Error** (default): Includes a full stack trace with colors, syntax highlighting of the code and extended error message with a possible solution for the problem.
2. **Colorless Error**: Same as pretty errors, without colors.
3. **Minimal Error**: The raw error message.

In order to configure these different error formatting levels, there are two options:

* Setting the config options via environment variables
* Providing the config options to the `PrismaClient` constructor

## Formatting via environment variables [#formatting-via-environment-variables]

* [`NO_COLOR`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/reference/environment-variables-reference#no_color): If this env var is provided, colors are stripped from the error messages. Therefore you end up with a **colorless error**. The `NO_COLOR` environment variable is a standard described in [the NO_COLOR specification](https://no-color.org/).
* `NODE_ENV=production`: If the env var `NODE_ENV` is set to `production`, only the **minimal error** will be printed. This allows for easier digestion of logs in production environments.

### Formatting via the `PrismaClient` constructor [#formatting-via-the-prismaclient-constructor]

Alternatively, use the `PrismaClient` [`errorFormat`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/reference/prisma-client-reference#errorformat) parameter to set the error format:

```ts
const prisma = new PrismaClient({
  errorFormat: "pretty",
});
```

## Related pages

- [`Custom model and field names`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/prisma-client/setup-and-configuration/custom-model-and-field-names): Learn how you can decouple the naming of Prisma models from database tables to improve the ergonomics of the generated Prisma Client API.
- [`Database connections`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/prisma-client/setup-and-configuration/databases-connections): Databases connections
- [`Database polyfills`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/prisma-client/setup-and-configuration/database-polyfills): Prisma Client provides features that are not achievable with relational databases. These features are referred to as "polyfills" and explained on this page.
- [`Generating Prisma Client`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/prisma-client/setup-and-configuration/generating-prisma-client): This page explains how to generate Prisma Client. It also provides additional context on the generated client, typical workflows and Node.js configuration.
- [`Instantiating Prisma Client`](https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/v6/prisma-client/setup-and-configuration/instantiate-prisma-client): How to create and use an instance of PrismaClient in your app.