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How to use Prisma in Docker

This guide walks you through setting up a Prisma ORM application within a Docker environment. You’ll learn how to configure a Node.js project, integrate Prisma for database management, and orchestrate the application using Docker Compose. By the end, you’ll have a fully functional Prisma application running in a Docker container.

Prerequisites​

Before starting, ensure that no PostgreSQL services are running locally, and that the following ports are free to avoid conflicts: 5432 (PostgreSQL), 3000 (application server) or 5555 (Prisma Studio server).

To stop existing PostgreSQL services, use:

sudo systemctl stop postgresql  # Linux
brew services stop postgresql   # macOS
net stop postgresql             # Windows (Run as Administrator)

To stop all running Docker containers and free up ports:

docker ps -q | xargs docker stop

1. Set up your Node.js and Prisma application​

Let’s start by creating a simple Node.js application with Prisma ORM and Express.js.

1.1. Initialize your project​

First, create a new project directory and initialize a Node.js project:

mkdir docker-test
cd docker-test
npm init -y

This will generate a package.json file:

package.json
{
  "name": "docker-test",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {},
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC"
}

1.2. Install required dependencies​

Next, install the Prisma CLI as a development dependency and Express.js for the server:

npm install prisma --save-dev
npm install express

1.3. Set up Prisma ORM​

Now, initialize Prisma to generate the necessary files:

npx prisma init

This creates:

  • A prisma folder containing schema.prisma, where you will define your database schema.
  • An .env file in the project root, which stores environment variables.

Add a User model to the schema.prisma file located in the prisma/schema.prisma folder:

prisma/schema.prisma
datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
  output = "../generated/prisma_client"
}

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

In the schema.prisma file, we specify a custom output path where Prisma will generate its types. This ensures Prisma's types are resolved correctly across different package managers and can be accessed by application consistently inside the container without any permission issues. In this guide, the types will be generated in the ./generated/prisma_client directory.

1.4. Create an Express.js server​

With the Prisma schema in place, let’s create an Express.js server to interact with the database. Start by creating an index.js file:

touch index.js

Add the following code to set up a basic Express server:

index.js
const express = require("express");
const { PrismaClient } = require("./generated/prisma_client");

const app = express();
const prisma = new PrismaClient();
app.use(express.json());

// Get all users
app.get("/", async (req, res) => {
  const userCount = await prisma.user.count();
  res.json(
    userCount == 0
      ? "No users have been added yet."
      : "Sonme users have been added to the database."
  );
});

const PORT = 3000;

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Server is running on http://localhost:${PORT}`);
});

Update the package.json scripts to include commands for running the server and deploying migrations:

package.json
"scripts": {
  "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
  "dev": "node index.js",
  "db:deploy": "npx prisma migrate deploy && npx prisma generate"
}

Now that the application is set up, let’s move on to configuring a PostgreSQL database using Docker Compose.

2. Set up a PostgreSQL database with Docker Compose​

To perform database migrations, we’ll create a standalone PostgreSQL database using Docker Compose.

2.1. Create a Docker Compose file for PostgreSQL​

Create a docker-compose.postgres.yml file in the root directory:

docker-compose.postgres.yml
version: '3.7'

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=postgres
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=prisma
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    networks:
      - prisma-network
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U prisma -d postgres"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 2s
      retries: 20
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    command: postgres -c listen_addresses='*'
    logging:
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"

networks:
  prisma-network:

volumes:
  postgres_data:

2.2. Start the PostgreSQL container​

Run the following command to start the database:

docker compose -f docker-compose.postgres.yml up -d

2.3. Perform database migrations​

With the database running, update the .env file with the following database connection url:

.env
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:prisma@localhost:5432/postgres?schema=public"

Run the migration to create the database schema:

npx prisma migrate dev --name init

This should generate a migrations folder in the prisma folder.

2.4. Test the application​

Start the server and verify it works:

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see the message:

No users have been added yet.

Stop the local server.

2.5. Clean up the standalone database​

Once testing is complete, remove the standalone PostgreSQL container:

docker compose -f docker-compose.postgres.yml down --remove-orphans

This command will:

  • Stop running containers.
  • Remove containers.
  • Remove the default network created by Docker Compose.
  • Remove associated volumes (if not named explicitly).

Now that we’ve tested the application locally, let’s containerize it using Docker.

3. Run the app and database together with Docker Compose​

We’ll now containerize the application using Docker, ensuring it can run in any environment.

To do that create a Dockerfile in project root:

touch Dockerfile

For the next step, you’ll need to choose between two options for the base image: node:alpine (lightweight) or node:slim (stable). Both options are fully supported by Prisma ORM, but may have to be configured differently.

3.1. Option 1: Use Linux Alpine (node:alpine) as a base image​

The node:alpine image is based on Alpine Linux, a lightweight Linux distribution that uses the musl C standard library. It’s perfect if you want to keep your container small and efficient. Prisma supports Alpine on amd64 out of the box, and supports it on arm64 since prisma@4.10.0.

Add the following content to the Dockerfile:

Dockerfile
FROM node:lts-alpine3.17

WORKDIR /usr/src/app

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./

RUN npm ci

COPY . .

CMD ["sh", "-c", "npm run db:deploy && npm run dev"]
note

When running on Linux Alpine, Prisma downloads engines that are compiled for the musl C standard library. Please don't install glibc on Alpine (e.g., via the libc6-compat package), as that would prevent Prisma from running successfully.

Related Docker images:

  • node:lts-alpine
  • node:16-alpine
  • node:14-alpine

3.1. Option 2: Use Linux Debian (node:slim) as a base image​

The node:slim image is based on Linux Debian, a stable and widely supported distribution that uses the glibc C standard library. It is mostly supported out of the box on amd64 and arm64, making it a good choice if you’re running into compatibility issues with Alpine or need a more production-ready environment. However, some older versions of this image may come without libssl installed, so it’s sometimes necessary to install it manually.

Add the following content to the Dockerfile:

Dockerfile
FROM node:slim

RUN apt-get update -y \
&& apt-get install -y openssl

WORKDIR /usr/src/app

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./

COPY . .

RUN npm ci

CMD ["sh", "-c", "npm run db:deploy && npm run dev"]

Related Docker images:

  • node:lts-slim
  • node:bullseye-slim
  • node:buster-slim
  • node:stretch-slim

3.2. Create and configure a Docker Compose file​

Now that the Dockerfile is ready, we’ll use Docker Compose to manage both the app and the database together. This makes it easy to start, stop, and manage the entire setup.

Create a docker-compose.yml file in your project folder:

touch docker-compose.yml

Add the following configuration to the file:

docker-compose.yml
version: '3.7'

services:
  postgres_db:
    image: postgres:15
    hostname: postgres_db
    container_name: postgres_db
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: postgres
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: prisma
    ports:
      - '5432:5432'
    networks:
      - prisma-network
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres -d postgres"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 2s
      retries: 20

  server:
    build: 
      context: .  
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - '3000:3000'
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true  # Keeps the container running for debugging
    depends_on:
      postgres_db:
        condition: service_healthy
    env_file:
      - .env.prod
    networks:
      - prisma-network
networks:
  prisma-network:
    name: prisma-network

3.3. Configure environment variable for the container​

Before running the app, we need to configure the environment variables. Create a .env.prod file:

touch .env.prod

Add the following database connection url to the .env.prod file:

.env.prod
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:prisma@postgres_db:5432/postgres?schema=public"

3.4. Build and run the application​

With everything set up, it’s time to build and run the app using Docker Compose. Run the following command:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up --build -d

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see your app running with the message:

No users have been added yet.

3.5. Bonus: Add Prisma Studio for database management​

Prisma Studio offers a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to view and manage your database directly in the browser. It’s a great tool for debugging and managing your data during development.

To add Prisma Studio to your Docker setup, update the docker-compose.yml file:

docker.compose.yml
version: '3.7'

services:
  postgres_db:
    image: postgres:15
    hostname: postgres_db
    container_name: postgres_db
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: postgres
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: prisma
    ports:
      - '5432:5432'
    networks:
      - prisma-network
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres -d postgres"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 2s
      retries: 20

  server:
    build: 
      context: .  
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - '3000:3000'
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true  # Keeps the container running for debugging
    depends_on:
      postgres_db:
        condition: service_healthy
    env_file:
      - .env.prod
    networks:
      - prisma-network
  prisma-studio:
    image: node:lts-alpine3.17
    working_dir: /usr/src/app
    volumes:
      - .:/usr/src/app
    command: npx prisma studio --port 5555 --browser none
    ports:
      - "5555:5555"
    env_file:
      - .env.prod
    networks:
      - prisma-network
    depends_on:
      postgres_db:
        condition: service_healthy
      server:
        condition: service_started
networks:
  prisma-network:
    name: prisma-network

This will start Prisma Studio at http://localhost:5555 alongside the main app at http://localhost:3000. You can use Prisma Studio to manage your database with a GUI.

Run the following command to start everything:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up --build -d

By following this guide, you’ve successfully containerized your Prisma app and database using Docker Compose.