Generating Prisma Client

Prisma Client is a generated database client that's tailored to your database schema. By default, Prisma Client is generated into the node_modules/.prisma/client folder, but we highly recommend you specify an output location.

warning

In Prisma ORM 7, Prisma Client will no longer be generated in node_modules by default and will require an output path to be defined. Learn more below on how to define an output path.

To generate and instantiate Prisma Client:

1. Ensure that you have Prisma CLI installed on your machine.

   npm install prisma --save-dev

2. Add the following generator definition to your Prisma schema:

   generator client {
     provider = "prisma-client-js"
     output   = "app/generated/prisma/client"
   }
   note

   Feel free to customize the output location to match your application. Common directories are app, src, or even the root of your project.

3. Install the @prisma/client npm package:

   npm install @prisma/client

4. Generate Prisma Client with the following command:

   prisma generate

5. You can now instantiate Prisma Client in your code:

   import { PrismaClient } from 'app/generated/prisma/client'
   const prisma = new PrismaClient()
   // use `prisma` in your application to read and write data in your DB

Important: You need to re-run the prisma generate command after every change that's made to your Prisma schema to update the generated Prisma Client code.

Here is a graphical illustration of the typical workflow for generation of Prisma Client:

The location of Prisma Client

warning

We strongly recommend you define a custom output path. In Prisma ORM version 6.6.0, not defining an output path will result in a warning. In Prisma ORM 7, the field will be required.

Using a custom output path

You can also specify a custom output path on the generator configuration, for example (assuming your schema.prisma file is located at the default prisma subfolder):

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

After running prisma generate for that schema file, the Prisma Client package will be located in:

./src/generated/client

To import the PrismaClient from a custom location (for example, from a file named ./src/script.ts):

import { PrismaClient } from './generated/client'

note

For improved compatibility with ECMAScript modules (ESM) and to ensure consistent behaviour of Prisma ORM across different Node.js runtimes, you can also use the prisma-client generator (Preview). This generator is specifically designed to handle common challenges with module resolution and runtime variations, providing a smoother integration experience and less friction with bundlers.

The @prisma/client npm package

The @prisma/client npm package consists of two key parts:

• The @prisma/client module itself, which only changes when you re-install the package
• The .prisma/client folder, which is the default location for the unique Prisma Client generated from your schema

@prisma/client/index.d.ts exports .prisma/client:

export * from '.prisma/client'

This means that you still import @prisma/client in your own .ts files:

import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'

Prisma Client is generated from your Prisma schema and is unique to your project. Each time you change the schema (for example, by performing a schema migration) and run prisma generate, Prisma Client's code changes:

The .prisma folder is unaffected by pruning in Node.js package managers.