prisma dev

Starts a local Prisma Postgres database for development. Provides a PostgreSQL-compatible database that runs entirely on your machine.

Command

prisma dev [options]

What It Does

• Starts a local PostgreSQL-compatible database
• Runs in your terminal or as a background process
• Perfect for development and testing
• Easy migration to Prisma Postgres cloud in production

Options

Option	Description	Default
--name / -n	Name for the database instance	default
--port / -p	HTTP server port	51213
--db-port / -P	Database server port	51214
--shadow-db-port	Shadow database port (for migrations)	51215
--detach / -d	Run in background	false
--debug	Enable debug logging	false

Examples

Start local database

prisma dev

Interactive mode with keyboard shortcuts:

• q - Quit
• h - Show HTTP URL
• t - Show TCP URLs

Named instance

prisma dev --name myproject

Useful for multiple projects.

Background mode

prisma dev --detach

Frees your terminal for other commands.

Custom ports

prisma dev --port 5000 --db-port 5432

Instance Management

List all instances

prisma dev ls

Shows all local Prisma Postgres instances with status.

Start existing instance

prisma dev start myproject

Starts a previously created instance in background.

Stop instance

prisma dev stop myproject

Stop with glob pattern

prisma dev stop "myproject*"

Stops all instances matching pattern.

Remove instance

prisma dev rm myproject

Removes instance data from filesystem.

Force remove (stops first)

prisma dev rm myproject --force

Configuration

Configure your prisma.config.ts to use local Prisma Postgres:

import 'dotenv/config'
import { defineConfig, env } from 'prisma/config'

export default defineConfig({
  schema: 'prisma/schema.prisma',
  migrations: {
    path: 'prisma/migrations',
  },
  datasource: {
    // Local Prisma Postgres URL (from prisma dev output)
    url: env('DATABASE_URL'),
  },
})

Workflow

1. Start local database:

   prisma dev
   

2. In another terminal, run migrations:

   prisma migrate dev
   

3. Generate client:

   prisma generate
   

4. Run your application

Production Migration

When ready for production, switch to Prisma Postgres cloud:

prisma init --db

Update your DATABASE_URL to the cloud connection string.