Prisma Postgres Setup

Procedural skill that guides you through provisioning a new Prisma Postgres database via the Management API and connecting it to a local project.

When to Apply

Use this skill when:

Setting up a new Prisma Postgres database for a project
Creating a Prisma Postgres project and connecting it locally
Obtaining a connection string for Prisma Postgres
Provisioning a database via the Management API (not the Console UI)

Do not use this skill when:

Setting up CI/CD preview databases — use prisma-postgres-cicd
Building multi-tenant database provisioning into an app — use prisma-postgres-integrator
Working with a database that already exists and is connected (schema/migration tasks are standard Prisma CLI)

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
A Prisma Postgres workspace (create one at https://console.prisma.io if needed)
A workspace service token (see references/auth.md)

UX Guidelines

When presenting choices to the user (region selection, project deletion, etc.), use your platform's interactive selection mechanism (e.g., ask tool in Claude Code, structured prompts in other agents). Do not print static tables and ask the user to type a value — present selectable options so the user can pick with minimal effort.

Workflow

Follow these steps in order. Each step includes the API call to make and how to handle the response.

Step 1: Authenticate

You need a service token. Try these methods in order:

1a. Token in the user's prompt

Check if the user included a service token in their initial message (e.g., "Set up Prisma Postgres with token eyJ..."). If so, use it exactly as provided — do not truncate, re-encode, or round-trip it through a file. Store it in a shell variable for subsequent calls.

1b. Token in the environment

Check for PRISMA_SERVICE_TOKEN in the environment or .env file.

1c. Ask the user to create one

If no token is available, instruct the user:

Create a service token in Prisma Console → Workspace Settings → Service Tokens. Copy the token and paste it here.

Read references/auth.md for details on service token creation.

Once you have a token, store it in a shell variable (PRISMA_SERVICE_TOKEN) and use it for all subsequent API calls.

Step 2: List available regions

Fetch the list of available Prisma Postgres regions to let the user choose where to deploy.

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $PRISMA_SERVICE_TOKEN" \
  https://api.prisma.io/v1/regions/postgres

The response contains an array of regions with id, name, and status. Only present regions where status is available.

Present the regions as an interactive menu — let the user pick from options rather than typing a region ID manually.

Read references/endpoints.md for the full response shape.

Step 3: Create a project with a database

curl -s -X POST https://api.prisma.io/v1/projects \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PRISMA_SERVICE_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "<project-name>",
    "region": "<region-id>",
    "createDatabase": true
  }'

Use the current directory name as the project name by default.

The response is wrapped in { "data": { ... } }. Extract:

data.id — the project ID (prefixed with proj_)
data.database.id — the database ID (prefixed with db_)
data.database.connections[0].endpoints.direct.connectionString — the direct PostgreSQL connection string

Use the direct connection string (endpoints.direct.connectionString). Do not use the pooled or accelerate endpoints — those are for legacy Accelerate setups and not needed for new projects.

If the response status is provisioning, wait a few seconds and poll GET /v1/databases/<database-id> until status is ready.

If creation fails due to a database limit, list the user's existing projects and present them as an interactive menu for deletion. After the user picks one, delete it and retry.

Read references/endpoints.md for the full request/response shapes.

Step 4: Create a named connection (optional)

If you need a dedicated connection (e.g., per-developer or per-environment), create one:

curl -s -X POST https://api.prisma.io/v1/databases/<database-id>/connections \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PRISMA_SERVICE_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "name": "dev" }'

Extract the direct connection string from data.endpoints.direct.connectionString.

Step 5: Configure the local project

Install dependencies:

npm install prisma @prisma/client @prisma/adapter-pg pg dotenv

All five packages are required:

prisma — CLI for migrations, schema push, client generation
@prisma/client — the generated query client
@prisma/adapter-pg — Prisma 7 driver adapter for direct PostgreSQL connections
pg — Node.js PostgreSQL driver (used by the adapter)
dotenv — loads .env variables for prisma.config.ts

Write the direct connection string to .env. Append to the file if it already exists — do not overwrite existing entries:

DATABASE_URL="<direct-connection-string>"

Verify .gitignore includes .env. Create .gitignore if it does not exist. Warn the user if .env is not gitignored.
Ensure package.json has "type": "module" set (Prisma 7 generates ESM output).
If prisma/schema.prisma does not exist, run npx prisma init to scaffold the project. This creates both prisma/schema.prisma and prisma.config.ts.
Ensure schema.prisma has the postgresql provider and no url or directUrl in the datasource block (Prisma 7 manages connection URLs in prisma.config.ts, not in the schema):

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
}

Ensure prisma.config.ts loads the connection URL from the environment:

import path from 'node:path'
import { defineConfig } from 'prisma/config'
import 'dotenv/config'

export default defineConfig({
  earlyAccess: true,
  schema: path.join(import.meta.dirname, 'prisma', 'schema.prisma'),
  datasource: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!,
  },
})

Important Prisma 7 notes:

Connection URLs go in prisma.config.ts, never in schema.prisma
The provider in schema.prisma must be "postgresql" (not "prismaPostgres")
dotenv/config must be imported in prisma.config.ts to load .env variables

Step 6: Define schema and push

If the schema already has models, skip to pushing. Otherwise, present these options as an interactive menu:

"I'll define my schema manually" — Tell the user to edit prisma/schema.prisma and come back when ready. Wait for them before proceeding.
"Give me a starter schema" — Add a Blog starter schema (User, Post, Comment with relations) to prisma/schema.prisma. Show the user what was added and ask if they want to adjust it before pushing.
"I'll describe what I need" — Ask the user to describe their data model in natural language (e.g., "I'm building a task manager with projects, tasks, and team members"). Generate a schema from the description, show it, and ask for confirmation before pushing.

Once the schema has models and the user is ready, create a migration and generate the client:

npx prisma migrate dev --name init

This creates migration files in prisma/migrations/ and generates the client in one step. Migration history is essential for CI/CD workflows (prisma migrate deploy) and production deployments.

Only use npx prisma db push if the user explicitly asks for prototyping-only mode (no migration history). In that case, follow it with npx prisma generate.

Step 7: Verify the connection

After generating the client, create and run a quick verification script to confirm everything works end-to-end. This is critical — do not skip this step.

Create a file named test-connection.ts:

import 'dotenv/config'
import pg from 'pg'
import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg'
import { PrismaClient } from './generated/prisma/client.js'

const pool = new pg.Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL })
const adapter = new PrismaPg(pool)
const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter })

const result = await prisma.$queryRawUnsafe('SELECT 1 as connected')
console.log('Connected to Prisma Postgres:', result)

await prisma.$disconnect()
await pool.end()

Run it:

npx tsx test-connection.ts

Prisma 7 client instantiation rules:

Import from ./generated/prisma/client.js (not ./generated/prisma)
Create a pg.Pool with the DATABASE_URL connection string
Wrap it in a PrismaPg adapter
Pass { adapter } to the PrismaClient constructor
Do not use datasourceUrl — that option does not exist in Prisma 7
Do not use new PrismaClient() with no arguments — it will throw

After verification succeeds, delete test-connection.ts.

Then share links for the user to explore their database:

Prisma Studio (CLI): npx prisma studio — opens a visual data browser locally
Console: https://console.prisma.io/<workspaceId>/<projectId>/<databaseId>/dashboard — strip the prefixes (wksp_, proj_, db_) from the IDs returned in Step 3 to build this URL

Read references/prisma7-client.md for the full client instantiation reference.

Error Handling

Read references/api-basics.md for the full error reference. Key self-correction patterns:

HTTP Status	Error Code	Action
401	`authentication-failed`	Service token is invalid or expired. Ask the user to create a new one in Console → Workspace Settings → Service Tokens.
404	`resource-not-found`	Check that the resource ID includes the correct prefix (`proj_`, `db_`, `con_`).
422	`validation-error`	Check request body against the endpoint schema. Common: missing `name`, invalid `region`.
429	`rate-limit-exceeded`	Back off and retry after a few seconds.

Reference Files

Detailed API and usage information is in:

references/auth.md             — Service token creation and usage
references/api-basics.md       — Base URL, envelope, IDs, errors, pagination
references/endpoints.md        — Endpoint details for projects, databases, connections, regions
references/prisma7-client.md   — Prisma 7 client instantiation and usage patterns

prisma-postgres-setup