prisma db

Manage your database schema and lifecycle with Prisma DB commands

prisma db

Manage your database schema and lifecycle.

Subcommands

Command	Description
prisma db push	Push schema state to database without migrations
prisma db pull	Pull database state to Prisma schema using introspection
prisma db seed	Seed your database with test data

---

prisma db push

Push the state from your Prisma schema to your database without using migrations.

Usage

prisma db push [options]

The datasource URL configuration is read from the Prisma config file (e.g., prisma.config.ts).

Options

--help · boolean

Display help message.

Alias: -h

prisma db push --help

--config · string

Custom path to your Prisma config file.

prisma db push --config=./custom/prisma.config.ts

--schema · string

Custom path to your Prisma schema.

prisma db push --schema=./prisma/schema.prisma

--url · string

Override the datasource URL from the Prisma config file.

prisma db push --url="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb"

--accept-data-loss · boolean

Ignore data loss warnings and proceed with the push.

prisma db push --accept-data-loss

--force-reset · boolean

Force a reset of the database before push. All data will be lost.

prisma db push --force-reset

Examples

Basic push

prisma db push

Output:

Prisma schema loaded from prisma/schema.prisma
Datasource "db": PostgreSQL database "mydb" at "localhost:5432"

🚀 Your database is now in sync with your Prisma schema. Done in 234ms

Schema already in sync

prisma db push

Output:

Prisma schema loaded from prisma/schema.prisma
Datasource "db": PostgreSQL database "mydb" at "localhost:5432"

The database is already in sync with the Prisma schema.

With data loss warning

prisma db push

Interactive prompt:

⚠️  There might be data loss when applying the changes:

  • The column `email` on the `User` table would be dropped and recreated. This will lead to data loss.

Do you want to ignore the warning(s)? › (y/N)

Accept data loss automatically

prisma db push --accept-data-loss

Force reset before push

prisma db push --force-reset

⚠️ Warning: This drops all data before applying changes.

When to Use db push

• Prototyping: Rapidly iterate on schema during early development
• Local development: Quick schema updates without migration files
• Serverless: Environments where migration files aren’t practical
• Small projects: When migration history isn’t needed

db push vs migrate dev

Feature	db push	migrate dev
Migration files	❌ No	✅ Yes
History tracking	❌ No	✅ Yes
Team collaboration	❌ Limited	✅ Full
Production use	❌ Not recommended	✅ Recommended
Speed	✅ Fast	Slower
Prototyping	✅ Ideal	Overkill

---

prisma db pull

Pull the state from the database to the Prisma schema using introspection.

Usage

prisma db pull [options]

The datasource URL configuration is read from the Prisma config file (e.g., prisma.config.ts).

Options

--help · boolean

Display help message.

Alias: -h

prisma db pull --help

--config · string

Custom path to your Prisma config file.

prisma db pull --config=./custom/prisma.config.ts

--schema · string

Custom path to your Prisma schema.

prisma db pull --schema=./prisma/schema.prisma

--url · string

Override the datasource URL from the Prisma config file.

prisma db pull --url="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb"

--force · boolean

Ignore current Prisma schema file and overwrite it completely.

prisma db pull --force

--print · boolean

Print the introspected Prisma schema to stdout instead of writing to file.

prisma db pull --print

--composite-type-depth · number

Specify the depth for introspecting composite types (e.g., Embedded Documents in MongoDB).

Default is -1 (infinite depth), 0 disables composite types.

prisma db pull --composite-type-depth=2

--schemas · string

Specify database schemas to introspect (comma-separated). Overrides schemas in datasource block.

prisma db pull --schemas=public,auth,analytics

Examples

Basic pull

prisma db pull

Output:

Prisma schema loaded from prisma/schema.prisma
Datasource "db": PostgreSQL database "mydb" at "localhost:5432"

✔ Introspected 3 models and wrote them into prisma/schema.prisma in 156ms

Run prisma generate to generate Prisma Client.

Print to stdout

prisma db pull --print

Outputs the introspected schema to stdout instead of writing to file.

Force overwrite

prisma db pull --force

Completely overwrites your existing schema file. Use with caution.

Specify schemas

prisma db pull --schemas=public,auth

Introspects only the public and auth schemas.

Set composite type depth

prisma db pull --composite-type-depth=2

Limits MongoDB embedded document depth to 2 levels.

When to Use db pull

• Existing database: Import schema from an existing database
• Database-first workflow: Database is source of truth
• Schema synchronization: Update Prisma schema after manual DB changes
• Migration from other ORMs: Convert existing schema to Prisma

Introspection Warnings

You may see warnings about unsupported features:

⚠️  Warnings:

  • These fields were commented out because they currently are not supported by Prisma.
  • Enums "user_role" and "post_status" were duplicated. This is not supported by Prisma.

---

prisma db seed

Seed your database with test or initial data.

Usage

prisma db seed [options]

Options

--help · boolean

Display help message.

Alias: -h

prisma db seed --help

--config · string

Custom path to your Prisma config file.

prisma db seed --config=./prisma.config.ts

Passing Arguments to Seed Script

You can pass extra arguments to your seed script using --:

prisma db seed -- --arg1 value1 --arg2 value2

Examples

Basic seed

prisma db seed

Output:

🌱  The seed command has been executed.

Pass arguments to seed script

prisma db seed -- --env production --count 100

Configuration

Configure seeding in your prisma.config.ts:

// prisma.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'prisma'

export default defineConfig({
  datasource: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  },
  migrations: {
    seed: 'bun ./prisma/seed.ts',
  },
})

The seed command can be any executable:

// Node.js
seed: 'node ./prisma/seed.js'

// TypeScript with ts-node
seed: 'ts-node ./prisma/seed.ts'

// Bun
seed: 'bun ./prisma/seed.ts'

// Deno
seed: 'deno run -A ./prisma/seed.ts'

Example Seed Script

// prisma/seed.ts
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'

const prisma = new PrismaClient()

async function main() {
  // Create users
  const alice = await prisma.user.create({
    data: {
      email: '[e-mail]',
      name: 'Alice',
    },
  })

  const bob = await prisma.user.create({
    data: {
      email: '[e-mail]',
      name: 'Bob',
    },
  })

  console.log({ alice, bob })
}

main()
  .catch((e) => {
    console.error(e)
    process.exit(1)
  })
  .finally(async () => {
    await prisma.$disconnect()
  })

No Seed Command Configured

If no seed command is configured:

prisma db seed

Output:

⚠️ No seed command configured

To seed your database, add a seed property to the migrations section in your Prisma config file.

Example

  // prisma.config.ts
  export default defineConfig({
    migrations: {
      seed: 'bun ./prisma/seed.ts',
    },
    datasource: {
      url: '[your database URL]',
    },
  })

Related Commands

• prisma migrate dev - Create and apply migrations
• prisma migrate deploy - Deploy migrations to production
• prisma generate - Generate Prisma Client