Upgrade to Prisma ORM 7

Complete guide for migrating from Prisma ORM v6 to v7. This upgrade introduces significant breaking changes including ESM-only support, required driver adapters, and a new configuration system.

When to Apply

Reference this skill when:

• Upgrading from Prisma v6 to v7
• Switching from prisma-client-js to prisma-client
• Setting up driver adapters
• Configuring prisma.config.ts
• Fixing import errors after upgrade

Important Notes

• MongoDB not yet supported in v7 - Continue using v6 for MongoDB
• Node.js 20.19.0+ required
• TypeScript 5.4.0+ required

Upgrade Steps Overview

1. Update packages to v7
2. Configure ESM in package.json
3. Update TypeScript configuration
4. Update schema generator block
5. Create prisma.config.ts
6. Install and configure driver adapter
7. Update Prisma Client imports
8. Update client instantiation
9. Remove deprecated code (middleware, env vars)
10. Run generate and test

Quick Upgrade Commands

# Update packages
npm install @prisma/client@7
npm install -D prisma@7

# Install driver adapter (PostgreSQL example)
npm install @prisma/adapter-pg

# Install dotenv for env loading
npm install dotenv

# Regenerate client
npx prisma generate

Breaking Changes Summary

Change	v6	v7
Module format	CommonJS	ESM only
Generator provider	prisma-client-js	prisma-client
Output path	Auto (node_modules)	Required explicit
Driver adapters	Optional	Required
Config file	.env + schema	prisma.config.ts
Env loading	Automatic	Manual (dotenv)
Middleware	$use()	Client Extensions
Metrics	Preview feature	Removed

Rule Files

Detailed migration guides for each breaking change:

rules/esm-support.md        - ESM module configuration
rules/schema-changes.md     - Generator and schema updates
rules/driver-adapters.md    - Required driver adapter setup
rules/prisma-config.md      - New configuration file
rules/env-variables.md      - Environment variable loading
rules/client-imports.md     - Updated import paths
rules/removed-features.md   - Middleware, metrics, CLI flags
rules/accelerate-users.md   - Special handling for Accelerate
rules/ssl-certificates.md   - SSL validation changes

Step-by-Step Migration

1. Update package.json for ESM

{
  "type": "module"
}

2. Update tsconfig.json

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "target": "ES2023",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true
  }
}

3. Update schema.prisma

// Before (v6)
generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

// After (v7)
generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../generated"
}

4. Create prisma.config.ts

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

export default defineConfig({
  schema: 'prisma/schema.prisma',
  migrations: {
    path: 'prisma/migrations',
  },
  datasource: {
    url: env('DATABASE_URL'),
  },
})

5. Install driver adapter

# PostgreSQL
npm install @prisma/adapter-pg

# MySQL
npm install @prisma/adapter-mariadb mariadb

# SQLite
npm install @prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3

# Prisma Postgres
npm install @prisma/adapter-ppg @prisma/ppg

# Neon
npm install @prisma/adapter-neon

6. Update client instantiation

// Before (v6)
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'
const prisma = new PrismaClient()

// After (v7)
import { PrismaClient } from '../generated/client'
import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg'

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

7. Run migrations and generate

npx prisma generate
npx prisma migrate dev  # if needed

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find module" errors

• Check output path in generator block matches import path
• Ensure prisma generate ran successfully

SSL certificate errors

• Add ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false } to adapter config
• Or properly configure SSL certificates

Connection timeout issues

• Driver adapters use different pool defaults
• Configure pool settings explicitly on the adapter

Resources

• Official v7 Upgrade Guide
• Driver Adapters Documentation
• Prisma Config Reference