Overview | Prisma Postgres

Prisma Data, Inc. · Prisma

3 min read Original article ↗

Connect to Prisma Postgres from Prisma ORM, serverless runtimes, and PostgreSQL clients.

Prisma Postgres is a managed PostgreSQL database with built-in connection pooling, query caching, and edge runtime support.

To your application it is a regular PostgreSQL database behind a connection string:

Your application
      ↓ DATABASE_URL
Prisma Postgres

Any PostgreSQL client works: Prisma ORM, psql, Kysely, Drizzle, node-postgres, or anything else that speaks Postgres.

1. Create a database

The fastest way, with no account required:

create-db creates a temporary Prisma Postgres database and prints a connection string plus a claim URL. Open the claim URL to keep the database in your workspace. See create-db for details. You can also create databases in the Console or with the Prisma CLI (npx prisma@latest postgres create).

2. Copy the connection string

create-db prints it once. For an existing database, open it in Prisma Console and click Connect to your database. Store it where your app reads configuration:

.env
DATABASE_URL="postgres://...@db.prisma.io:5432/postgres?sslmode=require"

3. Connect and run a query

Pick the client you use; each quickstart takes you from connection string to a first query:

Also available: the TypeORM quickstart and Connecting to your database, which covers connection strings for psql, GUI tools, and serverless runtimes.

Working with a coding agent? Copy this prompt:

Use with your agent

Use with your agent

Create a Prisma Postgres database for this project.

1. Run `npx create-db@latest`. It creates a temporary Prisma Postgres database without an account and prints a connection string plus a claim URL.
2. Put the connection string in `.env` as DATABASE_URL and wire it into whichever of Prisma ORM, Kysely, Drizzle, TypeORM, or node-postgres the project already uses (detect it from package.json; if none, ask me). Verify the connection with one trivial query such as `select 1`.
3. Remind me to open the claim URL to keep the database in my Prisma workspace.

Current docs: https://www.prisma.io/docs/postgres.md.

Each Prisma Postgres database includes the following, with no extra services to configure:

  • Connection pooling: a dedicated PgBouncer instance runs alongside your database, with nothing to set up or manage. It also works for serverless and edge deployments. See Connection pooling.
  • Query caching: add a cacheStrategy to any Prisma ORM query to cache results at the edge, using TTL or stale-while-revalidate. See Caching.
  • Edge and serverless support: connect from Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge Functions, and other edge runtimes via the serverless driver, which uses HTTP instead of TCP.
  • Automated backups: daily backups with point-in-time recovery. See Backups.

Run Prisma Postgres locally with prisma dev, then switch to cloud when ready.

Each integration is optional. Prisma Postgres works with any PostgreSQL client.

  • Using Prisma 8? The quickstart provisions a database and connects it to your data contract.
  • Deploying on Prisma Compute? Each branch of a Compute project can have its own Prisma Postgres database; pass the connection string through environment variables.
  • Building a multi-service application? Prisma Composer declares a database as a service dependency and injects the connection at runtime.

Prisma Postgres uses usage-based pricing and includes spend controls.

In Prisma Console, you can track usage, set spend limits, and view billing details.

Billing and Usage dashboard metrics.

Prisma Postgres is based on PostgreSQL v17 and uses a unikernel-based architecture.

Learn more: Prisma Postgres: Building a modern PostgreSQL service.

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