Plainform

Prisma Migrate manages your database schema changes through migration files stored in prisma/migrations. Each migration represents a set of changes to your database structure.

Development Workflow

Modify Your Schema

Update prisma/schema.prisma with your changes:

prisma/schema.prisma

model Post {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  title     String
  content   String
  authorId  String
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  
  @@index([authorId])
}

Create Migration

Generate and apply the migration:

Terminal

npx prisma migrate dev --name add_post_model

This creates a migration file, applies it to your database, and regenerates Prisma Client.

Commit Migration

Add the migration to version control:

Terminal

git add prisma/migrations
git commit -m "feat: add post model"

Migration Commands

Development

Terminal

# Create and apply migration
npx prisma migrate dev --name migration_name

# Create migration without applying
npx prisma migrate dev --create-only

# Apply pending migrations
npx prisma migrate dev

Production

Terminal

# Apply all pending migrations
npx prisma migrate deploy

# Check migration status
npx prisma migrate status

Use migrate dev in development and migrate deploy in production. Never use migrate dev in production.

Reset Database

Terminal

# Drop database, recreate, and apply all migrations
npx prisma migrate reset

migrate reset deletes all data. Only use in development or with backups.

Common Scenarios

Adding a Field

prisma/schema.prisma

model Event {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  type      String
  slug      String
  text      String
  timestamp BigInt
  views     Int      @default(0)  // New field
}

Terminal

npx prisma migrate dev --name add_views_field

Adding a Relationship

prisma/schema.prisma

model Post {
  id       String    @id @default(cuid())
  title    String
  authorId String
  author   User      @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  
  @@index([authorId])
}

model User {
  id    String @id @default(cuid())
  name  String
  posts Post[]
}

Terminal

npx prisma migrate dev --name add_post_author_relation

Renaming a Field

prisma/schema.prisma

model Event {
  id          String @id @default(cuid())
  description String  // Renamed from 'text'
  timestamp   BigInt
}

Terminal

npx prisma migrate dev --name rename_text_to_description

Prisma detects renames as drop + create. To preserve data, manually edit the migration SQL to use ALTER TABLE ... RENAME COLUMN.

Production Deployment

Vercel

Add to your build command:

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "prisma migrate deploy && next build"
  }
}

Or set in Vercel dashboard:

Build Command: prisma migrate deploy && npm run build

Environment Variables

Ensure production has both connection strings:

Production .env

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://..."

Best Practices

Descriptive Names

Terminal

# ✅ Good
npx prisma migrate dev --name add_user_email_verification

# ❌ Bad
npx prisma migrate dev --name update

Small Migrations

Terminal

# ✅ Good - one change per migration
npx prisma migrate dev --name add_post_title_field
npx prisma migrate dev --name add_post_content_field

# ❌ Bad - too many changes
npx prisma migrate dev --name add_entire_blog_system

Review Generated SQL

Terminal

# Create without applying
npx prisma migrate dev --create-only --name your_migration

# Review SQL in prisma/migrations/[timestamp]_your_migration/migration.sql

# Apply if looks good
npx prisma migrate dev

Next Steps

Usage & Integration - Use Prisma Client in your code
Troubleshooting - Resolve migration issues
Prisma Migrate Docs - Complete reference

Migrations

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