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MongoDB

apps/docs/content/docs.v6/(index)/prisma-orm/quickstart/mongodb.mdx

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MongoDB is a popular NoSQL document database. In this guide, you will learn how to set up a new TypeScript project from scratch, connect it to MongoDB using Prisma ORM, and generate a Prisma Client for easy, type-safe access to your database.

:::warning[MongoDB support for Prisma ORM v7]

MongoDB support for Prisma ORM v7 is coming in the near future. In the meantime, please use Prisma ORM v6.19 (the latest v6 release) when working with MongoDB.

This guide uses Prisma ORM v6.19 to ensure full compatibility with MongoDB.

:::

Prerequisites

1. Create a new project

2. Install required dependencies

Install the packages needed for this quickstart:

npm
npm install [email protected] @types/node --save-dev
npm
npm install @prisma/[email protected] dotenv

:::info[Why Prisma v6.19?]

This is the latest stable version of Prisma ORM v6 that fully supports MongoDB. MongoDB support for Prisma ORM v7 is coming soon.

You can also install prisma@6 and @prisma/client@6 to automatically get the latest v6 release.

:::

Here's what each package does:

  • prisma - The Prisma CLI for running commands like prisma init, prisma db push, and prisma generate
  • @prisma/client - The Prisma Client library for querying your database
  • dotenv - Loads environment variables from your .env file

:::note

MongoDB doesn't require driver adapters since Prisma ORM connects directly to MongoDB.

:::

3. Configure ESM support

Update tsconfig.json for ESM compatibility:

json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "target": "ES2023",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "ignoreDeprecations": "6.0"
  }
}

Update package.json to enable ESM:

json
{
  "type": "module" // [!code ++]
}

4. Initialize Prisma ORM

You can now invoke the Prisma CLI by prefixing it with npx:

npm
npx prisma

Next, set up your Prisma ORM project by creating your Prisma Schema file with the following command:

npm
npx prisma init --datasource-provider mongodb --output ../generated/prisma

This command does a few things:

  • Creates a prisma/ directory with a schema.prisma file for your database connection and schema models
  • Creates a .env file in the root directory for environment variables
  • Creates a prisma.config.ts file for Prisma configuration

:::note

Prisma Client will be generated in the generated/prisma/ directory when you run npx prisma generate later in this guide.

:::

The generated prisma.config.ts file looks like this:

typescript
import { defineConfig, env } from "prisma/config";

export default defineConfig({
  schema: "prisma/schema.prisma",
  migrations: {
    path: "prisma/migrations",
  },
  engine: "classic",
  datasource: {
    url: env("DATABASE_URL"),
  },
});

Add dotenv to prisma.config.ts so that Prisma can load environment variables from your .env file:

typescript
import "dotenv/config"; // [!code ++]
import { defineConfig, env } from "prisma/config";

export default defineConfig({
  schema: "prisma/schema.prisma",
  migrations: {
    path: "prisma/migrations",
  },
  engine: "classic",
  datasource: {
    url: env("DATABASE_URL"),
  },
});

The generated schema uses the ESM-first prisma-client generator with a custom output path:

prisma
generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../generated/prisma"
}

datasource db {
  provider = "mongodb"
  url = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

Update your .env file with your MongoDB connection string:

text
DATABASE_URL="mongodb+srv://username:[email protected]/mydb"

:::tip

Replace username, password, cluster, and mydb with your actual MongoDB credentials and database name. You can get your connection string from MongoDB Atlas or your MongoDB deployment.

:::

5. Define your data model

Open prisma/schema.prisma and add the following models:

prisma
generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../generated/prisma"
}

datasource db {
  provider = "mongodb"
  url = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

model User { // [!code ++]
  id    String  @id @default(auto()) @map("_id") @db.ObjectId // [!code ++]
  email String  @unique // [!code ++]
  name  String? // [!code ++]
  posts Post[] // [!code ++]
} // [!code ++]

model Post { // [!code ++]
  id        String  @id @default(auto()) @map("_id") @db.ObjectId // [!code ++]
  title     String // [!code ++]
  content   String? // [!code ++]
  published Boolean @default(false) // [!code ++]
  author    User    @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id]) // [!code ++]
  authorId  String  @db.ObjectId // [!code ++]
} // [!code ++]

6. Push your schema to MongoDB

MongoDB doesn't support migrations like relational databases. Instead, use db push to sync your schema:

npm
npx prisma db push

This command:

  • Creates the collections in MongoDB based on your schema
  • Automatically generates Prisma Client

:::info

Unlike relational databases, MongoDB uses a flexible schema. The db push command ensures your Prisma schema is reflected in your database without creating migration files.

:::

7. Instantiate Prisma Client

Now that you have all the dependencies installed, you can instantiate Prisma Client:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { PrismaClient } from "../generated/prisma/client";

const prisma = new PrismaClient();

export { prisma };

8. Write your first query

Create a script.ts file to test your setup:

typescript
import { prisma } from "./lib/prisma";

async function main() {
  // Create a new user with a post
  const user = await prisma.user.create({
    data: {
      name: "Alice",
      email: "[email protected]",
      posts: {
        create: {
          title: "Hello World",
          content: "This is my first post!",
          published: true,
        },
      },
    },
    include: {
      posts: true,
    },
  });
  console.log("Created user:", user);

  // Fetch all users with their posts
  const allUsers = await prisma.user.findMany({
    include: {
      posts: true,
    },
  });
  console.log("All users:", JSON.stringify(allUsers, null, 2));
}

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

Run the script:

npm
npx tsx script.ts

You should see the created user and all users printed to the console!

9. Explore your data

You can use MongoDB Atlas, the MongoDB shell, or MongoDB Compass to view and manage your data.

Prisma Studio does not currently support MongoDB. Support may be added in a future release. See Databases supported by Prisma Studio for more information.

Next steps

Troubleshooting

Error in connector: SCRAM failure: Authentication failed.

If you see the Error in connector: SCRAM failure: Authentication failed. error message, you can specify the source database for the authentication by adding ?authSource=admin to the end of the connection string.

Raw query failed. Error code 8000 (AtlasError): empty database name not allowed.

If you see the Raw query failed. Code: unknown. Message: Kind: Command failed: Error code 8000 (AtlasError): empty database name not allowed. error message, be sure to append the database name to the database URL. You can find more info in this GitHub issue.

More info