Older versions

This page provides upgrade guidance for older Prisma ORM versions. For upgrading to the current version, see Upgrade to v7.

Upgrading to v6

Prisma ORM v6 introduced breaking changes related to Node.js versions, TypeScript versions, and schema changes for PostgreSQL.

Key breaking changes

• Minimum Node.js: 18.18.0, 20.9.0, or 22.11.0
• Minimum TypeScript: 5.1.0
• PostgreSQL implicit m-n relations: Changed from unique index to primary key
• Full-text search on PostgreSQL: Now requires fullTextSearchPostgres preview feature
• Buffer replaced with Uint8Array: For Bytes fields
• NotFoundError removed: Use PrismaClientKnownRequestError with code P2025 instead

Upgrade command

npm install prisma@6 @prisma/client@6

After upgrading, run prisma migrate dev --name upgrade-to-v6 to apply schema changes for implicit m-n relations.

Upgrading to v5

Prisma ORM v5 introduced the JSON Protocol for improved performance and removed deprecated APIs.

Key breaking changes

• Minimum Node.js: 16.13.0
• Minimum TypeScript: 4.7
• Minimum PostgreSQL: 9.6
• rejectOnNotFound removed: Use findFirstOrThrow() or findUniqueOrThrow() instead
• Array shortcuts removed: OR, in, notIn, and path now require array values
• CockroachDB: Requires cockroachdb provider (not postgresql)

Example: Replacing rejectOnNotFound

// Before (v4 and earlier)
prisma.user.findFirst({
  where: { name: "Alice" },
  rejectOnNotFound: true,
});

// After (v5+)
prisma.user.findFirstOrThrow({
  where: { name: "Alice" },
});

Example: Array values required

// Before (v4 and earlier)
prisma.user.findMany({
  where: { OR: { email: "[email protected]" } },
});

// After (v5+)
prisma.user.findMany({
  where: { OR: [{ email: "[email protected]" }] },
});

Upgrade command

npm install prisma@5 @prisma/client@5

Upgrading to v4

Prisma ORM v4 made extended indexes generally available and introduced changes to raw queries and JSON null handling.

Key breaking changes

• Minimum Node.js: 14.17.x
• Extended indexes GA: extendedIndexes preview feature removed
• Explicit @unique required: For 1:1 relations
• Raw query type mapping: DateTime returns Date, Numeric returns Decimal
• DbNull, JsonNull, AnyNull: Now objects instead of strings

Example: JSON null values

// Before (v3 and earlier)
prisma.log.findMany({
  where: { data: { meta: { equals: null } } },
});

// After (v4+)
import { Prisma } from "@prisma/client";
prisma.log.findMany({
  where: { data: { meta: { equals: Prisma.AnyNull } } },
});

Upgrade command

npm install prisma@4 @prisma/client@4

After upgrading, run npx prisma db pull to retrieve existing index configurations before creating new migrations.

Upgrading to v3

Prisma ORM v3 introduced referential actions and named constraints, with significant changes to cascade delete behavior.

Key breaking changes

• Referential actions: Runtime cascade prevention removed; now handled at database level
• Named constraints: New naming convention for constraints and indexes
• $queryRaw changes: Only supports template literals (use $queryRawUnsafe for strings)
• JSON null types: Introduced Prisma.DbNull, Prisma.JsonNull, Prisma.AnyNull

Referential actions

In v2.x, Prisma Client prevented cascading deletes at runtime. In v3+, this is handled by the database. Review your schema's onDelete settings:

model Post {
  id       Int  @id
  author   User @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id], onDelete: Cascade)
  authorId Int
}

Named constraints

After upgrading, run npx prisma db pull to sync constraint names, or run npx prisma migrate dev to update to Prisma's default naming convention.

Upgrade command

npm install prisma@3 @prisma/client@3

Codemods

The @prisma/codemods package helps automate code changes when upgrading:

npx @prisma/codemods <transform> <path>

Available transforms:

• namespace - Update @prisma/client namespace changes
• findUnique - Convert findOne to findUnique
• to$ - Convert deprecated methods to $ prefixed versions
• update-2.12 - Apply all transforms for 2.12 upgrade

See the codemods repository for more details.