Use Prisma with Bun

<Note> **Note** — Prisma's dynamic subcommand loading system currently requires npm to be installed alongside Bun. This affects certain CLI commands like `prisma init`, `prisma migrate`, etc. Generated code works perfectly with Bun using the new `prisma-client` generator. </Note> <Steps> <Step title="Create a new project"> Prisma works out of the box with Bun. First, create a directory and initialize it with `bun init`.

code

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
mkdir prisma-app
cd prisma-app
bun init
```

</Step> <Step title="Install Prisma dependencies"> Then install the Prisma CLI (`prisma`), Prisma Client (`@prisma/client`), and the LibSQL adapter as dependencies.

code

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
bun add -d prisma
bun add @prisma/client @prisma/adapter-libsql
```

</Step> <Step title="Initialize Prisma with SQLite"> We'll use the Prisma CLI with `bunx` to initialize our schema and migration directory. For simplicity we'll be using an in-memory SQLite database.

code

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
bunx --bun prisma init --datasource-provider sqlite
```

This creates a basic schema. We need to update it to use the new Rust-free client with Bun optimization. Open `prisma/schema.prisma` and modify the generator block, then add a simple `User` model.

```prisma prisma/schema.prisma icon="https://mintcdn.com/bun-1dd33a4e/nIz6GtMH5K-dfXeV/icons/ecosystem/prisma.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=nIz6GtMH5K-dfXeV&q=85&s=c37203455320f85a20a7b29ce374661c" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
  generator client {
    provider = "prisma-client" // [!code ++]
    output = "./generated" // [!code ++]
    engineType = "client" // [!code ++]
    runtime = "bun" // [!code ++]
  }

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

  model User { // [!code ++]
    id    Int     @id @default(autoincrement()) // [!code ++]
    email String  @unique // [!code ++]
    name  String? // [!code ++]
  } // [!code ++]
```

</Step> <Step title="Create and run database migration"> Then generate and run initial migration.

code

This will generate a `.sql` migration file in `prisma/migrations`, create a new SQLite instance, and execute the migration against the new instance.

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
 bunx --bun prisma migrate dev --name init
```

```txt  theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
Environment variables loaded from .env
Prisma schema loaded from prisma/schema.prisma
Datasource "db": SQLite database "dev.db" at "file:./dev.db"

SQLite database dev.db created at file:./dev.db

Applying migration `20251014141233_init`

The following migration(s) have been created and applied from new schema changes:

prisma/migrations/
 └─ 20251014141233_init/
   └─ migration.sql

Your database is now in sync with your schema.

✔ Generated Prisma Client (6.17.1) to ./generated in 18ms
```

</Step> <Step title="Generate Prisma Client"> As indicated in the output, Prisma re-generates our *Prisma client* whenever we execute a new migration. The client provides a fully typed API for reading and writing from our database. You can manually re-generate the client with the Prisma CLI.

code

```sh terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
bunx --bun prisma generate
```

</Step> <Step title="Initialize Prisma Client with LibSQL"> Now we need to create a Prisma client instance. Create a new file `prisma/db.ts` to initialize the PrismaClient with the LibSQL adapter.

code

```ts prisma/db.ts icon="https://mintcdn.com/bun-1dd33a4e/nIz6GtMH5K-dfXeV/icons/typescript.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=nIz6GtMH5K-dfXeV&q=85&s=5d73d76daf7eb7b158469d8c30d349b0" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
import { PrismaClient } from "./generated/client";
import { PrismaLibSQL } from "@prisma/adapter-libsql";

const adapter = new PrismaLibSQL({ url: process.env.DATABASE_URL || "" });
export const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter });
```

</Step> <Step title="Create a test script"> Let's write a simple script to create a new user, then count the number of users in the database.

code

```ts index.ts icon="https://mintcdn.com/bun-1dd33a4e/nIz6GtMH5K-dfXeV/icons/typescript.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=nIz6GtMH5K-dfXeV&q=85&s=5d73d76daf7eb7b158469d8c30d349b0" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
import { prisma } from "./prisma/db";

// create a new user
await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    name: "John Dough",
    email: `john-${Math.random()}@example.com`,
  },
});

// count the number of users
const count = await prisma.user.count();
console.log(`There are ${count} users in the database.`);
```

</Step> <Step title="Run and test the application"> Let's run this script with `bun run`. Each time we run it, a new user is created.

code

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
bun run index.ts
```

```txg  theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
Created john-0.12802932895402364@example.com
There are 1 users in the database.
```

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
bun run index.ts
```

```txt  theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
Created john-0.8671308799782803@example.com
There are 2 users in the database.
```

```bash terminal icon="terminal" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
bun run index.ts
```

```txt  theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
Created john-0.4465968383115295@example.com
There are 3 users in the database.
```

</Step> </Steps>

That's it! Now that you've set up Prisma using Bun, we recommend referring to the official Prisma docs as you continue to develop your application.