prisma db pull

Name: prisma-cli-db-pull
Rating: 78
Author: prisma

Introspects an existing database and updates your Prisma schema to reflect its structure.

Command

bash

prisma db pull [options]

What It Does

•Connects to your database
•Reads the database schema (tables, columns, relations, indexes)
•Updates schema.prisma with corresponding Prisma models
•For MongoDB, samples data to infer schema

Options

Option	Description
`--force`	Ignore current Prisma schema file
`--print`	Print the introspected Prisma schema to stdout
`--schema`	Custom path to your Prisma schema
`--config`	Custom path to your Prisma config file
`--url`	Override the datasource URL from the Prisma config file
`--composite-type-depth`	Specify the depth for introspecting composite types (default: -1 for infinite, 0 = off)
`--schemas`	Specify the database schemas to introspect
`--local-d1`	Generate a Prisma schema from a local Cloudflare D1 database

Examples

Basic introspection

bash

prisma db pull

Preview without writing

bash

prisma db pull --print

Outputs schema to terminal for review.

Force overwrite

bash

prisma db pull --force

Replaces schema file, losing any manual customizations.

Prerequisites

Configure database connection in prisma.config.ts:

typescript

import 'dotenv/config'
import { defineConfig, env } from 'prisma/config'

export default defineConfig({
  schema: 'prisma/schema.prisma',
  datasource: {
    url: env('DATABASE_URL'),
  },
})

Workflow

Starting from existing database

•
Initialize Prisma:
bash
```
prisma init
```
•
Configure database URL
•
Pull schema:
bash
```
prisma db pull
```
•
Review and customize generated schema
•
Generate client:
bash
```
prisma generate
```

Syncing changes from database

When database changes are made outside Prisma:

bash

prisma db pull
prisma generate

Generated Schema Example

Database tables become Prisma models:

sql

-- Database tables
CREATE TABLE users (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  name VARCHAR(100)
);

CREATE TABLE posts (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  title VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  author_id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id)
);

Becomes:

prisma

model users {
  id    Int     @id @default(autoincrement())
  email String  @unique @db.VarChar(255)
  name  String? @db.VarChar(100)
  posts posts[]
}

model posts {
  id        Int    @id @default(autoincrement())
  title     String @db.VarChar(255)
  author_id Int?
  users     users? @relation(fields: [author_id], references: [id])
}

Post-Introspection Cleanup

After db pull, consider:

•

Rename models to PascalCase:

prisma

model User {  // Was: users
  @@map("users")
}

•
Rename fields to camelCase:
prisma
```
authorId Int? @map("author_id")
```

•

Add relation names for clarity:

prisma

author User? @relation("PostAuthor", fields: [authorId], references: [id])

•

Add documentation:

prisma

/// User account information
model User {
  /// Primary email for authentication
  email String @unique
}

MongoDB Introspection

For MongoDB, db pull samples documents to infer schema:

bash

prisma db pull

May require manual refinement since MongoDB is schemaless.

Warning

db pull overwrites your schema file. Always:

•Commit current schema before pulling
•Use --print to preview first
•Backup customizations you want to keep