Prisma7 Setup Libsql

Prisma 7 Setup — libSQL / Turso Driver Adapter

Prisma 7 removes the connection string from schema.prisma and moves connection config into a dedicated prisma.config.ts at the project root. The @prisma/adapter-libsql package handles both local SQLite files and remote Turso.

<pm> below is the project's package manager: pnpm-lock.yaml → pnpm, yarn.lock → yarn, package-lock.json → npm, bun.lockb → bun; in a fresh project with no lockfile, use the packageManager field of package.json or ask. (<pm> add is npm install for npm.)

1. Install packages

<pm> add @prisma/client@^7 @prisma/adapter-libsql@^7
<pm> add -D prisma@^7 dotenv

@libsql/client is not needed — @prisma/adapter-libsql bundles it.

2. prisma/schema.prisma — remove the url field

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
  // do NOT add url here — it belongs in prisma.config.ts
}

Also remove previewFeatures = ["driverAdapters"] if present — driver adapters are GA in v7.

3. prisma.config.ts — at the project root (NOT inside prisma/)

Prisma CLI only looks for it at the root.

import path from "node:path"
import { config } from "dotenv"
import { defineConfig } from "prisma/config"

// Prisma CLI runs outside your framework and does not load .env.local by itself.
// override: false keeps a real env var (CI, production) ahead of the file.
config({ path: ".env.local", override: false })

export default defineConfig({
  schema: path.join(__dirname, "prisma", "schema.prisma"),
  datasource: {
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL!,
  },
})

datasource.url is read by the Prisma CLI (migrate dev, studio, …). The runtime adapter is wired separately in the client module — no migrate.adapter factory is needed.

4. Client module (e.g. src/lib/db.ts) — instantiate PrismaClient with the adapter

PrismaLibSql accepts the connection options directly — no createClient call needed.

import "server-only"
import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client"
import { PrismaLibSql } from "@prisma/adapter-libsql"

const globalForPrisma = globalThis as unknown as { prisma: PrismaClient | undefined }

function createPrismaClient(): PrismaClient {
  const adapter = new PrismaLibSql({
    url: process.env.DATABASE_URL ?? "file:./dev.db",
    authToken: process.env.DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN,
  })

  return new PrismaClient({
    adapter,
    log: process.env.LOG_LEVEL === "debug" ? ["query", "error", "warn"] : ["error"],
  })
}

export const db = globalForPrisma.prisma ?? createPrismaClient()

if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
  globalForPrisma.prisma = db
}

(server-only is a Next.js package; drop the import in a plain Node project.)

5. Environment variables

DATABASE_URL / DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN are conventions, not requirements — keep whatever names prisma.config.ts and the client module agree on.

# Local dev (SQLite file)
DATABASE_URL="file:./dev.db"
DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN=""          # leave empty for local SQLite

# Production (Turso)
# DATABASE_URL="libsql://<db>-<org>.turso.io"
# DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN="eyJ..."

DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN must be an empty string (not omitted) for local SQLite.

6. Run migrations

<pm> exec prisma migrate dev    # creates dev.db + applies migrations + regenerates the client
<pm> exec prisma generate       # regenerate the client after a schema-only change

From here on, /prisma:prisma-migrate covers day-to-day migration work.

Common errors and fixes

Integrating with libraries that expect a Prisma client

Prisma 7's driver-adapter client is shaped differently from v5/v6 clients. Libraries that auto-detect the adapter kind by inspecting the object may fall through to the wrong path (BetterAuth, for instance, ends up in its Kysely path and throws Failed to initialize database adapter at startup). Default to the library's explicit Prisma adapter when it offers one — e.g. prismaAdapter(db, { provider: "sqlite" }) from better-auth/adapters/prisma.

Configuration

This skill reads no keys from .claude/claude-skills.json; the package manager is detected from the lockfile.

To change this skill, do not edit this copy: use /dev-tools:update-skill, or see docs/updating-skills.md in mzvonar/claude-skills-public.