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This example was removed on 2025-03-10. If you would like an updated example, please open an issue requesting such.
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This example shows how to implement a GraphQL server with TypeScript based on Prisma Client, apollo-server. It is based on a SQLite database - you can find the database file with some dummy data at ./prisma/dev.db.
Download this example:
npx try-prisma@latest --template orm/graphql-typegraphql --install npm --name graphql-typegraphql
Then, navigate into the project directory:
cd graphql-typegraphql
Alternative: Clone the entire repo
Clone this repository:
git clone git@github.com:prisma/prisma-examples.git --depth=1
Install npm dependencies:
cd prisma-examples/orm/graphql-typegraphql
npm install
Create a new Prisma Postgres database by executing:
npx prisma init --db
If you don't have a Prisma Data Platform account yet, or if you are not logged in, the command will prompt you to log in using one of the available authentication providers. A browser window will open so you can log in or create an account. Return to the CLI after you have completed this step.
Once logged in (or if you were already logged in), the CLI will prompt you to:
- Select a region (e.g.
us-east-1) - Enter a project name
After successful creation, you will see output similar to the following:
CLI output
Let's set up your Prisma Postgres database!
? Select your region: ap-northeast-1 - Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
? Enter a project name: testing-migration
β Success! Your Prisma Postgres database is ready β
We found an existing schema.prisma file in your current project directory.
--- Database URL ---
Connect Prisma ORM to your Prisma Postgres database with this URL:
prisma+postgres://accelerate.prisma-data.net/?api_key=...
--- Next steps ---
Go to https://pris.ly/ppg-init for detailed instructions.
1. Install and use the Prisma Accelerate extension
Prisma Postgres requires the Prisma Accelerate extension for querying. If you haven't already installed it, install it in your project:
npm install @prisma/extension-accelerate
...and add it to your Prisma Client instance:
import { withAccelerate } from "@prisma/extension-accelerate"
const prisma = new PrismaClient().$extends(withAccelerate())
2. Apply migrations
Run the following command to create and apply a migration:
npx prisma migrate dev
3. Manage your data
View and edit your data locally by running this command:
npx prisma studio
...or online in Console:
https://console.prisma.io/{workspaceId}/{projectId}/studio
4. Send queries from your app
If you already have an existing app with Prisma ORM, you can now run it and it will send queries against your newly created Prisma Postgres instance.
5. Learn more
For more info, visit the Prisma Postgres docs: https://pris.ly/ppg-docs
Locate and copy the database URL provided in the CLI output. Then, create a .env file in the project root:
touch .envNow, paste the URL into it as a value for the DATABASE_URL environment variable. For example:
# .env
DATABASE_URL=prisma+postgres://accelerate.prisma-data.net/?api_key=ey...Run the following command to create tables in your database. This creates the User and Post tables that are defined in prisma/schema.prisma:
npx prisma migrate dev --name init
Execute the seed file in prisma/seed.ts to populate your database with some sample data, by running:
npx prisma db seed
Launch your GraphQL server with this command:
npm run dev
Navigate to http://localhost:4000 in your browser to explore the API of your GraphQL server in a GraphQL Playground.
The schema specifies the API operations of your GraphQL server. TypeGraphQL allows you to define a schema using TypeScript classes and decorators. The schema is generated at runtime, and is defined by the following classes:
./src/PostResolvers.ts./src/UserResolvers.ts./src/User.ts./src/Post.ts./src/UserCreateInput.ts./src/PostCreateInput.ts
Below are a number of operations that you can send to the API using the GraphQL Playground.
Feel free to adjust any operation by adding or removing fields. The GraphQL Playground helps you with its auto-completion and query validation features.
query {
feed {
id
title
content
published
author {
id
name
email
}
}
}See more API operations
mutation {
signupUser(data: {
name: "Sarah",
email: "sarah@prisma.io"
}
) {
id
}
}mutation {
createDraft(
data: {
title: "Join the Prisma Discord",
content: "https://pris.ly/discord"
email: "alice@prisma.io"
}
) {
id
published
}
}mutation {
publish(id: __POST_ID__) {
id
published
}
}Note: You need to replace the
__POST_ID__-placeholder with an actualidfrom aPostitem. You can find one e.g. using thefilterPosts-query.
{
filterPosts(searchString: "graphql") {
id
title
content
published
author {
id
name
email
}
}
}{
post(id: __POST_ID__) {
id
title
content
published
author {
id
name
email
}
}
}Note: You need to replace the
__POST_ID__-placeholder with an actualidfrom aPostitem. You can find one e.g. using thefilterPosts-query.
mutation {
deleteOnePost(id: __POST_ID__) {
id
}
}Note: You need to replace the
__POST_ID__-placeholder with an actualidfrom aPostitem. You can find one e.g. using thefilterPosts-query.
Evolving the application typically requires two steps:
- Migrate your database using Prisma Migrate
- Update your application code
For the following example scenario, assume you want to add a "profile" feature to the app where users can create a profile and write a short bio about themselves.
The first step is to add a new table, e.g. called Profile, to the database. You can do this by adding a new model to your Prisma schema file file and then running a migration afterwards:
// schema.prisma
model Post {
id Int @default(autoincrement()) @id
title String
content String?
published Boolean @default(false)
author User? @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
authorId Int
}
model User {
id Int @default(autoincrement()) @id
name String?
email String @unique
posts Post[]
+ profile Profile?
}
+model Profile {
+ id Int @default(autoincrement()) @id
+ bio String?
+ userId Int @unique
+ user User @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
+}Once you've updated your data model, you can execute the changes against your database with the following command:
npx prisma migrate dev
You can now use your PrismaClient instance to perform operations against the new Profile table. Those operations can be used to implement new queries and mutations in the GraphQL API.
You can use TypeGraphQL to expose the new Profile model. Create a new file named src\Profile.ts and add the following code:
import "reflect-metadata";
import { ObjectType, Field, ID } from "type-graphql";
import { User } from "./User";
@ObjectType()
export class Profile {
@Field((type) => ID)
id: number;
@Field((type) => User, { nullable: true })
user?: User | null;
@Field((type) => String, { nullable: true })
bio?: string | null;
}Create a new file named src\ProfileCreateInput.ts with the following code:
import "reflect-metadata";
import { ObjectType, Field, ID, InputType } from "type-graphql";
import { User } from "./User";
@InputType()
export class ProfileCreateInput {
@Field((type) => String, { nullable: true })
bio?: string | null;
}Add the profile field to src\User.ts and import the Profile class.
@Field(type => Profile, { nullable: true })
profile?: Profile | null;Add the profile field to src\UserCreateInput.ts and import the ProfileCreateInput class:
@Field(type => ProfileCreateInput, { nullable: true })
profile?: ProfileCreateInput | null;Extend the src\UserResolver.ts class with an additional field resolver:
@FieldResolver()
async profile(@Root() user: User, @Ctx() ctx: Context): Promise<Profile> {
return (await ctx.prisma.user.findUnique({
where: {
id: user.id
}
}).profile())!
}Update the signupUser mutation to include the option to create a profile when you sign up a new user:
@Mutation(returns => User)
async signupUser(
@Arg("data") data: UserCreateInput,
@Ctx() ctx: Context): Promise<User> {
try {
return await ctx.prisma.user.create({
data: {
email: data.email,
name: data.name,
profile: {
create: {
bio: data.bio?.bio
}
}
}
});
}
catch (error) {
throw error;
}
}Run the following mutation to create a user with a profile:
mutation {
signupUser(data: {
email:"katla@prisma.io",
profile: { bio: "Sometimes I'm an Icelandic volcano, sometimes I'm a dragon from a book."}
})
{
id
email
posts {
title
}
profile {
id
bio
}
}
}Run the following query to return a user and their profile:
query {
user(id: 1) {
email
profile {
id
bio
}
posts {
title
content
}
}
}As the Prisma Client API was updated, you can now also invoke "raw" operations via prisma.profile directly.
const profile = await prisma.profile.create({
data: {
bio: "Hello World",
user: {
connect: { email: "alice@prisma.io" },
},
},
});const user = await prisma.user.create({
data: {
email: "john@prisma.io",
name: "John",
profile: {
create: {
bio: "Hello World",
},
},
},
});const userWithUpdatedProfile = await prisma.user.update({
where: { email: "alice@prisma.io" },
data: {
profile: {
update: {
bio: "Hello Friends",
},
},
},
});If you want to try this example with another database than Postgres, you can adjust the the database connection in prisma/schema.prisma by reconfiguring the datasource block.
Learn more about the different connection configurations in the docs.
Expand for an overview of example configurations with different databases
Before you proceed to use your own database, you should remove the Prisma client extension required for Prisma Postgres:
npm uninstall @prisma/extension-accelerate
Remove the client extension from your PrismaClient instance:
- const prisma = new PrismaClient().$extends(withAccelerate())
+ const prisma = new PrismaClient()To use your own PostgreSQL database remove the @prisma/extension-accelerate package and remove the Prisma client extension.
Modify the provider value in the datasource block in the prisma.schema file:
datasource db {
provider = "sqlite"
url = env("DATABASE_URL")
}Create an .env file and add the SQLite database connection string in it. For example:
DATABASE_URL="file:./dev.db""
Modify the provider value in the datasource block in the prisma.schema file:
datasource db {
provider = "mysql"
url = env("DATABASE_URL")
}Create an .env file and add a MySQL database connection string in it. For example:
## This is a placeholder url
DATABASE_URL="mysql://janedoe:mypassword@localhost:3306/notesapi"
Modify the provider value in the datasource block in the prisma.schema file:
datasource db {
provider = "sqlserver"
url = env("DATABASE_URL")
}Create an .env file and add a Microsoft SQL Server database connection string in it. For example:
## This is a placeholder url
DATABASE_URL="sqlserver://localhost:1433;initial catalog=sample;user=sa;password=mypassword;"
Modify the provider value in the datasource block in the prisma.schema file:
datasource db {
provider = "mongodb"
url = env("DATABASE_URL")
}Create an .env file and add a local MongoDB database connection string in it. For example:
## This is a placeholder url
DATABASE_URL="mongodb://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST/DATABASE?authSource=admin&retryWrites=true&w=majority"
- Check out the Prisma docs
- Join our community on Discord to share feedback and interact with other users.
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel for live demos and video tutorials.
- Follow us on X for the latest updates.
- Report issues or ask questions on GitHub.