prisma/prisma-cli-generate

prisma generate

Generates assets based on the generator blocks in your Prisma schema, most commonly Prisma Client.

Command

prisma generate [options]

Bun Runtime

If you're using Bun, run Prisma with bunx --bun so it doesn't fall back to Node.js:

bunx --bun prisma generate

What It Does

1. Reads your schema.prisma file
2. Generates a customized Prisma Client based on your models
3. Outputs to the directory specified in the generator block

Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | --schema | Custom path to your Prisma schema | | --config | Custom path to your Prisma config file | | --sql | Generate typed sql module | | --watch | Watch the Prisma schema and rerun after a change | | --generator | Generator to use (may be provided multiple times) | | --no-hints | Hides the hint messages but still outputs errors and warnings | | --require-models | Do not allow generating a client without models |

Examples

Basic generation

prisma generate

Watch mode (development)

prisma generate --watch

Auto-regenerates when schema.prisma changes.

Specific generator

prisma generate --generator client

Multiple generators

prisma generate --generator client --generator zod_schemas

Typed SQL generation

prisma generate --sql

Schema Configuration (v7)

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../generated"
}

Key v7 Changes

• Provider must be prisma-client
• output is now required - client no longer generates to node_modules
• Update imports after generating:

// Before (v6)
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'

// After (v7)
import { PrismaClient } from '../generated/client'

Common Patterns

After schema changes

prisma migrate dev --name my_migration
prisma generate

Note: In v7, migrate dev no longer auto-runs generate.

CI/CD pipeline

prisma generate

Run before building your application.

Multiple generators

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../generated"
}

generator zod {
  provider = "zod-prisma-types"
  output   = "../generated/zod"
}

prisma generate  # Runs all generators

Output Structure

After running prisma generate, your output directory contains:

generated/
├── client.ts
├── models/
├── enums.ts
└── ...

Import the client:

import { PrismaClient, Prisma } from '../generated/client'