Prisma Cheat Sheet

Prisma cheat sheet with real commands and snippets for setup, core workflows, debugging, and production-safe automation patterns. If you are working across tools, pair this with the GraphQL Cheat Sheet and SQLite Cheat Sheet.

Setup and Connection

Goal: Connect to database shell or endpoint

# Run connection or version command
npx prisma init

# Run connection or version command
npx prisma generate

# Run connection or version command
npx prisma studio

Schema and Data Modeling

Goal: Create a table/index/schema foundation

// Prisma schema model example
model User {
  id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  email     String   @unique
  name      String?
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
}

Core Queries and Mutations

Goal: Run practical read/write operations

// Create and query data using Prisma Client
const user = await prisma.user.create({ data: { email: 'rem@example.com' } });
const users = await prisma.user.findMany({ orderBy: { createdAt: 'desc' } });

Performance and Optimization

Goal: Add indexes and inspect query plans

# Run migration and seed steps
npx prisma migrate dev --name init
npx prisma db seed
npx prisma migrate deploy

Automation and Backups

Goal: Create backup and restore routines

# Export data snapshot before risky migrations
pg_dump "$DATABASE_URL" > backup.sql || mysqldump appdb > backup.sql || true

# Compress backup artifact for storage
gzip -f backup.sql || true

# Verify backup file exists and has content
ls -lh backup.sql.gz || ls -lh backup.sql

Debugging and Troubleshooting

Goal: Inspect slow-query symptoms

# Check active connections/sessions
psql -c "SELECT now();" || mysql -e "SELECT NOW();" || true

# Inspect query plans for heavy statements
psql -c "EXPLAIN SELECT 1;" || mysql -e "EXPLAIN SELECT 1;" || true

# Search migration files for destructive statements
rg "DROP TABLE|TRUNCATE|DELETE FROM" prisma migrations sql -n

Common Gotchas

• Use transactions for multi-step Prisma data changes that must stay consistent.
• Create indexes for frequent WHERE and JOIN columns, then verify with query plans.
• Back up production data before schema migrations.
• Separate read-only credentials from write credentials in app environments.
• Monitor connection pool limits to avoid timeout spikes under load.

Related Sheets

• GraphQL Cheat Sheet — daily GraphQL commands and production-ready examples.
• SQLite Cheat Sheet — daily SQLite commands and production-ready examples.
• Supabase Cheat Sheet — daily Supabase commands and production-ready examples.