Reads your schema.prisma file
Generates a customized Prisma Client based on your models
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'

prisma-cli-generate

prisma generate

Command

Bun Runtime

What It Does