Driver Adapters

Prisma 7 requires driver adapters for database connections. Each adapter provides direct control over connection behavior, pooling, and configuration.

Supported Adapters

Database	Adapter Package	Driver	Best For
SQLite	@prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3	better-sqlite3	Development, testing
PostgreSQL	@prisma/adapter-pg	pg	Production

Note

Prisma 7 supports additional adapters (MySQL, LibSQL/Turso). VeloxTS templates currently ship with SQLite and PostgreSQL—LibSQL/Turso support for edge deployments is on the roadmap for v1.1.

SQLite (Development)

Zero-configuration local database. Ideal for development and testing.

pnpm add @prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3@7.2.0 better-sqlite3@11.9.1
npm rebuild better-sqlite3  # Required for native bindings

import { PrismaBetterSqlite3 } from '@prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3';
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const adapter = new PrismaBetterSqlite3({
  url: process.env.DATABASE_URL,  // "file:./dev.db"
});
export const db = new PrismaClient({ adapter });

Schema:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
}

Tip

SQLite is perfect for CI/CD testing—no database server needed.

PostgreSQL (Production)

Production-ready with connection pooling for high concurrency.

pnpm add @prisma/adapter-pg@7.2.0 pg@8.13.0
pnpm add -D @types/pg@8.11.10

Simple

import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg';
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

// Prisma 7: Pass connectionString directly
const adapter = new PrismaPg({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
});
export const db = new PrismaClient({ adapter });

With Connection Pool

import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg';
import { Pool } from 'pg';
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

// Create PostgreSQL connection pool
const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  max: 20,                    // Maximum connections
  min: 5,                     // Minimum connections
  idleTimeoutMillis: 30000,   // Close idle connections after 30s
  connectionTimeoutMillis: 2000,
});

const adapter = new PrismaPg(pool);
export const db = new PrismaClient({ adapter });

// Graceful shutdown
process.on('SIGTERM', async () => {
  await db.$disconnect();
  await pool.end();
});

Schema:

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
}

model User {
  id String @id @default(dbgenerated("gen_random_uuid()"))
  // ...
}

Environment:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb?schema=public"

Connection Pooling Best Practices

Pool Size Guidelines

Environment	Recommended Max	Notes
Development	5	Low concurrency
Production (small)	10-20	Single server
Production (scaled)	5-10 per instance	Multiple servers share pool

Serverless Considerations

For serverless environments (Vercel, AWS Lambda), use external connection poolers:

PgBouncer / Supabase:

# Direct connection (for migrations)
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://user:pass@db.project.supabase.co:5432/postgres"

# Pooled connection (for queries)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@db.project.supabase.co:6543/postgres?pgbouncer=true"

Neon:

# Pooled endpoint
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@ep-cool-name-123456.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/neondb?sslmode=require"

Graceful Shutdown

Always disconnect on shutdown to prevent connection leaks:

import { db } from './database';

// VeloxTS handles this automatically via the ORM plugin
// For manual setups:
const shutdown = async () => {
  await db.$disconnect();
  process.exit(0);
};

process.on('SIGTERM', shutdown);
process.on('SIGINT', shutdown);

Switching from SQLite to PostgreSQL

To switch from SQLite (development) to PostgreSQL (production):

1. Update dependencies:

   pnpm remove @prisma/adapter-better-sqlite3 better-sqlite3
   pnpm add @prisma/adapter-pg pg

2. Update schema.prisma:

   datasource db {
     provider = "postgresql"  // Changed from "sqlite"
   }

3. Update database client:

   // Change adapter import
   import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg';
   
   const adapter = new PrismaPg({
     connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
   });

4. Update environment:

   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db"

5. Regenerate and migrate:

   pnpm prisma generate
   pnpm prisma migrate dev --name init

Performance Tips

Select Only Needed Fields

const users = await db.user.findMany({
  select: {
    id: true,
    name: true,
    email: true,
    // Exclude password, timestamps if not needed
  },
});

Use Pagination

const users = await db.user.findMany({
  skip: (page - 1) * pageSize,
  take: pageSize,
  orderBy: { createdAt: 'desc' },
});

Add Indexes

model User {
  id    String @id @default(uuid())
  email String @unique

  @@index([email])  // Add index for frequent queries
  @@index([createdAt])
}

Next Steps

• Prisma 7 Setup - Full configuration guide
• Migrations - Schema management
• Testing - Test patterns