prisma migrate diff | Compare Database Schemas

The prisma migrate diff command compares two database schema sources and outputs a description of the migration needed to transform the first into the second.

This command is only partially supported for MongoDB. See options below for details.

Usage

prisma migrate diff --from-... <source1> --to-... <source2>

The output can be a human-readable summary (default) or an executable script.

The migrate diff command can only compare database features supported by Prisma. Differences in unsupported features (views, triggers, etc.) won't be shown.

Prerequisites

If using --from-config-datasource or --to-config-datasource, configure your database connection in prisma.config.ts:

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

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlite"
}

import { defineConfig, env } from "prisma/config";

export default defineConfig({
  schema: "prisma/schema.prisma",
  migrations: {
    path: "prisma/migrations",
  },
  datasource: {
    url: env("DATABASE_URL"),
  },
});

Source types

Both sources must use the same database provider.

From options (one required)

Option	Description	Notes
`--from-empty`	Assume the source is an empty data model
`--from-schema`	Path to a Prisma schema file
`--from-migrations`	Path to Prisma migrations directory	Not supported in MongoDB
`--from-config-datasource`	Use datasource from Prisma config file	Prisma v7+

To options (one required)

Option	Description	Notes
`--to-empty`	Assume the destination is an empty data model
`--to-schema`	Path to a Prisma schema file
`--to-migrations`	Path to Prisma migrations directory	Not supported in MongoDB
`--to-config-datasource`	Use datasource from Prisma config file	Prisma v7+

Other options

Option	Description	Notes
`--config`	Custom path to your Prisma config file
`--script`	Output a SQL script instead of human-readable summary	Not supported in MongoDB
`-o`, `--output`	Write to a file instead of stdout	Available since 5.12.1
`--exit-code`	Change exit code behavior: Empty=0, Error=1, Not empty=2	Default: Success=0, Error=1
`--help`	Display help message

Prisma v7 breaking change: The --from-url, --to-url, --from-schema-datasource, --to-schema-datasource, and --shadow-database-url options have been removed. Use --from-config-datasource and --to-config-datasource instead.

Examples

Compare database to schema

Roll forward after a migration failed:

npx prisma migrate diff \
  --from-config-datasource \
  --to-schema=next_datamodel.prisma \
  --script

Compare schema to database

npx prisma migrate diff \
  --from-schema=schema.prisma \
  --to-config-datasource \
  --script

Compare migrations to database

Generate a migration for a hotfix already applied on production:

npx prisma migrate diff \
  --from-migrations ./migrations \
  --to-config-datasource \
  --script

Pipe output to db execute

npx prisma migrate diff \
  --from-config-datasource \
  --to-schema=schema.prisma \
  --script | prisma db execute --stdin

Check if sources are in sync

Exits with code 2 if changes are detected:

npx prisma migrate diff \
  --exit-code \
  --from-config-datasource \
  --to-schema=schema.prisma

diff