From a98aff2ede1598a7718f07cde9204b435ae4b5b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Abdur Rehman Khalid <40769860+AbdurRKhalid@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2026 12:46:41 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(internals): improve missing model message to hint about
 --require-models flag (#29319)

<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->
## Summary by CodeRabbit

* **Documentation**
* Expanded user-facing guidance when no models are detected: clearer
instructions about generating Prisma Client, an example generate
command, and advice for using raw SQL queries without model
requirements.
* **Tests**
* Updated test snapshots to reflect the expanded guidance in
informational messages.
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
---
 .../getGenerators/getGenerators.test.ts          | 14 ++++++++++++--
 .../src/utils/missingGeneratorMessage.ts         | 16 +++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/internals/src/__tests__/getGenerators/getGenerators.test.ts b/packages/internals/src/__tests__/getGenerators/getGenerators.test.ts
index f797131d35e3..c17736361058 100644
--- a/packages/internals/src/__tests__/getGenerators/getGenerators.test.ts
+++ b/packages/internals/src/__tests__/getGenerators/getGenerators.test.ts
@@ -658,7 +658,12 @@ describe('getGenerators', () => {
       expect(stripVTControlCharacters(e.message)).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
         "
         You don't have any models defined in your schema.prisma, so nothing will be generated.
-        You can define a model like this:
+
+        Prisma Client is typically generated from models defined in your schema. If you plan to use raw SQL queries only (e.g. $queryRaw), remove the --require-models flag to generate the client without models:
+
+          $ prisma generate
+
+        Otherwise, you can define a model like this:
 
         model User {
           id    Int     @id @default(autoincrement())
@@ -694,7 +699,12 @@ describe('getGenerators', () => {
       expect(stripVTControlCharacters(e.message)).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
         "
         You don't have any models defined in your schema.prisma, so nothing will be generated.
-        You can define a model like this:
+
+        Prisma Client is typically generated from models defined in your schema. If you plan to use raw queries only, remove the --require-models flag to generate the client without models:
+
+          $ prisma generate
+
+        Otherwise, you can define a model like this:
 
         model User {
           id    String  @id @default(auto()) @map("_id") @db.ObjectId
diff --git a/packages/internals/src/utils/missingGeneratorMessage.ts b/packages/internals/src/utils/missingGeneratorMessage.ts
index 35caa7d75fb4..f0d89108c170 100644
--- a/packages/internals/src/utils/missingGeneratorMessage.ts
+++ b/packages/internals/src/utils/missingGeneratorMessage.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { blue, bold } from 'kleur/colors'
+import { blue, bold, dim } from 'kleur/colors'
 
 import { highlightDatamodel } from '../highlight/highlight'
 import { link } from './link'
@@ -22,7 +22,12 @@ ${link('https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema')}
 export const missingModelMessage = `\nYou don't have any ${bold('models')} defined in your ${bold(
   'schema.prisma',
 )}, so nothing will be generated.
-You can define a model like this:
+
+Prisma Client is typically generated from models defined in your schema. If you plan to use raw SQL queries only (e.g. ${bold('$queryRaw')}), remove the ${bold('--require-models')} flag to generate the client without models:
+
+  ${dim('$')} prisma generate
+
+Otherwise, you can define a model like this:
 
 ${bold(
   highlightDatamodel(`model User {
@@ -39,7 +44,12 @@ ${link('https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema')}
 export const missingModelMessageMongoDB = `\nYou don't have any ${bold('models')} defined in your ${bold(
   'schema.prisma',
 )}, so nothing will be generated.
-You can define a model like this:
+
+Prisma Client is typically generated from models defined in your schema. If you plan to use raw queries only, remove the ${bold('--require-models')} flag to generate the client without models:
+
+  ${dim('$')} prisma generate
+
+Otherwise, you can define a model like this:
 
 ${bold(
   highlightDatamodel(`model User {