Following the Getting Started tutorial produces an error

[goran1010]

Bug description

Following the Getting Started - Start From Scratch tutorial using NodeJS/JavaScript and PostgreSQL options, produces an error in this step:

Now run the code with this command:

node index.js

in Querying the Database part of the tutorial.

Severity

⚠️ Major: Breaks core functionality (e.g., migrations fail)

Reproduction

Link to GitHub repo with files that were made following the tutorial.

Steps taken:

• Follow all the steps in the Getting Started tutorial
• Get to the run node index.js part of the tutorial

Expected vs. Actual Behavior

I expected the Node to successfully execute the index.js file and produce an empty array [ ].

What I got was an error:

node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1386
  throw err;
  ^

Error: Cannot find module './generated/prisma'
Require stack:
- /home/goran1010/repos/prisma_test/index.js
    at Function._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1383:15)
    at defaultResolveImpl (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1025:19)
    at resolveForCJSWithHooks (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1030:22)
    at Function._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1192:37)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:328:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:237:24)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1463:12)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:147:16)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/home/goran1010/repos/prisma_test/index.js:1:26)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1706:14) {
  code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
  requireStack: [ '/home/goran1010/repos/prisma_test/index.js' ]
}

Node.js v22.21.0

Frequency

Consistently reproducible

Does this occur in development or production?

Both development and production

Is this a regression?

It is broken in the latest 6.18.0 version, and as far as I'm aware, it worked well in the versions prior to that one.

Workaround

One of the workarounds that I found is to replace this command in the tutorial:
npx prisma init --datasource-provider postgresql --output ../generated/prisma
with this one:
npx prisma init --datasource-provider postgresql --generator-provider prisma-client-js

Prisma Schema & Queries

// This is your Prisma schema file,
// learn more about it in the docs: https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema

// Looking for ways to speed up your queries, or scale easily with your serverless or edge functions?
// Try Prisma Accelerate: https://pris.ly/cli/accelerate-init

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

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

model Post {
  id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt
  title     String   @db.VarChar(255)
  content   String?
  published Boolean  @default(false)
  author    User     @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  authorId  Int
}

model Profile {
  id     Int     @id @default(autoincrement())
  bio    String?
  user   User    @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
  userId Int     @unique
}

model User {
  id      Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  email   String   @unique
  name    String?
  posts   Post[]
  profile Profile?
}

const { PrismaClient } = require("./generated/prisma");

const prisma = new PrismaClient();

async function main() {
  const allUsers = await prisma.user.findMany();
  console.log(allUsers);
}

main()
  .then(async () => {
    await prisma.$disconnect();
  })
  .catch(async (e) => {
    console.error(e);
    await prisma.$disconnect();
    process.exit(1);
  });

Prisma Config

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

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

Logs & Debug Info

// Debug logs here

Environment & Setup

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS running in WSL2 on Windows 11 PRO Build 26200
• Database: psql (PostgreSQL) 16.10 (Ubuntu 16.10-0ubuntu0.24.04.1)
• Node.js version: v22.21.0

Prisma Version

Loaded Prisma config from prisma.config.ts.

Prisma config detected, skipping environment variable loading.
Prisma schema loaded from prisma/schema.prisma
prisma                  : 6.18.0
@prisma/client          : 6.18.0
Computed binaryTarget   : debian-openssl-3.0.x
Operating System        : linux
Architecture            : x64
Node.js                 : v22.21.0
TypeScript              : unknown
Query Engine (Node-API) : libquery-engine 34b5a692b7bd79939a9a2c3ef97d816e749cda2f (at node_modules/@prisma/engines/libquery_engine-debian-openssl-3.0.x.so.node)
PSL                     : @prisma/prisma-schema-wasm 6.18.0-8.34b5a692b7bd79939a9a2c3ef97d816e749cda2f
Schema Engine           : schema-engine-cli 34b5a692b7bd79939a9a2c3ef97d816e749cda2f (at node_modules/@prisma/engines/schema-engine-debian-openssl-3.0.x)
Default Engines Hash    : 34b5a692b7bd79939a9a2c3ef97d816e749cda2f
Studio                  : 0.511.0

[chacka1315]

I'm learning through this tutorial too. I got an error running the app. The same error like yours.

[jacek-prisma]

Hi @goran1010 ,
This appears to be a documentation issue, it seems that the generator block isn't mentioned in them, but they're written assuming the prisma-client-js. We'll look into updating the docs accordingly.

[hbar1st]

What can people following the incorrect docs do in the meantime?

[jacek-prisma]

Hi @hbar1st , you can follow the docs and they should work as long as you use the prisma-client-js generator.

[RaihanSharif]

For other beginners who didn't immediately understand what @jacek-prisma meant.

Change the following block in your prisma.schema file:

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

to:

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