Error: Cannot find module '.prisma/client/default'

[Harlloh]

Bug description

I’m encountering the following error when trying to use Prisma with PostgreSQL in an Express app:
`Error: Cannot find module '.prisma/client/default'
Require stack:

• node_modules/@prisma/client/default.js
  `

This happens immediately on app startup, before any database connection attempt.

Environment:

• OS: Windows 10
• Node.js: v22.17.1
• Prisma CLI: latest
• @prisma/client: latest
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Runtime: Express (ModuleJS)

Severity

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

Reproduction

Steps to Reproduce

1. Initialize Prisma
2. Install Prisma Client
3. Configure Prisma with @prisma/adapter-pg
4. Set a custom Prisma Client output path
5. Import PrismaClient from @prisma/client

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

datasource db {
provider = "postgresql"
}

Prisma Client initialization
import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg';
import pg from 'pg';
import pkg from '@prisma/client';

const { PrismaClient } = pkg;

const pool = new pg.Pool({
connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
});

const adapter = new PrismaPg(pool);

const prisma = new PrismaClient({
adapter,
});

Expected vs. Actual Behavior

Expected behavior

Prisma Client should load successfully and connect to PostgreSQL.

Actual behavior
Node crashes with:
Error: Cannot find module '.prisma/client/default'

Frequency

Consistently reproducible

Does this occur in development or production?

Only in development (e.g., CLI tools, migrations, Prisma Studio)

Is this a regression?

Workaround

Prisma Schema & Queries

// Add relevant schema.prisma snippet

// Add relevant Prisma Client query

Prisma Config

// Add your `prisma.config.ts`

Logs & Debug Info

// Debug logs here

Environment & Setup

• OS:
• Database:
• Node.js version:

Prisma Version

// Prisma version output

[Harlloh]

Apparently, the .prisma folder is not been added to the node_module on installation. i do not know what might be the cause of this.
I had to copy and paste the folder from an existing project.

[damodharan2001]

I think the problem with how you load your client.

import pkg from './generated/prisma/client.js';

They have updated how to load client in prisma

Changes

[Harlloh]

@damodharan2001 that was the way i loaded my Prismaclient earlier, then i got an error that PrismaClient is a commonJS module and i was given an example on how to go about importing and using the prismaClient in the error message.

The cause of the error is the .prisma folder not been created in the node_modules.

Or were you able to initialize a project with Prisma from scratch recently?

[damodharan2001]

@Harlloh i was able to initialize a project with Prisma from scratch. In node modules there will be no .prisma folder you should have @prisma folder. Have you tried to install using npm install @prisma/client @prisma/adapter-pg pg dotenv

If possible can you share your package.json file.

[awais144506]

generator client {
provider = "prisma-client-js"
output = "../generated"
moduleFormat = "cjs"
}
it might resolve the issue

[pindra07]

It's not resolved yet. I'm getting the same error. In my case...

• Migrations not failing when done manually (I'm using with turborepo)
• When using with express server in turborepo the client error mentioned above occurs everytime.

Link to the code repo: https://github.com/pindra07/Monorepo-Deploy/tree/main/packages/db

[awais144506]

It's not resolved yet. I'm getting the same error. In my case...

• Migrations not failing when done manually (I'm using with turborepo)
• When using with express server in turborepo the client error mentioned above occurs everytime.

Link to the code repo: https://github.com/pindra07/Monorepo-Deploy/tree/main/packages/db

Add these lines in your tsconfig.json "{ "compilerOptions": { "paths": { "@generated/*": ["generated/*"] }, }, "include": ["src/**/*", "generated/**/*","prisma/**/*","prisma.config.ts"] } & in schema.prisma generator client { provider = "prisma-client-js" output = "../generated" //Your own path moduleFormat = "cjs" }

[Harlloh]

Ermm, i just started a new project where i use prisma now. And i have been able to resolve the issue.

The issue came from the .prisma folder not been present in the node_module and for that to be present you need to run the 'npx prisma generate' command to generate the file but if in your schema.prisma file the output is set to another directory, the .prisma folder will not be generated. So its best to delete the output line in the schema.prisma file

and with that, it'll work as expected after running, npx prisma generate