Node.js + Prisma + TypeScript (MariaDB) Boilerplate

A professional starter template for setting up Prisma ORM with TypeScript and MariaDB in a Node.js environment. This setup uses modern ESM (nodenext) and the specialized MariaDB adapter.

🚀 Getting Started

Follow these steps to initialize the project from scratch.

1. Project Initialization

Create your project directory and initialize npm.

mkdir prisma-test
cd prisma-test
npm init -y

2. Install Dependencies

Install core production packages:

npm install @prisma/client @prisma/adapter-mariadb dotenv

Install development tools:

npm install prisma @types/node nodemon tsx typescript --save-dev

3. TypeScript Configuration

Initialize TypeScript and update tsconfig.json to support modern ESM modules.

Command:

npx tsc --init

Updated tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "module": "nodenext",
    "moduleResolution": "nodenext",
    "target": "esnext",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  },
  "include": [
    "src/**/*",
    "prisma/**/*"
  ],
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules",
    "dist"
  ]
}

4. Package Configuration

Update package.json to enable ES Modules and define scripts.

1. Set "type": "module".
2. Add the following scripts:

"scripts": {
  "dev": "nodemon",
  "build": "tsc",
  "start": "node dist/index.js"
}

5. Nodemon Configuration

Create a nodemon.json file in the root directory to automate the development workflow using tsx.

File: nodemon.json

{
    "watch": [
        "src/**/*",
        "prisma/**/*"
    ],
    "ext": "ts",
    "ignore": [
        "node_modules/**/*",
        "build/**/*"
    ],
    "exec": "tsx src/index.ts"
}

6. Prisma Initialization

Initialize Prisma with MySQL as the provider and set a custom output path.

npx prisma init --datasource-provider mysql --output ./src/generated/prisma

7. Environment & Database Connection

Update your .env file with your credentials.

Standard Connection:

DATABASE_URL="mysql://USER:PASS@HOST:PORT/DATABASE"

Connection with SSL:

DATABASE_URL="mysql://USER:PASS@HOST:PORT/DATABASE?ssl-ca=assets/certs/ca-certificate.crt&ssl-mode=REQUIRED"

Important

Ensure the CA certificate is placed in the correct file path as specified in your URL string.

8. Syncing Database Schema

Pull your existing database schema and generate the Prisma Client.

npx prisma db pull
npx prisma db generate

9. Prisma Client Instance

Create a configuration file to initialize the Prisma Client with the MariaDB adapter.

File: src/config/prisma.ts

import 'dotenv/config';
import { PrismaMariaDb } from '@prisma/adapter-mariadb';
import { PrismaClient } from '../generated/prisma/index.js';

const adapter = new PrismaMariaDb(process.env.DATABASE_URL!);

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

10. Usage

Start your development server with npm run dev.

File: src/index.ts

import { prisma } from "./config/prisma.js";

async function main() {
  // Use the prisma client as usual
  // const users = await prisma.user.findMany();
}

main().catch(console.error);

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js (ESM)
• Language: TypeScript
• ORM: Prisma
• Database: MariaDB
• Development: Nodemon, tsx