How to use Prisma with express, postgress, and Graphql?

Welcome friends to this new blog. In this blog, you will learn how to set up APIs with the help of an express server. You will learn how to integrate graphql in the express server.

GitHub link — https://github.com/nextdev1111/prisma-postgres-graphql-express

Youtube Video in Hindi

📒Notes

1. I will be using **pnpm for this project but the tutorial will show you how to do it with **npm.

2. We will be using **typescript **for this project.

Step1: 📦 Setup

Make a folder by whichever name you want but you need to consider npm naming restrictions.

Then run this command

npm init -y

Make another folder named src. Make a file named **index.ts **in the src folder.

[root folder]

--- src
--- --- index.ts

To install dependencies and setup typescript

This will install dependencies 👇

npm i @graphql-tools/schema @prisma/client dotenv express graphql express-graphql

This will install dev dependencies 👇

npm i -D [@types/dotenv](http://twitter.com/types/dotenv) [@types/express](http://twitter.com/types/express) [@types/node](http://twitter.com/types/node) prisma ts-node typescript

	{
	"name": [YOUR-PROJECT-NAME-HERE],
	"version": "1.0.0",
	"description": "",
	"main": "index.js",
	"scripts": {
	"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
	"dev": "nodemon src/index.ts",
	"build": "tsc -p ."
	},
	"keywords": [],
	"author": "",
	"license": "ISC",
	"dependencies": {
	"@graphql-tools/schema": "^9.0.4",
	"@prisma/client": "^4.4.0",
	"dotenv": "^16.0.3",
	"express": "^4.18.2",
	"express-graphql": "^0.12.0",
	"graphql": "^16.6.0"
	},
	"devDependencies": {
	"@types/dotenv": "^8.2.0",
	"@types/express": "^4.17.14",
	"@types/node": "^18.8.3",
	"prisma": "^4.4.0",
	"ts-node": "^10.9.1",
	"typescript": "^4.8.4"
	}
	}

view raw package.json hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Then type 👇 to create a **tsconfig **file.

npm install -g typescript
tsc --init


Step2: 🗃️ Prisma Setup with postgress database

Type this command in your terminal

npm prisma init

Prisma will set up two things in your root folder.

1. Prisma folder

2. .env file

In the prisma folder, you can find schema.prisma file.

	// This is your Prisma schema file,
	// learn more about it in the docs: https://pris.ly/d/prisma-schema
	generator client {
	provider = "prisma-client-js"
	}
	datasource db {
	provider = "postgresql"
	url = env("DATABASE_URL")
	}
	model Post {
	id String @id @default(cuid())
	text String
	createdAt DateTime @default(now())
	user User @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
	userId String
	}
	model User {
	id String @id @default(uuid())
	name String
	posts Post[]
	}

view raw schema.prisma hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Let’s add a database now.

go to https://railway.app/

Click on start new project

You can set up a PostgreSQL database. If you find any problem, you can also watch the youtube video.

Then, you should copy the postgresql database connection key

Then go to .env your project’s root folder.

Then change the connection string in your .env file.

→ Remember to also include the password in the connection string.

Then type

prisma db push

⚠️Errors

If you face any errors, you should check the connection string.

Step3: ✨Express Server

This is the basic express server

	import express, { Request, Response } from "express";
	import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client";
	const app = express();
	// instance of prisma client
	const prisma = new PrismaClient();
	// middlewares
	app.use(express.json());
	app.get("/", async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
	const posts = await prisma.post.findMany();
	return res.status(200).json({ success: true, posts });
	});
	app.post("/", async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
	const { text, userId } = req.body;
	const post = await prisma.post.create({
	data: {
	text,
	userId,
	},
	});
	return res.status(201).json({ success: true, post });
	});
	app.listen(3000, () => {
	console.log(`Listening to 3000`);
	});

view raw index.ts hosted with ❤ by GitHub

If you want to add an entry to your database.

You can also use prisma studio

npm prisma studio

Step4: 💪Grahpql Integration

	import express, { Request, Response } from "express";
	import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client";
	const app = express();
	// instance of prisma client
	const prisma = new PrismaClient();
	// graphql
	import { graphqlHTTP } from "express-graphql";
	import { makeExecutableSchema } from "@graphql-tools/schema";
	// graphql models
	const graphqlModels = `
	type Post{
	id: ID
	text: String
	user: User
	userId: String
	}
	type User{
	id: ID
	name: String
	posts: [Post]
	}
	type Query{
	getPosts: [Post]
	getUsers: [User]
	}
	`;
	// Graphql Resolvers
	const resolvers = {
	Query: {
	getPosts: () => {
	return prisma.post.findMany({
	include: {
	user: true,
	},
	});
	},
	getUsers: () => {
	return prisma.user.findMany({
	include: {
	posts: true,
	},
	});
	},
	},
	};
	// Graphql schema
	const schema = makeExecutableSchema({
	resolvers,
	typeDefs: graphqlModels,
	});
	// using graphqlHTTP middleware
	app.use(
	"/graphql",
	graphqlHTTP({
	schema: schema,
	graphiql: true,
	})
	);
	// middlewares
	app.use(express.json());
	app.get("/", async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
	const posts = await prisma.post.findMany();
	return res.status(200).json({ success: true, posts });
	});
	app.post("/", async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
	const { text, userId } = req.body;
	const post = await prisma.post.create({
	data: {
	text,
	userId,
	},
	});
	return res.status(201).json({ success: true, post });
	});
	app.listen(3000, () => {
	console.log(`Listening to 3000`);
	});

view raw index.ts hosted with ❤ by GitHub

You can use graphiql on this path

[http://localhost:3000/graphql](http://localhost:3000/graphql)

If you want to ask any questions, feel free to ask 👇
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