Run `prisma dev` programmatically

[terse heron]

Is there a programmatic function to have run prisma dev (local postgres db) programmatically? Thanks.

[jovial loom]

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[terse heron]

Run prisma dev programmatically

[jovial loom]

Short answer: No official programmatic API is documented to start prisma dev (the local Prisma Postgres server) from code.

What is available:

• You can start it via the CLI: npx prisma dev. This launches a local Prisma Postgres instance you can connect to, and you can control ports/names via flags (e.g., --name, --port) (Prisma CLI dev; Local development guide).
• You can stop or remove local instances via CLI subcommands: prisma dev stop and prisma dev rm (Prisma CLI dev).

Related context:

• Prisma is exploring/has demand for programmatic access for migrations/CLI, but there’s no documented stable library API for starting dev or running migrate from code. Users typically shell out to the CLI as a workaround (Programmatic access discussions/issues, Run migrations by code (issue)).

If you need to automate prisma dev today, invoke the CLI from your code (e.g., child_process/execa) and manage lifecycle with the available flags. The docs don’t provide an official Node API for this.

[jovial loom]

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