Use Prisma with Express and Postgres

Create the database

npx ezhst db create main
npx ezhst db info --json
npx ezhst env set DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."

The connection string uses a public host with TLS, so it works from your laptop too. Put it in your local .env for development.

Install Prisma

npm i @prisma/client
npm i -D prisma

Create the client

import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client";

export const db = new PrismaClient();

prisma migrate dev needs a shadow database. Set SHADOW_DATABASE_URL locally to shadowConnectionString from ezhst db info --json. These steps use the schema-based Prisma setup, so check the Prisma docs if your major version configures its datasource elsewhere.

Express does not bundle your code, so drivers load normally from node_modules.

Query it from a route

import { db } from "./db";
app.get("/api/users", async (req, res) => {
  const users = await db.user.findMany({ take: 20 });
  res.json(users);
});

Run migrations

Run migrations from your machine, with DATABASE_URL set to the EasyHost connection string.

npx prisma migrate dev --name init
npx prisma migrate deploy

Commit the migration files so every environment applies the same changes.

Deploy

npx ezhst deploy

Generate the client during the build.

ezhst build set --build "prisma generate && npm run build"

Each database allows 20 concurrent connections, and Express shares them across requests. See the Express hub for every Express guide, or free Express hosting for what is included. See also the Postgres product page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Postgres free for my Express app?

Yes. Each EasyHost project can have one Postgres 16 database with no expiry date.

Can I use Prisma locally against the same database?

Yes. The connection string works from outside EasyHost. A separate development database is safer once you have real data.

Start for free

Install the skill, choose Global or Local, then tell your agent to deploy. No credit card, no config files.

npx ezhst skill install