prisma-rest

Generate REST API routes automatically from your Prisma schema for Next.js App Router.

Features

• 🚀 Instant REST API - Generate CRUD endpoints from your Prisma models
• 📁 Next.js App Router - Built for the modern Next.js app directory structure
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration - Customize paths, imports, and behavior
• 🎯 Smart Defaults - Auto-detects project structure and follows conventions
• 🔄 Safe Regeneration - Multiple strategies for updating existing routes
• 📝 TypeScript First - Fully typed route handlers with proper Next.js types
• 💬 Comment Directives - Control generation with special comments in your schema

Installation

npm install -D prisma-rest
# or
yarn add -D prisma-rest
# or
pnpm add -D prisma-rest

Quick Start

1. Ensure you have a Prisma schema in your Next.js project:

// prisma/schema.prisma
model User {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  email     String   @unique
  name      String?
  posts     Post[]
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt
}

model Post {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  title     String
  content   String?
  published Boolean  @default(false)
  author    User?    @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  authorId  String?
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt
}

2. Generate your REST API routes:

npx prisma-rest generate

3. Create your Prisma client instance:

// lib/prisma.ts (or src/lib/prisma.ts)
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const globalForPrisma = globalThis as unknown as {
  prisma: PrismaClient | undefined;
};

export const prisma = globalForPrisma.prisma ?? new PrismaClient();

if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') globalForPrisma.prisma = prisma;

That's it! Your REST API is ready at:

• GET /api/users - List all users with pagination
• POST /api/users - Create a new user
• GET /api/users/[id] - Get a specific user
• PUT /api/users/[id] - Update a user
• DELETE /api/users/[id] - Delete a user

Generated Routes

For each Prisma model, the generator creates:

List & Create Routes (/api/[model]s/route.ts)

// GET /api/users - List with pagination
// Query params: ?page=1&limit=10
{
  "items": [...],
  "total": 100,
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 10,
  "totalPages": 10
}

// POST /api/users - Create new resource
// Body: { "email": "[email protected]", "name": "John Doe" }

Individual Resource Routes (/api/[model]s/[id]/route.ts)

// GET /api/users/[id] - Get single resource
// PUT /api/users/[id] - Update resource
// DELETE /api/users/[id] - Delete resource

CLI Options

prisma-rest generate [options]

Options:
  -s, --schema <path>         Path to Prisma schema file (default: "./prisma/schema.prisma")
  -o, --output <path>         Output directory for generated routes
  -b, --base-url <url>        Base URL for API routes (default: "/api")
  --api-prefix <prefix>       Additional path prefix (e.g., "rest" for /api/rest)
  -p, --prisma-import <path>  Import path for Prisma client (default: "@/lib/prisma")
  --include <models...>       Include only specific models
  --exclude <models...>       Exclude specific models
  --force                     Overwrite existing route files
  --skip-existing             Only generate routes for new models
  --dry-run                   Preview what would be generated
  -h, --help                  Display help

Examples

Custom Output Directory

# Generate in a custom directory
prisma-rest generate --output ./src/app/api/v2

# Generate with a prefix
prisma-rest generate --api-prefix rest
# Creates routes at /api/rest/users, /api/rest/posts, etc.

Custom Prisma Import

# If your Prisma client is in a different location
prisma-rest generate --prisma-import "@/server/db"

Selective Generation

# Only generate routes for specific models
prisma-rest generate --include User Post

# Generate all except certain models
prisma-rest generate --exclude Log Audit

Safe Regeneration

# Preview changes without creating files
prisma-rest generate --dry-run

# Skip existing files (only add new models)
prisma-rest generate --skip-existing

# Force overwrite all files
prisma-rest generate --force

Project Structure Support

The generator automatically detects your project structure:

• ✅ Supports /src directory layouts
• ✅ Detects App Router at /app or /src/app
• ✅ Understands Next.js path aliases (@/)

Generated Code Features

• TypeScript - Fully typed with Next.js route handler types
• Error Handling - Consistent error responses with appropriate status codes
• Pagination - Built-in pagination for list endpoints
• Async/Await - Modern async patterns throughout
• Prisma Best Practices - Efficient queries and proper error handling

Requirements

• Next.js 13+ with App Router
• Prisma 4+
• TypeScript (recommended)

Comment Directives

Control route generation using special comments in your Prisma schema:

@rest-skip

Skip generation for specific models:

/// This model won't have REST routes generated
/// @rest-skip
model InternalLog {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  message   String
  level     String
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
}

This is useful for:

• Internal models that shouldn't be exposed via API
• Models that require custom handling
• Temporary exclusion during development

Advanced Usage

Customizing Generated Routes

After generation, you can modify the routes to add:

• Authentication middleware
• Input validation
• Custom business logic
• Response transformations

The generated files include a header comment to track generation metadata.

Integration with Authentication

Example of adding auth to generated routes:

import { withAuth } from '@/lib/auth';

// Wrap the generated handler
export const GET = withAuth(async (request: NextRequest) => {
  // Generated code...
});

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find module '@/lib/prisma'"

Ensure you've created the Prisma client instance at the correct location. The default import path is @/lib/prisma, but you can customize it with the --prisma-import flag.

Routes Already Exist

By default, the generator won't overwrite existing files. Use:

• --force to overwrite
• --skip-existing to only generate new models
• --dry-run to preview changes

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT © [Your Name]

Made with ❤️ for the Next.js + Prisma community