REST API Example

This example shows how to implement a REST API using NestJS and Prisma Client. It uses a SQLite database file with some initial dummy data which you can find at ./prisma/dev.db. The example was bootstrapped using the NestJS CLI command nest new rest-nestjs.

Getting started

1. Download example and install dependencies

Download this example:

curl https://codeload.github.com/prisma/prisma-examples/tar.gz/latest | tar -xz --strip=2 prisma-examples-latest/typescript/rest-nestjs

Install npm dependencies:

cd rest-nestjs
npm install

Alternative: Clone the entire repo

Clone this repository:

git clone git@github.com:prisma/prisma-examples.git --depth=1

Install npm dependencies:

cd prisma-examples/typescript/rest-nestjs
npm install

2. Create and seed the database

Run the following command to create your SQLite database file. This also creates the User and Post tables that are defined in prisma/schema.prisma:

npx prisma migrate dev --name init

Now, seed the database with the sample data in prisma/seed.ts by running the following command:

npx prisma db seed --preview-feature

2. Start the REST API server

npm run dev

The server is now running on http://localhost:3000. You can now the API requests, e.g. http://localhost:3000/feed.

Using the REST API

You can access the REST API of the server using the following endpoints:

`GET`

/post/:id: Fetch a single post by its id
/feed: Fetch all published posts
/filterPosts?searchString={searchString}: Filter posts by title or content

`POST`

/post: Create a new post
- Body:
  - title: String (required): The title of the post
  - content: String (optional): The content of the post
  - authorEmail: String (required): The email of the user that creates the post
/user: Create a new user
- Body:
  - email: String (required): The email address of the user
  - name: String (optional): The name of the user

`PUT`

/publish/:id: Publish a post by its id

`DELETE`

/post/:id: Delete a post by its id

Evolving the app

Evolving the application typically requires two steps:

Migrate your database using Prisma Migrate
Update your application code

For the following example scenario, assume you want to add a "profile" feature to the app where users can create a profile and write a short bio about themselves.

1. Migrate your database using Prisma Migrate

The first step is to add a new table, e.g. called Profile, to the database. You can do this by adding a new model to your Prisma schema file file and then running a migration afterwards:

// schema.prisma

model Post {
  id        Int     @default(autoincrement()) @id
  title     String
  content   String?
  published Boolean @default(false)
  author    User?   @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  authorId  Int
}

model User {
  id      Int      @default(autoincrement()) @id 
  name    String? 
  email   String   @unique
  posts   Post[]
+ profile Profile?
}

+model Profile {
+  id     Int     @default(autoincrement()) @id
+  bio    String?
+  userId Int     @unique
+  user   User    @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
+}

Once you've updated your data model, you can execute the changes against your database with the following command:

npx prisma migrate dev

2. Update your application code

You can now use your PrismaClient instance to perform operations against the new Profile table. Here are some examples:

Create a new profile for an existing user

const profile = await prisma.profile.create({
  data: {
    bio: "Hello World",
    user: {
      connect: { email: "alice@prisma.io" },
    },
  },
});

Create a new user with a new profile

const user = await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    email: "john@prisma.io",
    name: "John",
    profile: {
      create: {
        bio: "Hello World",
      },
    },
  },
});

Update the profile of an existing user

const userWithUpdatedProfile = await prisma.user.update({
  where: { email: "alice@prisma.io" },
  data: {
    profile: {
      update: {
        bio: "Hello Friends",
      },
    },
  },
});

Switch to another database (e.g. PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server)

If you want to try this example with another database than SQLite, you can adjust the the database connection in prisma/schema.prisma by reconfiguring the datasource block.

Learn more about the different connection configurations in the docs.

Expand for an overview of example configurations with different databases

PostgreSQL

For PostgreSQL, the connection URL has the following structure:

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = "postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE?schema=SCHEMA"
}

Here is an example connection string with a local PostgreSQL database:

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = "postgresql://janedoe:mypassword@localhost:5432/notesapi?schema=public"
}

MySQL

For MySQL, the connection URL has the following structure:

datasource db {
  provider = "mysql"
  url      = "mysql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE"
}

Here is an example connection string with a local MySQL database:

datasource db {
  provider = "mysql"
  url      = "mysql://janedoe:mypassword@localhost:3306/notesapi"
}

Microsoft SQL Server (Preview)

Here is an example connection string with a local Microsoft SQL Server database:

datasource db {
  provider = "sqlserver"
  url      = "sqlserver://localhost:1433;initial catalog=sample;user=sa;password=mypassword;"
}

Because SQL Server is currently in Preview, you need to specify the previewFeatures on your generator block:

generator client {
  provider        = "prisma-client-js"
  previewFeatures = ["microsoftSqlServer"]
}

Next steps

Check out the Prisma docs
Share your feedback in the prisma2 channel on the Prisma Slack
Create issues and ask questions on GitHub
Watch our biweekly "What's new in Prisma" livestreams on Youtube

gjungb / letssee