Use this reference when building automation rather than using create-prisma or @prisma/cli app deploy.
For normal app deployment:
- Use generated
compute:deploywhen present. - Otherwise use
@prisma/cli app build/run/deploy. - Use SDK/API only for custom automation, platform integrations, or tool builders.
Install:
npm install @prisma/compute-sdk @prisma/management-api-sdkConfig helper:
import { defineComputeConfig } from "@prisma/compute-sdk/config";Use this import in prisma.compute.ts for type checking. The helper is an identity function; the CLI loader aliases the import when it evaluates config files, so a user project does not need the SDK solely to load a Compute config.
Create an authenticated Management API client:
import { createManagementApiClient } from "@prisma/management-api-sdk"
const apiClient = createManagementApiClient({
token: process.env.PRISMA_API_TOKEN,
})Token naming differs by surface. @prisma/cli app ... uses PRISMA_SERVICE_TOKEN for non-interactive service-token auth. The SDK examples here use PRISMA_API_TOKEN as an application convention for passing a token into createManagementApiClient; the SDK itself only receives the token string.
Deploy a prebuilt artifact:
import { ComputeClient, PreBuilt } from "@prisma/compute-sdk"
const compute = new ComputeClient(apiClient)
const databaseUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL
if (!databaseUrl) throw new Error("DATABASE_URL is required")
const result = await compute.deploy({
strategy: new PreBuilt({
appPath: "./dist",
entrypoint: "index.js",
}),
projectId: "proj_abc",
appName: "my-app",
region: "us-east-1",
envVars: { DATABASE_URL: databaseUrl },
portMapping: { http: 3000 },
})
if (result.isOk()) {
console.log(result.value.deploymentEndpointDomain)
} else {
console.error(result.error.message)
}SDK methods return Result<T, E>. Check isOk() or isErr() instead of assuming errors throw. Deploy results expose app/deployment vocabulary including appId, appName, projectId, region, deploymentId, deploymentEndpointDomain, appEndpointDomain, promoted, previousDeploymentId, previousDeploymentAction, and resolvedConfig.
Project Compute SDK strategies:
AutoBuild: tries supported framework strategies such as Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, NestJS, TanStack Start, then BunNextjsBuild: requires standalone output and returnsserver.jsNuxtBuild: expects.output/server/index.mjsAstroBuild: expectsdist/server/entry.mjsNestjsBuild: builds a NestJS HTTP server artifactTanstackStartBuild: runsvite buildand expects a Nitro node server at.output/server/index.mjs; keeptanstackStart()andnitro()in Vite configCustomBuild: runs optional configured build settings and stages a configured artifact entrypointBunBuild: runsbun buildand needs an explicit entrypoint orpackage.jsonmainPreBuilt: uses an existing artifact directory and relative entrypoint
Known SDK region ids:
us-east-1
us-west-1
eu-west-3
eu-central-1
ap-northeast-1
ap-southeast-1
Use --region in @prisma/cli app deploy or region in SDK deploy input only when creating a new Compute app. Existing apps keep their current region.
Compute resources map roughly to:
- Project: parent container
- Branch: production or preview scope for env resolution and database/env attachment
- App: stable app endpoint and branch attachment
- Deployment: build artifact plus runtime status and preview URL
Low-level public routes use App/Deployment names:
- list/create apps under a project with
/v1/apps - get/update/delete an app
- create/list deployments for an app
- get/start/stop/delete deployments with
/v1/deployments/:deploymentId - promote or roll back an app using
deploymentId - stream logs with
/v1/deployments/:deploymentId/logs - manage custom domains
Internal compatibility aliases may still appear in code. Prefer App/Deployment names in new docs, skills, and automation.
Environment variables are not embedded directly in the low-level deployment create payload. The attached branch's role selects their scope: a preview branch resolves branch-scoped vars, while a production branch (or no branch) resolves project-scoped production vars. Use project/environment-variable APIs or CLI env commands to write env vars first, and keep the branch name consistent across app creation, database creation, and env writes.
When using the CLI alongside SDK automation:
bunx @prisma/cli@latest project env add --file .env.preview --branch feature/foo
bunx @prisma/cli@latest database create preview-db --branch feature/foo --json
bunx @prisma/cli@latest app deploy --branch feature/foo --json --no-interactiveProduction promotion is not just "the same branch with another label"; app promote <deployment-id> rebuilds with production env vars.
Management API deployment inspection exposes env var names with redacted values. Treat any value like [redacted] as a marker, not as the deployed value.
Do not log:
- service tokens
- OAuth tokens
- full database URLs
- env var values
- pre-signed upload URLs