This error occurs when Prisma attempts to create a database that already exists on your database server. Learn how to resolve conflicts and properly initialize your database schema.
The P1009 error is thrown by Prisma when you try to create a database that has already been created on the specified database server. This typically happens during database initialization or migration operations when Prisma Migrate or related commands attempt to execute CREATE DATABASE statements. This error indicates that a database with the exact name specified in your connection string already exists at the given host and port location. Unlike schema-level conflicts, this is a database-level issue that occurs before Prisma can even connect to work with tables and migrations. The error is most commonly encountered when running commands like `prisma migrate dev`, `prisma db push`, or custom database setup scripts that include database creation logic. It's a protective measure to prevent accidental database overwrites.
First, confirm that the database mentioned in the error message exists on your database server.
For PostgreSQL:
psql -U your_username -h localhost -lFor MySQL:
mysql -u your_username -p -e "SHOW DATABASES;"Check if the database name from your DATABASE_URL appears in the list. If it does exist, you have several options depending on your use case.
If you're in a development environment and want to work with the existing database, simply skip the database creation step. Prisma Migrate will work with the existing database.
Run migrations on the existing database:
npx prisma migrate devIf the schema is out of sync, you may need to baseline it:
# Create a migration without applying it
npx prisma migrate dev --create-only
# Mark it as applied
npx prisma migrate resolve --applied "migration_name"For databases that were manually created or modified, use baseline:
npx prisma migrate dev --name baselineIf you're in a development environment and want a clean slate, drop the existing database and let Prisma recreate it.
WARNING: This will delete all data in the database.
For PostgreSQL:
psql -U your_username -h localhost -c "DROP DATABASE your_database_name;"For MySQL:
mysql -u your_username -p -e "DROP DATABASE your_database_name;"Then run Prisma Migrate:
npx prisma migrate devOr use Prisma's built-in reset command (drops and recreates automatically):
npx prisma migrate resetIf you need to work with a different database, update your connection string to use a new database name.
In your .env file, modify the DATABASE_URL:
PostgreSQL:
# Before
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/myapp"
# After
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/myapp_dev"MySQL:
# Before
DATABASE_URL="mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/myapp"
# After
DATABASE_URL="mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/myapp_dev"Then run:
npx prisma migrate devThis creates a new database with the updated name.
If you're encountering this in automated environments, ensure your scripts check for database existence before attempting creation.
For PostgreSQL scripts:
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS your_database_name;For MySQL scripts:
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS your_database_name;In Node.js scripts using Prisma:
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
const prisma = new PrismaClient();
async function setupDatabase() {
try {
// Test connection - if it works, database exists
await prisma.$connect();
console.log('Database already exists, skipping creation');
} catch (error) {
// Database doesn't exist, create it
console.log('Creating database...');
// Use your database creation logic here
} finally {
await prisma.$disconnect();
}
}For Docker Compose environments, ensure volumes are cleaned:
docker-compose down -v # Removes volumes
docker-compose up -dEnvironment-specific considerations:
- Production databases: Never drop production databases. Always use Option 1 (baselining) to sync your Prisma schema with existing production data.
- Team environments: When multiple developers share a database server, use environment-specific database names (e.g., myapp_john, myapp_jane) to avoid conflicts.
- Shadow database: Prisma Migrate uses a shadow database for migrations. If you encounter P1009 with the shadow database, ensure your database user has permissions to create databases, or configure shadowDatabaseUrl in your Prisma schema to point to a dedicated shadow database.
- Serverless environments: Some managed database providers (like PlanetScale, Neon, or Supabase) automatically create databases. In these cases, you typically never need to create the database yourself - just run migrations.
- Multi-schema setups: If you're using PostgreSQL schemas (not to be confused with Prisma schema), ensure your connection string points to the correct schema. The P1009 error refers to database-level conflicts, not schema-level.
Database provider differences:
- PostgreSQL: Strictly enforces database uniqueness at the cluster level
- MySQL: Database names are case-sensitive on Linux/Unix but case-insensitive on Windows
- SQLite: This error doesn't apply - SQLite uses file-based databases
Migration history sync:
If you've previously used prisma db push (which bypasses migrations), switching to prisma migrate dev may cause conflicts. Run prisma migrate resolve to mark existing schema changes as applied without re-executing them.
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