P1017 occurs when your database server unexpectedly closes the connection to Prisma. This can happen during migrations, query execution, or seed operations due to network issues, connection limits, or database server problems.
The P1017 error is a database connection error thrown by Prisma's Query Engine when the database server terminates an active connection. Unlike application-level errors, this indicates the database itself has closed the connection rather than rejecting a query. This error is generic and can stem from various root causes including network interruptions, database server maintenance or restarts, exceeded connection pool limits, idle connection timeouts, or incompatibilities between Prisma versions and database configurations. Notably, Prisma does not automatically retry queries when this error occurs, meaning applications need to implement their own retry logic to handle transient connection failures gracefully.
First, confirm your database is reachable and accepting connections using a standard database client:
# For PostgreSQL
psql "postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database"
# For MySQL
mysql -h host -u user -p database
# Test connection from your application server
telnet your-database-host 5432If these connections fail, the issue is with database availability rather than Prisma configuration.
Enable Prisma debug logs to see detailed connection information:
# Set DEBUG environment variable
DEBUG="*" npx prisma migrate dev
# Or in your application
DEBUG="prisma:*" npm startLook for connection pool messages, query engine logs, and any database driver errors that precede the P1017 error.
Examine your database server logs for connection termination reasons:
# PostgreSQL
tail -f /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-*.log
# MySQL
tail -f /var/log/mysql/error.logCommon log entries include:
- "unexpected EOF on client connection"
- "max_connections exceeded"
- "connection timeout"
- "server shutdown in progress"
Increase the connection pool timeout and connection limit in your Prisma connection string:
# Before
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:5432/db"
# After - increase pool timeout and connection limit
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:5432/db?connection_limit=10&pool_timeout=20"The default pool_timeout is 10 seconds. Increase it to 20-30 seconds if queries take longer. The default connection_limit is calculated as num_physical_cpus * 2 + 1. Explicitly set it based on your database's max_connections setting.
Since Prisma doesn't automatically retry on P1017, add retry logic to your application:
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
const prisma = new PrismaClient();
async function queryWithRetry<T>(
operation: () => Promise<T>,
maxRetries = 3,
delay = 1000
): Promise<T> {
for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
try {
return await operation();
} catch (error: any) {
if (error.code === 'P1017' && attempt < maxRetries) {
console.log(`Retry attempt ${attempt} after connection closed`);
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay * attempt));
continue;
}
throw error;
}
}
throw new Error('Max retries exceeded');
}
// Usage
const users = await queryWithRetry(() =>
prisma.user.findMany()
);If the error started after a Prisma upgrade, try downgrading to the last working version:
# Check current version
npx prisma --version
# Downgrade to a specific version (e.g., 5.9.1)
npm install [email protected] @prisma/[email protected]
# Test migrations
npx prisma migrate devKnown problematic versions:
- Versions after 5.9.1 had migration issues
- Version 6.3.1 had PostgreSQL 17 compatibility problems
Check the [Prisma GitHub issues](https://github.com/prisma/prisma/issues) for known regressions in your version.
Database-Specific Considerations:
For Aurora Serverless, this error is common due to automatic scaling and connection recycling. Use RDS Proxy to maintain persistent connections and handle connection pooling at the infrastructure level.
For Supabase, verify you're using the correct connection string (direct vs. pooled via Supavisor). The pooled connection string uses port 6543 and handles connection limits better than direct connections.
For PlanetScale, ensure you're using the connection string with ?sslaccept=strict and that SSL certificates are up to date.
Kubernetes and Container Deployments:
In containerized environments, network policies or service mesh configurations can terminate idle connections. Configure liveness probes and connection pool settings to match your orchestration platform's timeout values.
Large Data Operations:
When working with large JSON fields or bulk operations, the connection may timeout due to query execution time. Break large operations into smaller batches:
// Instead of one large upsert
const largeData = [...]; // huge array
// Break into chunks
const CHUNK_SIZE = 100;
for (let i = 0; i < largeData.length; i += CHUNK_SIZE) {
const chunk = largeData.slice(i, i + CHUNK_SIZE);
await prisma.model.createMany({ data: chunk });
}Connection Pool vs. Connection String:
If you're using an external connection pooler (PgBouncer, RDS Proxy, Supavisor), disable Prisma's internal connection pooling by setting connection_limit=1 to avoid double-pooling issues.
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