How to fix P2001: The record searched for in the where condition does not exist in Prisma

// Check if record exists first
const existingRecord = await prisma.user.findUnique({
  where: { id: userId }
});

if (!existingRecord) {
  // Handle the missing record case
  throw new Error('User not found');
}

// Now perform your operation
const updatedUser = await prisma.user.update({
  where: { id: userId },
  data: { name: 'New Name' }
});

// Instead of assuming a record exists
const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({
  where: { email: '[email protected]' }
});
// This could throw P2001 if used in update/delete

// Use findFirst and check for null
const user = await prisma.user.findFirst({
  where: {
    email: '[email protected]',
    status: 'ACTIVE'
  }
});

if (!user) {
  // Handle the case where no active user with this email exists
  return null;
}

// Safe to use user.id in subsequent operations

// Upsert handles both create and update cases
const user = await prisma.user.upsert({
  where: { email: '[email protected]' },
  update: {
    lastLogin: new Date(),
    loginCount: { increment: 1 }
  },
  create: {
    email: '[email protected]',
    name: 'New User',
    lastLogin: new Date(),
    loginCount: 1
  }
});

async function updateUser(userId: string, data: any) {
  try {
    const user = await prisma.user.update({
      where: { id: userId },
      data
    });
    return user;
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof Prisma.PrismaClientKnownRequestError) {
      if (error.code === 'P2001') {
        // Handle the "record not found" case
        console.log('User not found, cannot update');
        return null;
      }
    }
    // Re-throw other errors
    throw error;
  }
}

// Example: Check if related records exist
const post = await prisma.post.findUnique({
  where: { id: postId },
  include: { author: true }
});

if (!post) {
  throw new Error('Post not found');
}

if (!post.author) {
  // The post exists but its author doesn't - data inconsistency
  console.warn('Post exists but author record is missing');
}

await prisma.$transaction(async (tx) => {
  // Check if record exists within the transaction
  const existing = await tx.user.findUnique({
    where: { id: userId }
  });

  if (!existing) {
    throw new Error('User not found');
  }

  // Perform update within the same transaction
  const updated = await tx.user.update({
    where: { id: userId },
    data: { status: 'INACTIVE' }
  });

  // Log the change
  await tx.auditLog.create({
    data: {
      action: 'USER_DEACTIVATED',
      userId: userId,
      details: `User ${userId} deactivated`
    }
  });

  return updated;
});