---
title: "Prisma Driver Adapters"
slug: "prisma-driver-adapters"
category: "backend"
tags: ["backend", "prisma", "driver-adapters", "postgres", "sqlite", "orm"]
status: "stable"
last_updated: 2026-05-29
summary: "Prisma 7 requires a driver adapter; use @prisma/adapter-pg for Postgres or @prisma/adapter-libsql for SQLite."
related:
  [
    "[[backend/prisma]]",
    "[[backend/prisma-client]]",
    "[[backend/prisma-schema]]",
    "[[backend/prisma-pooling]]",
    "[[backend/postgres]]",
    "[[backend/sqlite]]",
    "[[backend/prisma-v6-to-v7-upgrade]]",
  ]
---

## Overview

A driver adapter is the database connector the Prisma client uses to talk to your database. Prisma 7 removed the Rust query engine that previously held its own connection logic, so the client now delegates connections to a JavaScript database driver wrapped in an adapter. Constructing `new PrismaClient()` without an adapter throws at runtime. This page covers which adapter to pick, how to install it, and how to wire it into the client. For the singleton pattern that holds the client, see [[backend/prisma-client]].

## Install the adapter that matches your database

The adapter wraps the native driver for your engine. Install both packages.

```bash
# Postgres
npm install @prisma/adapter-pg pg

# SQLite, Turso, or libSQL
npm install @prisma/adapter-libsql @libsql/client

# PlanetScale / MySQL over HTTP
npm install @prisma/adapter-planetscale @planetscale/database
```

- Use `@prisma/adapter-pg` for any [[backend/postgres]] server, including Supabase and Neon over a direct connection.
- Use `@prisma/adapter-libsql` for local [[backend/sqlite]] files, Turso, and Cloudflare D1-style libSQL endpoints.
- Use `@prisma/adapter-planetscale` or `@prisma/adapter-mariadb` for the matching hosted MySQL providers.
- The adapter package version should track your `prisma` and client version. Mismatched majors fail to load.

## Pass the adapter to the client constructor

The adapter is constructed with the connection details, then handed to `PrismaClient`.

```ts
import { PrismaClient } from "./generated/prisma/client"
import { PrismaPg } from "@prisma/adapter-pg"

const adapter = new PrismaPg({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL })
export const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter })
```

```ts
// SQLite / libSQL
import { PrismaLibSQL } from "@prisma/adapter-libsql"

const adapter = new PrismaLibSQL({ url: process.env.DATABASE_URL })
export const prisma = new PrismaClient({ adapter })
```

- The adapter owns the connection string. You no longer need to duplicate the URL in a `datasources` override.
- Build the adapter once, alongside the singleton client. Do not create a new adapter per request. See [[backend/prisma-client]] for the singleton module.

## Configure pool sizing on the adapter, not the URL engine flags

With the Rust engine gone, pool limits live on the underlying driver, which reads them from the connection string passed to the adapter.

- `@prisma/adapter-pg` honors `connection_limit` and `pool_timeout` query parameters on the `connectionString`.
- Keep `?pgbouncer=true` on the URL when you front Postgres with PgBouncer in transaction mode; it disables prepared-statement reuse the same way it did before. See [[backend/prisma-pooling]] for the full pooling matrix.
- For Postgres 18 servers, the adapter benefits from the new async I/O subsystem without any client-side change.

## Skip the adapter only for HTTP-based proxies

The single case where `new PrismaClient()` takes no driver adapter is a managed HTTP proxy that supplies the connection itself.

- Prisma Accelerate connects over HTTP via `withAccelerate()`. The extension replaces the adapter. See [[backend/prisma-pooling]].
- Every direct-to-database client still needs an adapter. When in doubt, pass one.

## Related

- [[backend/prisma]]
- [[backend/prisma-client]]
- [[backend/prisma-schema]]
- [[backend/prisma-pooling]]
- [[backend/postgres]]
- [[backend/sqlite]]
- [[backend/prisma-v6-to-v7-upgrade]]