Fullstack Example with Next.js (REST API)

This example shows how to implement a fullstack app in TypeScript with Next.js using React (frontend), Next.js API routes and Prisma Client (backend). It uses a SQLite database file with some initial dummy data which you can find at ./prisma/dev.db.

How to use

1. Download example & install dependencies

Clone this repository:

git clone [email protected]:prisma/prisma-examples.git --depth=1

Install npm dependencies:

cd prisma-examples/typescript/rest-nextjs-api-routes
npm install

Note that this also generates Prisma Client JS into node_modules/@prisma/client via a postinstall hook of the @prisma/client package from your package.json.

2. Start the app

npm run dev

The app is now running, navigate to http://localhost:3000/ in your browser to explore its UI.

Expand for a tour through the UI of the app

Blog (located in ./pages/index.tsx

Signup (located in ./pages/signup.tsx)

Create post (draft) (located in ./pages/create.tsx)

Drafts (located in ./pages/drafts.tsx)

View post (located in ./pages/p/[id].tsx) (delete or publish here)

Using the REST API

You can also access the REST API of the API server directly. It is running on the same host machine and port and can be accessed via the /api route (in this case that is localhost:3000/api/, so you can e.g. reach the API with localhost:3000/api/feed).

GET

• /api/post/:id: Fetch a single post by its id
• /api/feed: Fetch all published posts
• /api/filterPosts?searchString={searchString}: Filter posts by title or content

POST

• /api/post: Create a new post
  • Body:
    • title: String (required): The title of the post
    • content: String (optional): The content of the post
    • authorEmail: String (required): The email of the user that creates the post
• /api/user: Create a new user
  • Body:
    • email: String (required): The email address of the user
    • name: String (optional): The name of the user

PUT

• /api/publish/:id: Publish a post by its id

DELETE

• /api/post/:id: Delete a post by its id

Evolving the app

Evolving the application typically requires five subsequent steps:

1. Migrating the database schema using SQL
2. Updating your Prisma schema by introspecting the database with prisma introspect
3. Generating Prisma Client to match the new database schema with prisma generate
4. Using the updated Prisma Client in your application code and extending the REST API
5. Building new UI features in React

For the following example scenario, assume you want to add a "profile" feature to the app where users can create a profile and write a short bio about themselves.

1. Change your database schema using SQL

The first step would be to add a new table, e.g. called Profile, to the database. In SQLite, you can do so by running the following SQL statement:

CREATE TABLE "Profile" (
  "id" INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
  "bio" TEXT,
  "user" INTEGER NOT NULL UNIQUE REFERENCES "User"(id) ON DELETE SET NULL
);

To run the SQL statement against the database, you can use the sqlite3 CLI in your terminal, e.g.:

sqlite3 dev.db \
'CREATE TABLE "Profile" (
  "id" INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
  "bio" TEXT,
  "user" INTEGER NOT NULL UNIQUE REFERENCES "User"(id) ON DELETE SET NULL
);'

Note that we're adding a unique constraint to the foreign key on user, this means we're expressing a 1:1 relationship between User and Profile, i.e.: "one user has one profile".

While your database now is already aware of the new table, you're not yet able to perform any operations against it using Prisma Client. The next two steps will update the Prisma Client API to include operations against the new Profile table.

2. Introspect your database

The Prisma schema is the foundation for the generated Prisma Client API. Therefore, you first need to make sure the new Profile table is represented in it as well. The easiest way to do so is by introspecting your database:

npx prisma introspect

Note: You're using npx to run Prisma 2 CLI that's listed as a development dependency in package.json. Alternatively, you can install the CLI globally using npm install -g @prisma/cli. When using Yarn, you can run: yarn prisma dev.

The introspect command updates your schema.prisma file. It now includes the Profile model and its 1:1 relation to User:

model Post {
  author    User?
  content   String?
  id        Int     @id
  published Boolean @default(false)
  title     String
}

model User {
  email   String   @unique
  id      Int      @id
  name    String?
  post    Post[]
  profile Profile?
}

model Profile {
  bio  String?
  id   Int     @default(autoincrement()) @id
  user Int     @unique
  User User    @relation(fields: [user], references: [id])
}

3. Generate Prisma Client

With the updated Prisma schema, you can now also update the Prisma Client API with the following command:

npx prisma generate

This command updated the Prisma Client API in node_modules/@prisma/client.

4. Use the updated Prisma Client in your application code

You can now use your PrismaClient instance to perform operations against the new Profile table. Those operations can be used to implement a new route in the REST API, e.g. /api/profile.

Here are some examples for some Prisma Client operations:

Create a new profile for an existing user

const profile = await prisma.profile.create({
  data: {
    bio: "Hello World",
    user: {
      connect: { email: "[email protected]" },
    },
  },
});

Create a new user with a new profile

const user = await prisma.user.create({
  data: {
    email: "[email protected]",
    name: "John",
    profile: {
      create: {
        bio: "Hello World",
      },
    },
  },
});

Update the profile of an existing user

const userWithUpdatedProfile = await prisma.user.update({
  where: { email: "[email protected]" },
  data: {
    profile: {
      update: {
        bio: "Hello Friends",
      },
    },
  },
});

5. Build new UI features in React

Once you have added a new endpoint to the API (e.g. /api/profile with /POST, /PUT and GET operations), you can start building a new UI component in React. It could e.g. be called profile.tsx and would be located in the pages directory.

In the application code, you can access the new endpoint via fetch operations and populate the UI with the data you receive from the API calls.

Next steps

• Check out the Prisma docs
• Share your feedback in the prisma2 channel on the Prisma Slack
• Create issues and ask questions on GitHub