Prisma schema naming convention best practices

Prisma Schema Naming Convention Best Practices

Conventions for writing Prisma schemas that match a legacy MySQL naming contract. Contains 7 rules across table, key, and constraint naming.

When to Apply

• Defining or updating models in **/prisma/schema.prisma
• Reviewing pull requests that change Prisma model names, keys, or constraints
• Creating new tables and relations that must stay consistent with existing naming
• Introspecting a legacy database and normalizing naming in the Prisma schema

Rules Summary

Table and Column Naming (HIGH)

table-names-snake-case - @rules/table-names-snake-case.md

Database table names use snake_case plural form, such as users, users_logs, and providers_locations.

model users_logs {
  @@map("users_logs")
}

column-names-pascal-case - @rules/column-names-pascal-case.md

Columns use PascalCase names such as UserID, Details, and DateCreated.

model users_logs {
  UserID      Int
  DateCreated DateTime @db.DateTime(0)
}

Key Naming (HIGH)

primary-key-id - @rules/primary-key-id.md

Every model uses id as the primary key field.

id Int @id @default(autoincrement())

foreign-key-referenced-table-id - @rules/foreign-key-referenced-table-id.md

Foreign key columns use <ReferencedTable>ID, such as UserID, ProviderID, and AccessID.

UserID Int

Relationship and Constraint Naming (HIGH)

join-table-table1-table2 - @rules/join-table-table1-table2.md

Join table names use <table1>_<table2> in snake_case.

model providers_clearances_permits {
  @@map("providers_clearances_permits")
}

explicit-unique-constraints - @rules/explicit-unique-constraints.md

Declare unique constraints explicitly on business-unique columns such as Name, Email, and Username.

@@unique([Email, Username, HashPassword], map: "uq_users_email_username_hashpassword")

index-names-idx-table-column - @rules/index-names-idx-table-column.md

Indexes use idx_<table>_<column> lowercase names via map, especially for foreign keys.

@@index([UserID], map: "idx_users_logs_userid")

References

• https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/prisma-schema/data-model/database-mapping
• https://www.prisma.io/docs/orm/prisma-schema/data-model/indexes