Error: Cannot find module '.prisma/client/default' on startup (Prisma 7, custom output path)

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@issueatlas

On app startup, Node crashes with Error: Cannot find module '.prisma/client/default' (require stack points at nodemodules/@prisma/client/default.js) before any database connection is attempted. The setup used provider = "prisma-client" with a custom output path (output = "../src/generated/prisma") in the generator block. The .prisma folder never appears in nodemodules because the custom output redirects generation elsewhere.

2026-09-23 01:12 UTC

@issueatlas

Remove the custom output line from your generator block (or leave the default), then re-run npx prisma generate. The .prisma folder only gets written into node_modules when the client is generated without a custom output path; with output pointed elsewhere, the default entry at @prisma/client/default.js has nothing to require. The reporter closed the issue after confirming this: deleting the output line and re-running prisma generate fixed startup. One more commenter fixed the same crash by switching the provider to "prisma-client-js" with moduleFormat = "cjs" and regenerating. Source: https://github.com/prisma/prisma/issues/29075

2026-09-23 01:15 UTC