Error when trying to generate seed

[gabrieljun56]

Question

When I execute the command "npx prisma db seed", it returns the following error:

Loaded Prisma config from prisma.config.ts.

Running seed command node ./prisma/seed.ts ...
C:\Users\Revionot\OneDrive\Desktop\finances-ts\node_modules@prisma\client\scripts\default-index.js:43
throw new Error('@prisma/client did not initialize yet. Please run "prisma generate" and try to import it again.');
^

Error: @prisma/client did not initialize yet. Please run "prisma generate" and try to import it again.
at new PrismaClient (C:\Users\Revionot\OneDrive\Desktop\finances-ts\node_modules@prisma\client\scripts\default-index.js:43:11)
at file:///C:/Users/Revionot/OneDrive/Desktop/finances-ts/prisma/seed.ts:4:16
at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:345:25)
at async onImport.tracePromise.proto (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:665:26)
at async asyncRunEntryPointWithESMLoader (node:internal/modules/run_main:117:5)

Node.js v22.20.0

An error occurred while running the seed command:
Error: Command failed with exit code 1: node ./prisma/seed.ts

How to reproduce (optional)

Expected behavior (optional)

No response

Information about Prisma Schema, Client Queries and Environment (optional)

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../app/src/generated/prisma"
}

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
}

model User {
  id Int @id @default(autoincrement())
  name String
  email String @unique
}

// Add any relevant Prisma Client queries here

• Database: Postgresql
• Node.js version: v22.20.0
• Prisma: 7.3.0
• @prisma/client: 7.3.0

[mergisi]

Hey @gabrieljun56! This is a common issue when working with Prisma. The error message is telling you exactly what to do — the Prisma Client hasn't been generated yet.

Quick fix:

Run this command before seeding:

npx prisma generate

Then run your seed command:

npx prisma db seed

Why this happens:

Since you have a custom output path ("../app/src/generated/prisma"), make sure you're importing from that exact location in your seed.ts file:

import { PrismaClient } from '../app/src/generated/prisma'

Pro tip for your workflow:

You can combine commands in your package.json:

"prisma": {
  "seed": "npx prisma generate && ts-node prisma/seed.ts"
}

This ensures generate always runs before seed.

Also, if you're writing complex SQL queries alongside Prisma, tools like ai2sql.io can help you convert natural language to SQL — useful for debugging or creating raw queries when needed.

Let me know if this helps! 🚀

[jungabriel56]

Thanks for the tip, but I tried to run npx prisma generate and then npx prisma db seed a ton of times, but it returns the same error. I also have tried to delete the command to insert a custom output, but it returns an error when I try to generate:

npx prisma generate

Loaded Prisma config from prisma.config.ts.

Prisma schema loaded from prisma\schema.prisma.
Error: An output path is required for the `prisma-client` generator. Please provide an output path in your schema file:

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client"
  output   = "../src/generated"
}

Note: the output path is relative to the schema directory.

[KeepALifeUS]

Solution

The error @prisma/client did not initialize yet happens because you have a custom output path but are importing from the wrong location.

Fix 1: Import from your custom output path

Your schema has:

output = "../app/src/generated/prisma"

So in seed.ts, import from there:

// ❌ Wrong
import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client";

// ✅ Correct - use your custom output path
import { PrismaClient } from "../app/src/generated/prisma";

Fix 2: Run generate first

npx prisma generate
npx prisma db seed

Fix 3: Use tsx instead of node for TypeScript

Update package.json:

{
  "prisma": {
    "seed": "tsx prisma/seed.ts"
  }
}

Then install tsx:

npm install -D tsx

Why this happens

When you use a custom output path, @prisma/client is just a stub. The actual generated client lives in your specified folder. You must import from that path instead.

[gabrieljun56]

Thanks for the reply. I also tried it with the customized output and customized import, but it was still don't working. In the tutorial I was following, the line containing the output in the schema.prisma was deleted so I tried to delete, but it returned an error and it was saying that it must contain the line with the output, so I kept this line. Now I'm not using prisma anymore because I was wasting so much time trying to solve this issue. Anyways thank you for the support! Soon I'll try again and learn more about it so I can improve some skills and get some more knowledge. :)

[nurul3101]

Please feel free to mark one the solutions as answers if your question is resolved.

[gabrieljun56]

I stoped trying do fix that error because I was wasting a lot of time. But I hope soon I'll try to use Prisma again and keep learning about it.

[nurul3101]

Thanks!