Dockerize PERN-TypeScript App Using Prisma ORM With Docker Compose

Introduction

This article won't go into detailed explanations. Instead, I’ll just provide the code snippets you need to dockerize a PERN stack application. If you want a more detailed explanation, check out this article where I’ve covered everything in more depth.

The Project Structure

pern-project/
--- frontend/
------ .dockerignore
------ frontend.dockerfile
------ ...
--- backend/
------ .dockerignore
------ backend.dockerfile
------ ...
--- docker-compose.yml

Code Backend

Create a node.js-express.js app first:

mkdir backend && cd backend
npm init -y

Install all the necessary dependencies from npm:

npm install express dotenv cors

Install Typescript related dev dependencies as well:

npm install --save-dev typescript ts-node @types/express @types/node @types/cors

Generate tsconfig.json file:

tsc --init

Replace everything inside tsconfig.json with this piece of code in the following:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es2016",
    "module": "commonjs",
    "rootDir": "./src",
    "outDir": "./dist",
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "strict": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  },
  "include": ["src/**/*.ts", "data-types.d.ts"]
}

Create src folder and index.ts file inside src folder. So, now the backend folder structure:

backend/
--- node_modules/
--- src/
------ index.ts
--- package.json
--- tsconfig.json
--- ...

Integrate Postgres With Prisma

Install Prisma and Prisma Client first:

npm i @prisma/client
npm i --save-dev prisma

Generate a prisma folder:

npx prisma init

Write a User model in the schema.prisma file:

generator client {
  provider = "prisma-client-js"
}

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

model User {
  id        String   @id @default(uuid())
  name      String
  username  String
  email     String
  password  String
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt

  @@map("users")
}

Set DATABASE_URL in the .env file:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/pern_db?schema=public

Create a file prismadb.ts in the src folder:

import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client"
import "dotenv/config"

// Extend the global object with PrismaClient
declare global {
  var prisma: PrismaClient | undefined
}

// Prevent multiple instances of Prisma Client in development
const prisma = global.prisma || new PrismaClient()

if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") global.prisma = prisma

export default prisma

Define /register endpoint in the index.ts file. The index.ts file:

import express, { Request, Response } from "express"
import "dotenv/config"
import cors from "cors"
import { corsOptions } from "./constants/config"

const app = express()
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000

app.use(express.json())
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }))
app.use(cors({
    const corsOptions = {
    origin: process.env.CLIENT_URL || 'http://localhost:5173',
    credentials: true,
  }
}))

app.get("/", (req: Request, res: Response) => {
  res.json({
    message: "Hello, TypeScript with Express! Updated!",
  })
})

app.post("/register", async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
  const { name, username, email, password } = req.body

  await prisma.user.create({
    data: {
      name,
      username,
      email,
      password,
    },
  })

  res.json({
    message: "User created successfully",
  })
})

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Server is running on port ${PORT}`)
})

Backend Dockerfile

Create a file naming backend.dockerfile in the root of the backend directory and write:

FROM node:20
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json .
RUN npm install
COPY prisma ./prisma
RUN npx prisma generate
COPY . .
EXPOSE 3000
RUN npm install -g nodemon ts-node
CMD ["nodemon", "src/index.ts"]

To exclude node_modules, create a .dockerignore file:

node_modules

Code Frontend

Create the frontend:

npm create vite@latest frontend -- --template react-ts

Make API call in the React app:

// App.tsx

import { FormEvent, useEffect, useState } from "react"
....

function App() {
  const [name, setName] = useState("")
  const [username, setUsername] = useState("")
  const [email, setEmail] = useState("")
  const [password, setPassword] = useState("")

  const saveUser = async (e: FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault()
    await fetch("http://localhost:3000/register", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        name,
        username,
        email,
        password,
      }),
    })
      .then((res) => res.json())
      .then((data) => console.log(data))
  }

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch("http://localhost:3000")
      .then((res) => res.json())
      .then((data) => console.log(data))
  }, [])

  return (
    <>
      <form onSubmit={saveUser}>
        <input
          type="text"
          onChange={(e) => setName(e.target.value)}
          placeholder="Enter your name"
        />
        <input
          type="text"
          onChange={(e) => setUsername(e.target.value)}
          placeholder="Enter your username"
        />
        <input
          type="email"
          onChange={(e) => setEmail(e.target.value)}
          placeholder="Enter your email"
        />
        <input
          type="password"
          onChange={(e) => setPassword(e.target.value)}
          placeholder="Enter your password"
        />
        <button type="submit">Submit</button>
      </form>
    </>
  )
}

export default App

Frontend Dockerfile

Create a file naming frontend.dockerfile in the root of the frontend directory and write:

FROM node:20
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json .
RUN npm install
EXPOSE 5173
COPY . .
CMD [ "npm", "run", "dev" ]

Docker-Compose file

Add the following in the .env file of the backend folder:

// backend/.env

POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
POSTGRES_DB=pern_db

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@db:5432/pern_db?schema=public

The docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  frontend:
    container_name: frontend
    build:
      context: ./frontend
      dockerfile: frontend.dockerfile
    ports:
      - "5173:5173"
    networks:
      - pern_net
    volumes:
      - ./frontend:/app
      - /app/node_modules
    depends_on:
      - server

  backend:
    container_name: backend
    build:
      context: ./backend
      dockerfile: backend.dockerfile
    env_file:
      - ./backend/.env
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    networks:
      - pern_net
    volumes:
      - ./backend:/app
      - /app/node_modules
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    container_name: db
    image: postgres:14
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    networks:
      - pern_net
    env_file:
      - ./backend/.env
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/data/db

networks:
  pern_net:
    driver: bridge

volumes:
  pgdata: {}

Run this command:

docker compose up -d

Migrate the prisma schema:

docker backend -it backend npx prisma migrate dev --name init

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