Prisma Error P3009: Failed Migrations Found in Target Database

Prisma error P3009 (Failed Migrations Found in Target Database) explained: what it means, why it happens, and how to fix it — with copy-paste code examples.

Error code P3009 Prisma Last verified 2026-08-19

Quick Answer

Run `npx prisma migrate status` and look for any migration marked Failed. If that does not apply, inspect that migration's SQL and the real database state to decide what actually happened — the full checklist is below.

Error Code

Error code: P3009
Official name: Failed Migrations Found in Target Database
Service: Prisma

What does this error mean?

migrate found failed migrations in the target database, new migrations will not be applied. Read more about how to resolve migration issues in a production database: https://pris.ly/d/migrate-resolve{details}

Common Causes

How to Fix

  1. Run `npx prisma migrate status` and look for any migration marked Failed
  2. Inspect that migration's SQL and the real database state to decide what actually happened
  3. If the SQL did run: `npx prisma migrate resolve --applied <name>`. If it did not: `--rolled-back <name>`
  4. Re-run `npx prisma migrate status` until every migration shows Applied or Pending
  5. Only then apply new migrations with `npx prisma migrate deploy`

Code Examples

Check which migration is failed bash 
npx prisma migrate status

Lists each migration with Applied / Pending / Failed so you can target the exact one blocking progress.

Resolve and continue bash 
npx prisma migrate resolve --rolled-back 20260801000000_add_index
npx prisma migrate deploy

Clears the failed state and lets the remaining pending migrations apply.

Framework-Specific Fixes

prisma-cli

The recovery is always: find the failed migration, resolve it honestly, then continue.

npx prisma migrate status
npx prisma migrate resolve --applied 20260801000000_add_index
npx prisma migrate deploy
github-actions

Make CI fail loudly on migrate status failures and require a human to run migrate resolve before the next deploy.

- run: npx prisma migrate deploy
- run: npx prisma migrate status
  if: always()
nestjs

Track failed migrations in your runbook: resolve --rolled-back for unapplied SQL, --applied for SQL that actually executed.

# runbook: prisma migrations
# failed at 20260801000000_add_index -> check _prisma_migrations,
# then: npx prisma migrate resolve --rolled-back 20260801000000_add_index

You Might Also Like

P3018 A Migration Failed to Apply A migration failed to apply. New migrations cannot be applied before the error is recovered from. Read more… P3008 Migration Already Recorded as Applied The migration {migration_name} is already recorded as applied in the database. P3005 Database Schema Is Not Empty The database schema is not empty. Read more about how to baseline an existing production database…

Frequently Asked Questions

Why am I seeing Prisma error P3009?

Most often this happens when an earlier migration failed to apply and was never resolved, so Prisma refuses to apply anything new, or when a teammate's migration was applied manually out of order, leaving the history inconsistent.

How do I fix Prisma error P3009?

Run `npx prisma migrate status` and look for any migration marked Failed.

Which frameworks have documented fixes for error P3009?

This page documents fixes for: prisma-cli, github-actions, nestjs.

Official Sources

This page is based on the official Prisma documentation linked below and adds practical troubleshooting guidance on top.