Build a Full-Stack Expo App with Prisma Accelerate (Deploy Fast with EAS Hosting)

Learn how to build a full-stack to-do app using Expo Router and Prisma's ORM with their new fully managed Postgres database and Prisma Accelerate features. You'll learn how to set up the database, schema, and API routes, then deploying the app with EAS Hosting.

If you want to create scalable full-stack Expo apps with a modern database backend and fast global connection pooling, this video is for you. It’s practical and walks through everything from project setup to deployment.

What's inside

• Building full-stack apps with Expo Router and Prisma
• Setting up Prisma’s managed Postgres database with Accelerate
• Creating the Prisma schema and running migrations
• Using Prisma Client with Accelerate in Expo Router API routes
• Handling environment variables and Cloudflare worker caveats
• Implementing API routes for CRUD operations
• Configuring Expo app.json for server output
• Deploying the app with EAS Hosting

Building full-stack apps with Expo Router and Prisma

Expo Router now supports full-stack applications by combining frontend navigation with backend API routes. I demonstrate how to leverage Expo Router’s API routes alongside Prisma ORM to build a to-do app.

Prisma’s ORM simplifies database interactions, and with Expo Router, you can keep frontend and backend code in the same project. This approach streamlines development and deployment for Expo apps.

Setting up Prisma’s managed Postgres database with Accelerate

Prisma offers a fully managed Postgres database with a generous free tier, eliminating the need to find and configure your own database provider. I show creating a new Prisma project, selecting a region, and enabling Prisma Accelerate.

Prisma Accelerate adds a global connection pool and caching layer, making your app faster and more scalable out of the box. This managed setup reduces infrastructure overhead and improves performance.

Creating the Prisma schema and running migrations

Inside the Expo project, a Prisma folder is created with a schema file defining the database source and models. The example defines a simple to-do model with fields like id, title, completed, createdAt, and updatedAt.

After defining the schema, I run npx prisma migrate dev to apply migrations and sync the database. This step generates the Prisma client code inside the project for type-safe database access.

Using Prisma Client with Accelerate in Expo Router API routes

I install the Prisma Accelerate extension and generates a Prisma client configured for Accelerate. It imports this client in API route handlers to interact with the database.

API routes are created under a +api folder in the Expo Router project. The example shows a POST handler that creates a new to-do item by reading the title from the request body and saving it with Prisma.

Handling environment variables and Cloudflare worker caveats

Expo Router API routes run on Cloudflare workers, which have limitations like no file system access. This means Prisma cannot read .env files directly in the worker environment.

To work around this, environment variables must be accessed via process.env and the .env file renamed or duplicated as .env.local. The Prisma client is instantiated inside the API handler after confirming the environment variable is available.

Implementing API routes for CRUD operations

I demonstrate creating API routes with Expo Router’s +api convention. It exports async functions like post to handle HTTP methods.

The to-do POST API validates the request body, creates a new record with Prisma, and returns a JSON response with status 201. This pattern can be extended for other CRUD operations.

Configuring Expo app.json for server output

To enable API routes, the app.json file is modified to set the web output to "server" instead of "static". This is necessary because API routes require server-side execution.

This small configuration change allows Expo Router to handle backend logic alongside the frontend in the same project.

Deploying the app with EAS Hosting

At the end, I show how to deploy the full-stack Expo app using EAS Hosting. This service supports server-side API routes and Prisma’s managed database, enabling fast and scalable deployment.

Deploying with EAS Hosting completes the workflow from local development to production-ready full-stack Expo apps.

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