feat(engine): the loader tells a config file where it is

[wmadden-electric]

At a glance

// prisma.config.ts, unchanged for users
export default definePrismaConfig({
  orm: ormConfig({ contract: './contract.prisma', migrations: { dir: './migrations' } }),
});

While the engine's loader evaluates this file it publishes the file's directory through an AsyncLocalStorage kept on globalThis under Symbol.for('prisma.config.baseDir'). ormConfig reads it as it runs and resolves its own paths, so the section a command receives already holds absolute paths and the directory they were resolved against:

// what the orm command family receives, wherever the command ran from
{ baseDir: '/app', contract: { output: '/app/contract.json', ... }, migrations: { dir: '/app/migrations' } }

The decision

A relative path inside prisma.config.ts is relative to that file. The loader is the one party that knows which file it is evaluating, so it tells the file, and the family's config helper, the one party that knows which of its fields are paths, resolves them on the spot. The engine never learns what a section contains, and config authors write nothing new. The full design, the layering constraint, and the rejected alternatives are in ADR 253 in prisma/orm.

The bug this fixes

The engine handed sections over exactly as written and nothing told a command family which file they came from. The ORM's commands resolved their paths against ctx.cwd. Verified with prisma 8.0.0-rc.13 and @prisma/orm-toolchain 8.0.0-rc.8:

exp/
  sub/
    prisma.config.ts   # contract: './contract.prisma'
    contract.prisma

From exp/sub, prisma contract emit --config ./prisma.config.ts writes exp/sub/contract.json. From exp, prisma contract emit --config ./sub/prisma.config.ts fails with CONTRACT.SOURCE_LOAD_FAILED looking for exp/contract.prisma.

What changes

• withBaseDir(dir, evaluate) runs evaluate inside an AsyncLocalStorage scope carrying dir; baseDir() reads it. Both are exported, with the key as BASE_DIR_KEY, for any other loader or helper; a family package can also reach the store without importing the engine, since the key is Symbol.for. It is an AsyncLocalStorage rather than a plain value so evaluations that overlap in one process, such as a language server loading several projects, each see their own directory. Only withBaseDir creates the store; baseDir() reads it if present, so a family helper needs neither the engine nor node:async_hooks to read it and runs under any runtime.
• The loader wraps each chain file's evaluation in withBaseDir(dirname(path), ...). Since prisma.config.ts is discovered up to the repo root and merged, most local value winning #233 the loader discovers and evaluates the chain itself, one file at a time, so every file on the chain sees its own directory; a parent config's ./migrations resolves under the parent, a child's under the child, before the two are merged.
• Engine version. prisma.config.ts is discovered up to the repo root and merged, most local value winning #233 already moved the engine to 0.5.0, which is not on the registry yet, so this change ships under it; check-engine-version passes.

Nothing changes in the command context, definePrismaConfig, or any user's config file.

Tests

• withBaseDir: publishes the directory during the evaluation and clears it after; restores the outer directory after a nested evaluation; keeps two overlapping evaluations apart; clears it when the evaluation throws.
• loadConfig: a fixture whose section reads the store as it runs comes back with the fixture's directory, both discovered and named with a relative --config from another cwd; on a two-file discovery chain each file records its own directory; the store is empty once the files have been read.
• The main export surface test lists the three new exports.

pnpm --filter @prisma/cli-engine test: 38 files, 937 tests, rebased on #233. Repository typecheck and lint pass.

Consumer side

prisma/orm#30328 makes ormConfig read the slot and resolve its paths, has the ORM's own loader publish the slot the same way, and refuses a section that reaches a command without baseDir. It merges independently; once this engine ships, the unified CLI resolves the ORM's paths correctly.

Status and release order

An engine version bump trips the conformance check until the mounted product packages peer on 0.5.0, and they cannot until 0.5.0 is published. The sequencing of that window (ADR 0004) is an operator call.

This engine must ship before the ORM toolchain that depends on it. The ORM's validator refuses a section without baseDir, so an @prisma/orm-toolchain release carrying prisma/orm#30328 mounted by a shell still on engine 0.4.0 would fail every ORM command for every user.

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• packages/cli-engine/src/config-base-dir.ts
• packages/cli-engine/src/config-loader.ts
• packages/cli-engine/src/exports/index.ts
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• packages/cli-engine/tests/engine.test.ts
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• packages/cli-engine/tests/fixtures/config/base-dir/prisma.config.ts

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---

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features
  • Configuration files can now access their own directory while loading.
  • Relative paths in configuration sections resolve against the file that defines them.
  • Added public helpers for reading and temporarily publishing the active configuration directory.

Walkthrough

The CLI engine adds async-local base-directory tracking through baseDir and withBaseDir. Each config file is evaluated with its own directory published in the store. The helpers are publicly exported. Tests cover nested, concurrent, and failing evaluations, direct config loading, discovery chains, and the expanded export surface.

Priority: ➖ Normal

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 63.64% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 11 functions across 15 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: the config loader provides each config file with its own directory.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description directly explains the loader, AsyncLocalStorage scope, exported APIs, path-resolution behavior, tests, and release dependency.

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🔵 Trivial · Add a server-command config propagation regression test. · engine.ts:724-749

packages/cli-engine/src/execution/engine.ts:724-749
🎯 Functional Correctness | 🔵 Trivial | ⚡ Quick win

Add a server-command config propagation regression test.

The existing config tests use defineCommand, and the server tests do not declare needs.config or assert io.config and io.configFile. They would pass if executeServer omitted, nulled, or mis-forwarded needsOutcome.configFile.

Add a defineServerCommand test with needs.config, a deterministic loader, and exact assertions for both values. Do not use --config; server commands do not inject shared flags.

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In `@packages/cli-engine/src/execution/engine.ts` around lines 724 - 749, Add a
regression test for executeServer using defineServerCommand with needs.config
and a deterministic config loader, without passing --config. Assert that the
handler receives the exact expected values through io.config and io.configFile,
covering propagation from needsOutcome.config and needsOutcome.configFile.

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Outside diff comments:
In `@packages/cli-engine/src/execution/engine.ts`:
- Around line 724-749: Add a regression test for executeServer using
defineServerCommand with needs.config and a deterministic config loader, without
passing --config. Assert that the handler receives the exact expected values
through io.config and io.configFile, covering propagation from
needsOutcome.config and needsOutcome.configFile.

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• packages/cli-engine/src/commands.ts
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• packages/cli-engine/src/execution/command-context.ts
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[wmadden-electric]

Closing in favour of a schema-driven design: defineConfigSection({ name, schema }) with a path keyword, the engine loader validating and resolving path fields per chain file from the declaration. No ambient base directory, no per-family resolution code. A fresh PR follows.