Project of the Week: Prisma

Lightning-fast reviews: the ORM that's winning the collaboration game. Introduction Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a wildly successful database tool? Prisma isn't just another ORM; it's a powerful type-safe solution widely adopted by TypeScript developers. With over 42,000 GitHub stars and a thriving ecosystem, Prisma has become the go-to solution for developers who'd rather focus on building features than fighting with database queries. We dove into Prisma's collaboration metrics on collab.dev and discovered a team that moves at startup speed while maintaining enterprise-grade quality. Let's peek behind the curtain of one of open source's most impressive review cultures! Notable Findings from Collaboration Data Exceptional Review Process Review Coverage Rate: Prisma's team demonstrates an impressive review culture. Our analysis shows a 100% review coverage rate, meaning every single PR gets reviewed before merging. This is significantly higher than many other projects and indicates a strong commitment to code quality. Median Review Turnaround: The median review turnaround time is just 15 minutes and 15 seconds, with 63.4% of PRs reviewed within 1 hour and 88.2% reviewed within 24 hours. This quick feedback cycle likely helps maintain momentum for contributors. Balanced Contribution Sources Community Contribution: Prisma shows a healthy mix of contribution sources: 38% of PRs come from the core team 31% come from community contributors 31% come from automated bots This balanced distribution suggests that Prisma has successfully fostered an active community while maintaining core team involvement. The significant percentage of community PRs indicates that the project is accessible to external contributors. Efficient Merge Process Merge Time: Once a PR is approved, the Prisma team moves quickly to merge changes. Their median merge time is just under 8 hours (7h 55m 5s), which is relatively fast for a project of this size. The merge decision time (time between the final review and merge) is only 52 minutes, showing an efficient workflow. Prisma vs. Drizzle As TypeScript-native ORMs competing in the same ecosystem, Prisma and Drizzle make for an illuminating comparison, revealing how similar technical projects can adopt radically different collaboration models with measurable impacts on contributor experience. Metric Prisma Drizzle Difference Review Turnaround 15 minutes 3+ days ~300× faster Review Coverage 100% 23% 77% higher Core Team PRs 38% 60% 22% less reliance Community PRs 31% 40% 9% difference Bot PRs 31% 0% 31% more automation Median Merge Time 8 hours 7 days 21× faster The stark differences highlight two distinct approaches to open source maintenance. Prisma's rapid review cycle, balanced contribution sources, and heavy automation enable a feedback loop that's measured in hours rather than weeks. This likely creates a fundamentally different contributor experience—one where momentum is maintained and community engagement is encouraged through quick response times. Meanwhile, Drizzle's core-team focused approach may offer different advantages, such as more concentrated technical direction and potentially deeper reviews, albeit at the cost of velocity. Prisma's Blueprint: Speed, Balance, and Community at Scale Prisma's collaboration metrics reveal a project with a mature, efficient development process that balances community involvement with quality control. Their exceptional review coverage and quick turnaround times set a high standard for open source projects. To explore Prisma's collaboration metrics in more detail, check out their project page on collab.dev. Want to see metrics for your own public repositories? Visit collab.dev Learn more about us at pullflow.com

May 2, 2025 - 16:37

Lightning-fast reviews: the ORM that's winning the collaboration game.

Introduction

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a wildly successful database tool? Prisma isn't just another ORM; it's a powerful type-safe solution widely adopted by TypeScript developers. With over 42,000 GitHub stars and a thriving ecosystem, Prisma has become the go-to solution for developers who'd rather focus on building features than fighting with database queries.

We dove into Prisma's collaboration metrics on collab.dev and discovered a team that moves at startup speed while maintaining enterprise-grade quality. Let's peek behind the curtain of one of open source's most impressive review cultures!

Notable Findings from Collaboration Data

Exceptional Review Process

Review Coverage Rate: Prisma's team demonstrates an impressive review culture. Our analysis shows a 100% review coverage rate, meaning every single PR gets reviewed before merging. This is significantly higher than many other projects and indicates a strong commitment to code quality.

Median Review Turnaround: The median review turnaround time is just 15 minutes and 15 seconds, with 63.4% of PRs reviewed within 1 hour and 88.2% reviewed within 24 hours. This quick feedback cycle likely helps maintain momentum for contributors.

Balanced Contribution Sources

Community Contribution: Prisma shows a healthy mix of contribution sources:

38% of PRs come from the core team
31% come from community contributors
31% come from automated bots

This balanced distribution suggests that Prisma has successfully fostered an active community while maintaining core team involvement. The significant percentage of community PRs indicates that the project is accessible to external contributors.

Efficient Merge Process

Merge Time: Once a PR is approved, the Prisma team moves quickly to merge changes. Their median merge time is just under 8 hours (7h 55m 5s), which is relatively fast for a project of this size. The merge decision time (time between the final review and merge) is only 52 minutes, showing an efficient workflow.

Prisma vs. Drizzle

As TypeScript-native ORMs competing in the same ecosystem, Prisma and Drizzle make for an illuminating comparison, revealing how similar technical projects can adopt radically different collaboration models with measurable impacts on contributor experience.

Metric	Prisma	Drizzle	Difference
Review Turnaround	15 minutes	3+ days	~300× faster
Review Coverage	100%	23%	77% higher
Core Team PRs	38%	60%	22% less reliance
Community PRs	31%	40%	9% difference
Bot PRs	31%	0%	31% more automation
Median Merge Time	8 hours	7 days	21× faster

The stark differences highlight two distinct approaches to open source maintenance. Prisma's rapid review cycle, balanced contribution sources, and heavy automation enable a feedback loop that's measured in hours rather than weeks. This likely creates a fundamentally different contributor experience—one where momentum is maintained and community engagement is encouraged through quick response times.

Meanwhile, Drizzle's core-team focused approach may offer different advantages, such as more concentrated technical direction and potentially deeper reviews, albeit at the cost of velocity.

Prisma's Blueprint: Speed, Balance, and Community at Scale

Prisma's collaboration metrics reveal a project with a mature, efficient development process that balances community involvement with quality control. Their exceptional review coverage and quick turnaround times set a high standard for open source projects.

To explore Prisma's collaboration metrics in more detail, check out their project page on collab.dev.
Want to see metrics for your own public repositories? Visit collab.dev
Learn more about us at pullflow.com