Modern web applications often require the ability to manage and interact with complex relational data — whether for handling users, organizations, events, or various forms of user interactions. This article demonstrates how to efficiently store and query relational data using Prisma ORM within a SvelteKit application.

The structure and patterns shown here are ideal for apps such as church platforms, event management systems, or any solution that depends on scalable, well-structured data relationships.

Use Case Example: Church Platform

To make it practical, let’s say I’m building a basic structure for a church management system:

• User: a person who logs into the app

• Church: an organization that users belong to

• Event: something the church hosts (like a service or meeting)

• Attendance: a record of users attending events

Step 1: Setting Up Prisma in SvelteKit:

Then I create a helper to access Prisma in src/lib/server/prisma.ts:

Step 2: Define the Prisma Schema

In prisma/schema.prisma, I define the models like this:

Then I run the migration:
npx prisma migrate dev --name init

Step 3: Seeding Some Data (Optional)

For quick testing, I seed the database with a script:

Run it with:

Step 4: Querying Relational Data in the App:
In src/routes/dashboard/+page.server.ts, I fetch the data like this:

And in the page component (+page.svelte):

<script lang="ts">  export let data;</script>{#each data.churches as church}  <h2>{church.name}</h2>  <h3>Users:</h3>  <ul>    {#each church.users as user}      <li>{user.name} ({user.email})</li>    {/each}  </ul>  <h3>Events:</h3>  {#each church.events as event}    <div>      <strong>{event.title}</strong> – {new Date(event.date).toLocaleDateString()}      <ul>        {#each event.attendances as attendance}          <li>{attendance.user.name} attended on {new Date(attendance.createdAt).toLocaleString()}</li>        {/each}      </ul>    </div>

Why I Use This Setup

This structure lets me:

• Keep data normalized and fast to query

• Easily show nested data in the UI

• Handle complex logic like filtering attendances or grouping events by church

• Maintain clean code with Prisma’s type safety

Whether I’m building an app for a church, a client, or an internal tool, SvelteKit + Prisma helps me move fast while staying organized.