diff --git a/templates/create/_shared/service.ts.hbs b/templates/create/_shared/service.ts.hbs
index 1a7d6bea..60b0b6ed 100644
--- a/templates/create/_shared/service.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/_shared/service.ts.hbs
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ export default compute({
 {{else if (eq template "turborepo")}}
   build: node({ module: import.meta.url, entry: "./apps/server/dist/server.mjs" }),
 {{else if (eq template "svelte")}}
-  build: node({ module: import.meta.url, dir: "./build", entry: "index.js" }),
+  build: node({ module: import.meta.url, dir: "./build", entry: "index.js", dependencies: "external" }),
 {{else if (eq template "astro")}}
-  build: node({ module: import.meta.url, dir: "./dist", entry: "server/entry.mjs" }),
+  build: node({ module: import.meta.url, dir: "./dist", entry: "server/entry.mjs", dependencies: "external" }),
 {{else if (eq template "nuxt")}}
   build: node({ module: import.meta.url, dir: "./.output", entry: "server/index.mjs" }),
 {{else if (eq template "tanstack-start")}}
diff --git a/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/db.ts.hbs b/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/db.ts.hbs
index 04adc66c..11865ef3 100644
--- a/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/db.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/db.ts.hbs
@@ -59,13 +59,3 @@ const databaseUrl = getDatabaseUrl();
 
 export const db = databaseUrl ? mongo({ contract, url: databaseUrl }) : mongo({ contract });
 {{/if}}
-
-let connection: Promise<void> | undefined;
-
-export function connectDatabase(): Promise<void> {
-  connection ??= db.connect().then(() => undefined).catch((error: unknown) => {
-    connection = undefined;
-    throw error;
-  });
-  return connection;
-}
diff --git a/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/seed.ts.hbs b/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/seed.ts.hbs
index 8ad1eb98..9f87f2e6 100644
--- a/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/seed.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/_shared/src/prisma/seed.ts.hbs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { connectDatabase, db } from "./db.ts";
+import { db } from "./db.ts";
 
 const users = [
   { email: "alice@prisma.io", username: "alice", name: "Alice" },
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ const users = [
 let pendingSeed: Promise<void> | undefined;
 
 async function runSeed(): Promise<void> {
-  await connectDatabase();
-
 {{#if (eq provider "mongo")}}
   for (const user of users) {
     const existingUser = await db.orm.users.where({ email: user.email }).first();
diff --git a/templates/create/astro/src/pages/index.astro.hbs b/templates/create/astro/src/pages/index.astro.hbs
index 3183f436..57280189 100644
--- a/templates/create/astro/src/pages/index.astro.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/astro/src/pages/index.astro.hbs
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ const formatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en", {
   timeStyle: "short",
 });
 
-const users = await listUsers(10).catch(() => undefined);
+const users = await listUsers(10).catch((error: unknown) => {
+  console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
+  return undefined;
+});
 
 ---
 
@@ -40,8 +43,8 @@ const users = await listUsers(10).catch(() => undefined);
 
         {!users ? (
           <p class="empty">
-            Could not query users yet. Run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply your schema,
-            then refresh.
+            Could not query users. Check the server log for the error. If the schema isn't
+            applied yet, run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply it, then refresh.
           </p>
         ) : users.length === 0 ? (
           <p class="empty">No users found.</p>
diff --git a/templates/create/elysia/src/index.ts.hbs b/templates/create/elysia/src/index.ts.hbs
index aec919cc..259d78cf 100644
--- a/templates/create/elysia/src/index.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/elysia/src/index.ts.hbs
@@ -16,14 +16,14 @@ const app = new Elysia({ adapter: "Bun" in globalThis ? undefined : node() })
   })
 
   .get("/users", async ({ set }) => {
-    const users = await listUsers(10).catch((error) => {
+    const users = await listUsers(10).catch((error: unknown) => {
       console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
       return undefined;
     });
 
     if (!users) {
       set.status = 500;
-      return { error: "Could not query users yet. Run contract:emit and apply your schema first." };
+      return { error: "Could not query users. Check the server log for the error." };
     }
 
     return users;
diff --git a/templates/create/hono/src/index.ts.hbs b/templates/create/hono/src/index.ts.hbs
index 0918fbe7..c8f1432f 100644
--- a/templates/create/hono/src/index.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/hono/src/index.ts.hbs
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ app.get("/", (c) => {
 });
 
 app.get("/users", async (c) => {
-  const users = await listUsers(10).catch((error) => {
+  const users = await listUsers(10).catch((error: unknown) => {
     console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
     return undefined;
   });
 
   if (!users) {
-    return c.json({ error: "Could not query users yet. Run contract:emit and apply your schema first." }, 500);
+    return c.json({ error: "Could not query users. Check the server log for the error." }, 500);
   }
 
   return c.json(users);
diff --git a/templates/create/next/next.config.ts b/templates/create/next/next.config.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 68a6c64d..00000000
--- a/templates/create/next/next.config.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-import type { NextConfig } from "next";
-
-const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
-  output: "standalone",
-};
-
-export default nextConfig;
diff --git a/templates/create/next/next.config.ts.hbs b/templates/create/next/next.config.ts.hbs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..641b6a3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/create/next/next.config.ts.hbs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import type { NextConfig } from "next";
+
+const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
+  output: "standalone",
+{{#if (eq provider "mongo")}}
+  // Turbopack's ESM interop breaks mongodb-connection-string-url, which the Mongo runtime imports.
+  serverExternalPackages: ["@prisma/orm-mongo"],
+{{/if}}
+};
+
+export default nextConfig;
diff --git a/templates/create/next/src/app/page.tsx.hbs b/templates/create/next/src/app/page.tsx.hbs
index eaf18288..06c60c07 100644
--- a/templates/create/next/src/app/page.tsx.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/next/src/app/page.tsx.hbs
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ export default async function Home() {
     dateStyle: "medium",
     timeStyle: "short",
   });
-  const users = await listUsers(10).catch(() => undefined);
+  const users = await listUsers(10).catch((error: unknown) => {
+    console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
+    return undefined;
+  });
 
   return (
     <main className="shell">
@@ -29,8 +32,8 @@ export default async function Home() {
 
         {!users ? (
           <p className="empty">
-            Could not query users yet. Run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply your schema,
-            then refresh.
+            Could not query users. Check the server log for the error. If the schema isn't
+            applied yet, run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply it, then refresh.
           </p>
         ) : users.length === 0 ? (
           <p className="empty">No users found.</p>
diff --git a/templates/create/nuxt/app/pages/index.vue.hbs b/templates/create/nuxt/app/pages/index.vue.hbs
index eee9aa12..40ea602e 100644
--- a/templates/create/nuxt/app/pages/index.vue.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/nuxt/app/pages/index.vue.hbs
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ function formatCreatedAt(value: string): string {
       </div>
 
       <p v-if="data?.error" class="empty">
-        \{{ data.error }} Run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply your schema, then refresh.
+        \{{ data.error }} If the schema isn't applied yet, run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply
+        it, then refresh.
       </p>
       <p v-else-if="!data?.users?.length" class="empty">
         No users found.
diff --git a/templates/create/nuxt/server/api/users.get.ts.hbs b/templates/create/nuxt/server/api/users.get.ts.hbs
index 9d69e5dc..462d7b3f 100644
--- a/templates/create/nuxt/server/api/users.get.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/nuxt/server/api/users.get.ts.hbs
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@ export default defineEventHandler(async () => {
         createdAt: user.createdAt ?? null,
       }))
     )
-    .catch((error) => {
+    .catch((error: unknown) => {
       console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
       return undefined;
     });
 
   if (!users) {
     return {
-      error: "Could not query users yet.",
+      error: "Could not query users. Check the server log for the error.",
       users: [],
     };
   }
diff --git a/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.server.ts.hbs b/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.server.ts.hbs
index e563deca..680962fd 100644
--- a/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.server.ts.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.server.ts.hbs
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ export const load: PageServerLoad = async () => {
         createdAt: user.createdAt ?? null,
       }))
     )
-    .catch(() => undefined);
+    .catch((error: unknown) => {
+      console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
+      return undefined;
+    });
 
   return { users };
 };
diff --git a/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.svelte.hbs b/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.svelte.hbs
index a15171b9..981ddc1c 100644
--- a/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.svelte.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/svelte/src/routes/+page.svelte.hbs
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@
 
 		{#if !data.users}
 			<p class="empty">
-				Could not query users yet. Run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply your schema, then
-				refresh.
+				Could not query users. Check the server log for the error. If the schema isn't applied
+				yet, run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply it, then refresh.
 			</p>
 		{:else if data.users.length === 0}
 			<p class="empty">No users found.</p>
diff --git a/templates/create/svelte/vite.config.ts b/templates/create/svelte/vite.config.ts
index 0ccdfa10..c0a84671 100644
--- a/templates/create/svelte/vite.config.ts
+++ b/templates/create/svelte/vite.config.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,4 @@ import { defineConfig } from "vite";
 
 export default defineConfig({
   plugins: [sveltekit({ adapter: adapter() })],
-  ssr: {
-    noExternal: true,
-  },
 });
diff --git a/templates/create/tanstack-start/src/routes/index.tsx.hbs b/templates/create/tanstack-start/src/routes/index.tsx.hbs
index 2336c281..749bdf82 100644
--- a/templates/create/tanstack-start/src/routes/index.tsx.hbs
+++ b/templates/create/tanstack-start/src/routes/index.tsx.hbs
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ const listUsers = createServerFn({ method: "GET" }).handler(async () => {
         createdAt: user.createdAt ?? null,
       }))
     )
-    .catch(() => undefined);
+    .catch((error: unknown) => {
+      console.error("Failed to query users:", error);
+      return undefined;
+    });
 });
 
 export const Route = createFileRoute("/")({
@@ -50,8 +53,8 @@ function Home() {
 
         {!users ? (
           <p className="empty">
-            Could not query users yet. Run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply your schema,
-            then refresh.
+            Could not query users. Check the server log for the error. If the schema isn't
+            applied yet, run <code>contract:emit</code> and apply it, then refresh.
           </p>
         ) : users.length === 0 ? (
           <p className="empty">No users found.</p>
diff --git a/tests/install.test.ts b/tests/install.test.ts
index c7600100..ed6258f0 100644
--- a/tests/install.test.ts
+++ b/tests/install.test.ts
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ describe("generated templates", () => {
                 expect(packageJson.scripts?.deploy).toBeUndefined();
                 expect(dbSource).toContain('Deno.env.get("DATABASE_URL")');
                 expect(dbSource).not.toContain('import service from "../../service.ts"');
-                expect(seedSource).toContain("await connectDatabase()");
+                expect(seedSource).not.toContain("connect()");
                 expect(usersSource).toContain("await seed()");
                 continue;
               }
@@ -443,8 +443,8 @@ describe("generated templates", () => {
               expect(prismaConfig.includes("nextjsBuild()")).toBe(template === "next");
               expect(tsconfig).toContain('"node"');
               expect(serviceSource).toContain("compute({");
-              expect(dbSource).toContain("export function connectDatabase()");
-              expect(seedSource).toContain("await connectDatabase()");
+              expect(dbSource).not.toContain(".connect(");
+              expect(seedSource).not.toContain("connect");
               expect(seedSource).toContain("export function seed()");
               expect(usersSource).toContain("await seed()");
               expect(
@@ -547,7 +547,11 @@ describe("generated templates", () => {
               }
               if (template === "svelte") {
                 const viteConfig = await readFile(path.join(projectDir, "vite.config.ts"), "utf8");
-                expect(viteConfig).toContain("noExternal: true");
+                expect(viteConfig).not.toContain("noExternal");
+                expect(serviceSource).toContain('dependencies: "external"');
+              }
+              if (template === "astro") {
+                expect(serviceSource).toContain('dependencies: "external"');
               }
               if (template === "nuxt") {
                 expect(packageJson.scripts?.postinstall).toBe(