Neon CLI Guide

Neon is a serverless PostgreSQL platform providing instant database provisioning, branching, and scaling. This guide provides essential workflows and quick references for common Neon operations.

Quick Start

# Check Neon CLI installation
neon --version

# Authenticate with Neon
neon auth

# View current user
neon me

# List all projects
neon projects list

# Create new project
neon projects create --name myapp --region aws-us-east-1

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Create Project with Database

# Authenticate first
neon auth

# Create project
neon projects create --name myapp --region aws-us-east-1

# Get project ID (from output or list)
neon projects list

# Create database
neon databases create --branch-id <branch_id> --name app_db

# Create application role
neon roles create --branch-id <branch_id> --name app_user --password secret123

# Get connection string
neon connection-string

Workflow 2: Feature Branch Development

# Create feature branch from main
neon branches create --project-id <project_id> --name feature/new-api --parent-id <main_branch_id>

# Add compute to branch
neon branches add-compute <feature_branch_id> --size small

# Create database for feature
neon databases create --branch-id <feature_branch_id> --name app_db

# Get connection string for development
neon connection-string feature/new-api

# After testing, delete feature branch
neon branches delete <feature_branch_id>

Workflow 3: Multi-Environment Setup

# Create production branch with medium compute
neon branches create --project-id <project_id> --name production
neon branches add-compute <prod_branch_id> --size medium

# Create staging branch with small compute
neon branches create --project-id <project_id> --name staging --parent-id <prod_branch_id>
neon branches add-compute <staging_branch_id> --size small

# Create development branch
neon branches create --project-id <project_id> --name development --parent-id <prod_branch_id>

# Setup databases per environment
neon databases create --branch-id <prod_branch_id> --name app_db
neon databases create --branch-id <staging_branch_id> --name app_db
neon databases create --branch-id <dev_branch_id> --name app_db

Workflow 4: User and Role Management

# List existing roles
neon roles list --branch-id <branch_id>

# Create application user
neon roles create --branch-id <branch_id> --name app_user --password app_password

# Create read-only user
neon roles create --branch-id <branch_id> --name readonly_user --password readonly_password

# Create migration user (for deployment scripts)
neon roles create --branch-id <branch_id> --name migration_user --password migration_password

Workflow 5: Security Configuration

# View IP allowlist
neon ip-allow list --project-id <project_id>

# Add specific IP
neon ip-allow add --project-id <project_id> --ip 203.0.113.42/32

# Add IP range for organization
neon ip-allow add --project-id <project_id> --ip 192.168.1.0/24

# Create VPC endpoint for private connection
neon vpc endpoint create --project-id <project_id> --region us-east-1

Decision Tree

When to use which command:

To create a project: Use neon projects create with name and region
To create a database: Use neon databases create with branch ID
To add a user role: Use neon roles create with branch ID
To branch from main: Use neon branches create with parent ID
To get connection details: Use neon connection-string
To manage security: Use neon ip-allow for IP whitelisting
To isolate features: Use feature branches with neon branches create
To scale compute: Use neon branches add-compute with size option
For detailed command syntax: See Commands Reference
For complex scenarios: See Common Patterns
For troubleshooting: See Troubleshooting Guide

Common Patterns

Project Initialization

# Authenticate
neon auth

# Create project
neon projects create --name myapp --region aws-us-east-1

# Setup main branch database
neon databases create --branch-id <main_branch_id> --name app_db

# Create application user
neon roles create --branch-id <main_branch_id> --name app_user --password secret

# Get connection string
neon connection-string

Branching Strategy

# Create isolated development branch
neon branches create --project-id <project_id> --name dev

# Create feature branch from development
neon branches create --project-id <project_id> --name feature/auth --parent-id <dev_branch_id>

# Add small compute for feature development
neon branches add-compute <feature_branch_id> --size small

Environment-Specific Setup

# Export connection strings for each environment
export PROD_DATABASE_URL=$(neon connection-string production)
export STAGING_DATABASE_URL=$(neon connection-string staging)
export DEV_DATABASE_URL=$(neon connection-string dev)

# Use in deployment
docker run -e DATABASE_URL=$PROD_DATABASE_URL myapp:latest

Automated Cleanup

# Delete feature branches after development
neon branches list --project-id <project_id> -o json | \
  jq -r '.[] | select(.name | startswith("feature/")) | .id' | \
  xargs -I {} neon branches delete {}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues:

Cannot authenticate
- Solution: Run neon auth to complete OAuth flow
- See: Authentication Issues
Branch has no compute
- Quick fix: Run neon branches add-compute <branch_id> --size small
- See: Missing Compute on Branch
Connection timeout
- Quick fix: Add IP to allowlist neon ip-allow add --project-id <project_id> --ip <your_ip>/32
- See: Connection Timeout
Database not found
- Quick fix: Create database neon databases create --branch-id <branch_id> --name app_db
- See: Database Not Found
Project deletion fails
- Quick fix: Delete all branches except main first, then delete project
- See: Cannot Delete Project

For detailed troubleshooting steps, see the Troubleshooting Guide.

Reference Files

Load as needed for detailed information:

Commands Reference - Complete CLI command documentation with all flags and options. Use when you need exact syntax or flag details for any Neon command.
Common Patterns - Real-world patterns and workflows for project setup, multi-environment configuration, feature branching, role management, IP allowlisting, and scripting examples. Use for implementing specific workflows or automating operations.
Troubleshooting Guide - Detailed error messages, diagnosis steps, and resolution strategies for authentication, projects, branches, databases, roles, connections, and security issues. Use when encountering errors or unexpected behavior.

When to use each reference:

Use Commands Reference when you need exact syntax, flag combinations, or comprehensive command documentation
Use Common Patterns for implementing multi-environment setups, feature branch workflows, or scripting automation
Use Troubleshooting when projects won't create, branches lack compute, connections time out, or you encounter permission issues

neon-cli