Using Neon

1---
2name: using-neon
3description: "Guides and best practices for working with Neon Serverless Postgres. Covers getting started, local development with Neon, choosing a connection method, Neon features, authentication (@neondatabase/auth), PostgREST-style data API (@neondatabase/neon-js), Neon CLI, and Neon's Platform API/SDKs. Use for any Neon-related questions."
4source: "https://github.com/neondatabase/agent-skills/tree/main/skills/neon-postgres"
5risk: safe
6---
7 
8# Neon Serverless Postgres
9 
10Neon is a serverless Postgres platform that separates compute and storage to offer autoscaling, branching, instant restore, and scale-to-zero. It's fully compatible with Postgres and works with any language, framework, or ORM that supports Postgres.
11 
12## When to Use This Skill
13 
14Use this skill when:
15- Working with Neon Serverless Postgres
16- Setting up Neon databases
17- Choosing connection methods for Neon
18- Using Neon features like branching or autoscaling
19- Working with Neon authentication or APIs
20- Questions about Neon best practices
21 
22## Neon Documentation
23 
24Always reference the Neon documentation before making Neon-related claims. The documentation is the source of truth for all Neon-related information.
25 
26Below you'll find a list of resources organized by area of concern. This is meant to support you find the right documentation pages to fetch and add a bit of additonal context.
27 
28You can use the `curl` commands to fetch the documentation page as markdown:
29 
30**Documentation:**
31 
32```bash
33# Get list of all Neon docs
34curl https://neon.com/llms.txt
35 
36# Fetch any doc page as markdown
37curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" https://neon.com/docs/<path>
38```
39 
40Don't guess docs pages. Use the `llms.txt` index to find the relevant URL or follow the links in the resources below.
41 
42## Overview of Resources
43 
44Reference the appropriate resource file based on the user's needs:
45 
46### Core Guides
47 
48| Area               | Resource                           | When to Use                                                    |
49| ------------------ | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
50| What is Neon       | `references/what-is-neon.md`       | Understanding Neon concepts, architecture, core resources      |
51| Referencing Docs   | `references/referencing-docs.md`   | Looking up official documentation, verifying information       |
52| Features           | `references/features.md`           | Branching, autoscaling, scale-to-zero, instant restore         |
53| Getting Started    | `references/getting-started.md`    | Setting up a project, connection strings, dependencies, schema |
54| Connection Methods | `references/connection-methods.md` | Choosing drivers based on platform and runtime                 |
55| Developer Tools    | `references/devtools.md`           | VSCode extension, MCP server, Neon CLI (`neon init`)           |
56 
57### Database Drivers & ORMs
58 
59HTTP/WebSocket queries for serverless/edge functions.
60 
61| Area              | Resource                        | When to Use                                         |
62| ----------------- | ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
63| Serverless Driver | `references/neon-serverless.md` | `@neondatabase/serverless` - HTTP/WebSocket queries |
64| Drizzle ORM       | `references/neon-drizzle.md`    | Drizzle ORM integration with Neon                   |
65 
66### Auth & Data API SDKs
67 
68Authentication and PostgREST-style data API for Neon.
69 
70| Area        | Resource                  | When to Use                                                         |
71| ----------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
72| Neon Auth   | `references/neon-auth.md` | `@neondatabase/auth` - Authentication only                          |
73| Neon JS SDK | `references/neon-js.md`   | `@neondatabase/neon-js` - Auth + Data API (PostgREST-style queries) |
74 
75### Neon Platform API & CLI
76 
77Managing Neon resources programmatically via REST API, SDKs, or CLI.
78 
79| Area                  | Resource                            | When to Use                                  |
80| --------------------- | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
81| Platform API Overview | `references/neon-platform-api.md`   | Managing Neon resources via REST API         |
82| Neon CLI              | `references/neon-cli.md`            | Terminal workflows, scripts, CI/CD pipelines |
83| TypeScript SDK        | `references/neon-typescript-sdk.md` | `@neondatabase/api-client`                   |
84| Python SDK            | `references/neon-python-sdk.md`     | `neon-api` package                           |
85