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Neon CLI

The neon package is a command-line interface that lets you manage Neon — Lakebase Postgres, Object Storage, Functions, Managed Better Auth, and the AI Gateway — directly from the terminal. For the complete documentation, see Neon CLI.

The legacy neonctl package is a lightweight compatibility package that depends on this package and invokes the same CLI entry point. The implementation and build artifacts live only here.

Install the Neon CLI

npm

npm i -g neon

Requires Node.js 20.19 or higher.

Howebrew

brew install neonctl

Binary (macOS, Linux, Windows)

Download a neon-<platform> binary from the releases page, which carries one asset per platform for each neon@<version> tag.

Upgrade

npm

npm update -g neon

Requires Node.js 20.19 or higher.

Howebrew

brew upgrade neonctl

Binary (macOS, Linux, Windows)

To upgrade a binary version, download the latest binary file, as described above, and replace your old binary with the new one.

Connect

Run the following command to authenticate a connection to Neon:

neon auth

The auth command launches a browser window where you can authorize the Neon CLI to access your Neon account. Running a Neon CLI command without authenticating with neon auth automatically launches the browser authentication process.

Alternatively, you can authenticate a connection with a Neon API key using the --api-key option when running a Neon CLI command. For example, an API key is used with the following neon projects list command:

neon projects list --api-key <neon_api_key>

For information about obtaining an Neon API key, see Authentication, in the Neon API Reference.

Create a project without an account

neon claim create provisions a temporary Claimable Neon project for an agent without requiring a Neon account or opening a browser:

# Lakebase Postgres is always included
neon claim create

# Request Managed Better Auth and the Data API too
neon claim create --service auth --service data-api

When the current directory has a neon.ts, claim create also requests every service declared there. Explicit --service values are added to that set. Object Storage, Functions, and the AI Gateway are sent to the service so demand is recorded, but are reported as unavailable until the project is claimed; the CLI does not silently remove them.

The command writes:

  • a .neon context that identifies the project and Claimable Neon service;
  • an owner-only identity assertion under the CLI config directory;
  • DATABASE_URL and any granted Auth or Data API variables to .env or .env.local (disable this with --no-env-pull).

Subsequent project commands automatically exchange the assertion for a short-lived agent token and send API calls to Claimable Neon. The service decides which operations are allowed before claim.

neon claim status                 # lifecycle and transfer status
neon projects get <project-id>    # regular CLI command, same agent token
neon psql --role-name neondb_owner -- -c "select now()"
neon config plan
neon env pull --service postgres --service auth --service data-api

neon claim accept                 # create a claim code and open the transfer URL
neon claim delete --yes           # permanently delete an unclaimed project
neon claim list                   # local records, including expired
neon claim delete <project-id> --yes

status, accept, and delete take an optional project id from claim list, so a project stays manageable after its original directory is gone. list prints state (unclaimed or expired) from the identity assertion clock and the project expiry, plus project_expires_at. delete also drops a local record whose identity assertion has expired or been revoked.

neon claimable is an alias for neon claim. For local service development, set CLAIMABLE_NEON_HOST=http://localhost:8787; non-local origins must use HTTPS.

Project and branch creation

Choose the PostgreSQL version when creating a project:

neon projects create --name my-project --pg-version 18

Supported versions are 14 through 19; version 19 is available only in regions where it has been enabled.

Create a protected branch when it should not be modified or deleted by routine automation:

neon branches create --project-id <project-id> --name production --protected

Project and branch creation include connection credentials in their output by default for backward compatibility. When the output may be logged or passed to an agent, use --no-secrets to return only the created resource metadata:

neon projects create --name my-project --output json --no-secrets
neon branches create --project-id <project-id> --name preview --output json --no-secrets

The flag omits the complete connection_uris block rather than redacting one field. Retrieve a connection string separately when it is actually needed.

Enable logical replication

Enable logical replication for every endpoint in an existing project:

neon projects update <project-id> --enable-logical-replication

The CLI asks for confirmation because enabling logical replication suspends active endpoints and cannot be undone. For non-interactive automation, pass --yes explicitly:

neon projects update <project-id> --enable-logical-replication --yes

Connect with psql

The psql command

neon psql [branch] opens a psql session against a branch. It builds the connection string for the branch and launches psql — a shortcut for neon connection-string --psql. See Neon CLI commands — psql for the full reference.

neon psql                                    # default branch
neon psql main                               # a specific branch
neon psql main@2024-01-01T00:00:00Z          # point-in-time (branch@timestamp or branch@lsn)
neon psql --pooled                           # use the pooled connection

Arguments after -- are forwarded to psql:

neon psql main -- -c "SELECT version()"
neon psql main -- -f script.sql --csv

Options: --project-id, --role-name, --database-name, --pooled, --endpoint-type (read_only | read_write), --ssl, plus the global options.

The --psql flag

Several other commands accept a --psql flag that opens a psql session against the resolved endpoint:

neon connection-string --psql --project-id <id>
neon projects create --psql
neon branches create --psql

Any arguments after -- are forwarded to psql, for example:

neon cs --psql --project-id <id> -- -c "SELECT version()"
neon cs --psql --project-id <id> -- -f script.sql --csv
Embedded psql fallback

If the system has psql installed on $PATH, --psql continues to spawn the native binary — there is no behavior change for existing users.

If psql is not found on $PATH, neon now falls back to an embedded TypeScript implementation. There is nothing to install or configure; it ships with neon. This removes the "no psql binary" trap on machines (and CI runners) that don't have PostgreSQL client tools installed.

Automatic fallback is the intended path — there is normally no flag to set. The embedded implementation can also be force-selected (primarily for tests and CI, e.g. to exercise it even when a native psql is present):

  • --fallback — force the embedded implementation on connection-string, projects create, and branches create. Intentionally hidden from --help: it's a test/CI knob, not a user-facing option (the automatic fallback above is the supported behavior).
  • NEONCTL_PSQL_FALLBACK=1 — environment variable with the same effect as --fallback. Convenient for scripts and CI.

The embedded implementation is verified against a conformance suite that diffs its behavior against real PostgreSQL (14–18) and the upstream psql regression + TAP tests.

What works

REPL & scripting

  • Interactive REPL with a hand-rolled VT100 line editor (no native bindings); vi and emacs edit modes (VI_MODE psql variable)
  • Persistent command history (~/.psql_history, libreadline format)
  • ~/.psqlrc autoload (including $PGSYSCONFDIR/psqlrc and version-suffixed variants)
  • Scripted modes: -c "SQL", -f script.sql, and stdin; --single-transaction, ON_ERROR_STOP, ECHO, --echo-all
  • SINGLELINE (-S), \timing, \watch (named flags c=/i=/m=, unbounded continuous mode)

Backslash commands

  • All output formats: aligned, unaligned, wrapped, csv, json, html, asciidoc, latex, latex-longtable, troff-ms (\a \H \t \x \pset \f \C …)
  • All \d* describe commands with full upstream parity (columns, indexes, foreign keys, triggers, view definitions, sequences, RLS, replica identity, partitions, tablespaces, access methods, inheritance, FDW, stats objects, publications, subscriptions, per-column FDW options, TOAST owner)
  • \copy to/from file, PROGRAM, STDIN, STDOUT (incl. the \. EOF marker); \g / \gx / \gset / \gdesc / \gexec and \g | program pipes
  • Extended query + pipeline mode (\bind, \bind_named, \startpipeline, \parse, \sendpipeline)
  • \crosstabview, \lo_* large objects, \e/\edit (external editor), \s (history), \?/\h help, \if/\elif/\else/\endif, \set/\unset, \connect, \encoding (live SET client_encoding), \!, \cd, \prompt (incl. no-echo -), \password
  • Tab completion (~88 rules incl. live pg_settings GUC lookup, deep ALTER sub-actions, JOIN clauses, window OVER)

Connection & authentication

  • libpq-equivalent lookup precedence: argv flags > URI > PG* env vars > ~/.pgpass > pg_service.conf > libpq defaults
  • SCRAM-SHA-256 / SCRAM-SHA-256-PLUS with tls-server-end-point channel binding (channel_binding); MD5 and cleartext; require_auth
  • Multi-host failover & load balancing: target_session_attrs (any / read-write / read-only / primary / standby / prefer-standby), load_balance_hosts, DNS fan-out, hostaddr
  • Unix-domain sockets (host beginning with /); TCP keepalives (keepalives, keepalives_idle)

TLS

  • sslmode disable → verify-full; client certs in PEM or DER via sslcert / sslkey (+ sslpassword for encrypted keys, with the libpq group/world-readable-key check)
  • Trust config: sslrootcert (incl. =system with SSL_CERT_FILE / SSL_CERT_DIR), default client-cert discovery (~/.postgresql/postgresql.{crt,key}), sslcertmode
  • CRL: sslcrl and sslcrldir; ssl_min_protocol_version / ssl_max_protocol_version; sslsni
  • Direct-SSL negotiation (sslnegotiation=direct, PostgreSQL 17+, via ALPN)
What's not supported
  • GSSAPI / SSPI (gssencmode, Kerberos/SSPI auth, requirepeer). GSS transport encryption needs a native Kerberos binding, which the embedded psql deliberately avoids (pure TypeScript, zero native dependencies — the same reason the line editor is hand-rolled). node-postgres doesn't support it either, and Neon doesn't use it. gssencmode=disable / prefer are accepted; gssencmode=require is rejected with a clear error. requirepeer is parsed but a Unix-socket connection that sets it is refused (Node exposes no peer-credential API — it is not silently ignored).
  • keepalives_interval / keepalives_count — Node's socket API exposes only keepalive enable + initial delay, so these are accepted but not applied.
Known limitations
  • TLS cipher is runtime-dependent. The negotiated TLS 1.3 ciphersuite is chosen by the host runtime's TLS library from an offer byte-identical to libpq's. Under Node (OpenSSL) that is TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, matching vanilla psql; under Bun (BoringSSL) it is TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256. Both are TLS 1.3 AEAD suites with no practical security difference, and neither runtime exposes a client-side knob to steer the selection.

Configure autocompletion

The Neon CLI supports autocompletion, which you can configure in a few easy steps. See Neon CLI commands — completion for instructions.

Linking a project

neon link is a Vercel-style command that binds the current directory to a Neon project. It picks (or creates) an organization and a project and writes a .neon file ({ "orgId", "projectId", "branch" }) that subsequent commands run in this directory (or any sub-directory) pick up automatically.

link resolves what it can and verifies every identifier you pass before writing, so a .neon is never left half-written or pointing at something that doesn't exist:

  • org is inferred from the project (so --project-id alone is enough); it's omitted only when the project has no organization (personal account).
  • project is taken from --project-id (or chosen interactively).
  • branch is taken from --branch, an existing pin for the same project, or the project's branch list: one branch is pinned automatically; several prompt in a TTY, pin the default with -y, or stay unpinned for neon checkout <branch>. A project with no branches is linked without a pin and says so.

When a branch ends up pinned, link also runs env pull so the branch's Neon env vars (DATABASE_URL, …) land in a local .env. With no branch pinned there is nothing to pull, so link instead nudges you to run neon checkout. Pass --no-env-pull to skip the pull (for example when injecting env at runtime with neon-env run or neon dev).

Migrating from set-context? set-context is deprecated in favor of link (see below). It still works exactly as before for now (a raw write), it just prints a deprecation warning. The .neon branchId field is also superseded by branch (which stores the branch name when known); old branchId files are still read and are upgraded to branch the next time link/checkout writes the context.

There are two modes:

Interactive (default) — guided prompts for humans:

$ neon link
? Which organization would you like to link? › Personal Org (org-abc123)
? Which project would you like to link? › ＋ Create new project…
? Name for the new project: › my-app
? Which region should the new project run in? › AWS US East (Ohio) (aws-us-east-2)
Created project polished-snowflake-12345678 ("my-app") in aws-us-east-2.
Linked .neon:
  orgId:     org-abc123
  projectId: polished-snowflake-12345678
  branch:    main

When you link an existing project that has more than one branch, the interactive flow adds a final step to pick which branch to pin — the same ＋ Create a new branch… + list selector used by neon checkout (a single-branch project is pinned automatically, no prompt):

$ neon link
? Which organization would you like to link? › Personal Org (org-abc123)
? Which project would you like to link? › my-app (polished-snowflake-12345678)
? Which branch would you like to link? › [default] main (br-main-branch-87654321)

link --project-id … skips org and project. One branch is pinned with no prompt. Several branches in a TTY show the branch prompt; -y pins the default; no TTY leaves the pin empty for neon checkout:

$ neon link --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678
? Which branch would you like to link? › [default] main (br-main-branch-87654321)

Non-interactive (flags or --params JSON) — for scripts and CI:

# Link to an existing project (org is inferred). Pins the only branch;
# several branches prompt in a TTY, or stay unpinned without one.
neon link --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678

# Same, pin the project's default branch when several exist
neon link --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678 -y

# Same, but also pin a branch (name or id — resolved and stored as its name)
neon link --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678 --branch main

# Pin/switch the branch in the already-linked project
neon link --branch main          # alias: --branch-id

# Create a new project and link it (pins the new project's default branch)
neon link --org-id org-abc123 --project-name my-app --region-id aws-us-east-2

# Same payload, one JSON blob
neon link --params '{"orgId":"org-abc123","projectName":"my-app","regionId":"aws-us-east-2"}'

# Record just the default org (preserves any existing project/branch)
neon link --org-id org-abc123

# Forget the current context
neon link --clear

# Offline write — no API calls, no verification (see --no-checks below)
neon link --no-checks --org-id org-abc123 --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678

Every supplied identifier is checked before anything is written, with actionable errors — e.g. Project '…' not found, You don't have access to project '…', Organization '…' not found, or your API key doesn't have access to it, Project '…' belongs to organization 'A', not 'B', or Branch '…' not found in project '…'. Available branches: ….

Agents and scripts (no TTY): List, then link. neon link --help prints the same recipe.

neon orgs list --output json
neon projects list --org-id <org-id> --output json
neon link --project-id <project-id> [--branch <name> | -y]
neon link --org-id <org-id> --project-name <name> --region-id aws-us-east-2

Organization-scoped API keys cannot list user organizations (orgs list) or call the regions endpoint:

  • Pass --org-id (Neon Console → Settings) or --project-id (org is inferred from the project).
  • If the key is org-scoped and at least one project already exists, interactive link auto-detects the org from the first project and prints an informational message.
  • If no projects exist yet, interactive link errors pointing at --org-id.
  • When the regions endpoint is not allowed, interactive create falls back to a built-in static region list. Non-interactive create already requires --region-id.

Offline writes (--no-checks) — write the .neon with no API calls at all: no org inference, no existence/access verification, no env pull. Because nothing can be resolved offline, it requires both --org-id and --project-id (--branch optional, stored verbatim). Handy for scripted/CI setups or re-creating a .neon from values you already trust:

neon link --no-checks --org-id org-abc123 --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678 --branch main
set-context is deprecated

set-context is deprecated in favor of link and prints a deprecation warning (to stderr, so it never pollutes stdout or scripts). For backward compatibility its behavior is unchanged: it's still a raw, offline write of exactly the fields you pass (no org inference, no verification, no env pull), and bare set-context still clears the file. Nothing breaks today — but new work should use link, and set-context will be removed in a future major release.

How today's set-context uses map onto link:

set-context (deprecated) Recommended link equivalent
neon set-context --project-id <id> neon link --project-id <id> (infers org + verifies; pins the only branch)
neon set-context --org-id <id> neon link --org-id <id>
neon set-context --branch-id <id> neon link --branch <name|id>
neon set-context (clear) neon link --clear
a raw local write (no network) neon link --no-checks --org-id <id> --project-id <id>

The key difference: link resolves and verifies before writing (so you never get a half-written or stale .neon), whereas set-context writes whatever you give it verbatim. The closest like-for-like replacement for the old raw write is link --no-checks.

open

open launches the linked project's page in the Neon Console. It reads the closest .neon file without authenticating or calling the Neon API, so it works from any sub-directory of a linked project.

neon open

# Open a project without changing the linked context
neon open --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678

A branch pinned in .neon does not change the destination. .neon stores the branch as a name, while the Console route requires its ID; resolving it would turn this local command into an authenticated API call.

checkout

checkout [id|name] pins a branch in the local context so subsequent commands target it — it's the focused companion to link for the common "switch the branch I'm working on" case (link resolves org + project; checkout pins the branch). It resolves the branch (by name or id) against the project, then heals the .neon file: it always (re)writes projectId, branch, and orgId (when the project has one), so a .neon that was missing fields or drifted ends up complete and consistent. The branch is stored as its name when known (matching link). When orgId isn't already known (from --org-id or the existing .neon), it's looked up from the project itself.

The branch argument is optional: run neon checkout with no branch in an interactive terminal to fetch the project's branches and pick one from a list. In a non-interactive context (CI or no TTY), a branch must be passed explicitly.

Branch id vs name is detected automatically (a br-… value is treated as an id):

  • id — matched strictly by id. A non-existent id is a hard "not found" error (ids are server-assigned, so checkout never creates one).
  • name — matched by name. If the name doesn't exist, in an interactive terminal checkout offers to create it (equivalent to neon branch create --name <name>: branched from the project's default branch with a read-write compute), then checks it out. In a non-interactive context a missing name is the usual "not found" error.

The project is resolved through the standard neon chain, each entry winning over the next:

  1. --project-id <id> flag
  2. projectId from the closest .neon file (found by walking up from the current directory — see "Where .neon lives" below)
  3. If still unresolved and the API key maps to exactly one project, that project is auto-detected (same behaviour as branches and connection-string)

If none of those resolve a project, checkout prints a telling error explaining the chain above. In an interactive terminal it then offers to run neon link in the current folder so you can pick (or create) a project on the spot; once linked, it continues and pins the requested branch. In non-interactive contexts (CI or no TTY) it exits with a non-zero code and the same guidance instead of prompting.

The resolved branch is then written (by name) to the same .neon file link uses:

$ neon checkout main --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678
INFO: Checked out branch br-main-branch-87654321 on project polished-snowflake-12345678. Updated /path/to/cwd/.neon.

$ cat .neon
{
  "orgId": "org-abc123",
  "projectId": "polished-snowflake-12345678",
  "branch": "main"
}

After pinning the branch, checkout also runs env pull by default, so the branch's Neon env vars are written to your local .env and you can start building right away — the branch-first loop is just link + checkout. Pass --no-env-pull to skip it (for example when env is injected at runtime via neon-env run / neon dev, or to keep secrets out of the working tree). A pull failure never undoes the checkout: the branch stays pinned and the failure is surfaced as a warning pointing you at neon env pull (or neon deploy if a neon.ts-declared service is missing).

diff

diff [compare-branch] prints a git-style schema diff between the branch you're on and another branch — the top-level companion to checkout. It reads the branch pinned in .neon as the side under review (the +++ side) and compares it against the branch you name (the ---, reference side), so + lines are what your current branch adds on top of the reference:

# On feature/add-comments (pinned in .neon), see how it differs from main:
$ neon diff main
→ Comparing schema main → feature/add-comments
diff --neon database neondb
--- main (br-crimson-snow-12345678)
+++ feature/add-comments (br-dry-salad-87654321)
@@ -63,7 +64,8 @@
 CREATE TABLE public.users (
     id integer NOT NULL,
     email text NOT NULL,
-    created_at timestamp with time zone DEFAULT now()
+    created_at timestamp with time zone DEFAULT now(),
+    display_name text
 );
  • compare-branch is optional. Omit it to compare the current branch against its parent (neon diff answers "what did I change since branching?"). It accepts a branch name or br-… id.
  • --branch, -b <name|id> overrides the side under review instead of reading .neon — e.g. neon diff main --branch feature/checkout diffs an explicit branch against main.
  • --database, --db <name> limits the diff to one database; by default every database on the current branch is compared (each rendered as its own diff --neon database <name> block). A database missing on the reference side shows as fully added.
  • --output json|yaml emits a structured result per database ({ database, base_branch, compare_branch, has_changes, diff }) for scripting; the default renders the colorized git-style diff (respecting --no-color and non-TTY pipes).

The human-readable summary line goes to stderr and the diff body to stdout, so neon diff main > changes.patch captures just the diff. When the schemas match, diff prints No schema differences … and writes nothing to stdout. For history-aware comparisons (a branch against its own past state at a timestamp or LSN), use branches schema-diff.

env pull

env pull writes the linked branch's Neon environment variables into a local dotenv file: an existing .env if you have one, otherwise .env.local (override with --file <path>). Only Neon-managed keys are written (see the table below); any other lines in the file are preserved. The branch comes from the closest .neon file, so no --branch is needed (pass --branch <id|name> to target another branch).

What gets pulled, in precedence order:

  1. --service and/or --env, when you pass either — their union is the complete selection, ignoring neon.ts and unselected branch variables. --service adds a service's complete variable bundle; --env adds only the individual variables you name.
  2. neon.ts, when the working directory has one — the policy is the source of truth, same as neon dev and neon deploy.
  3. Everything the branch has otherwise — Postgres, Neon Auth, the Data API, and object storage read back from the branch, plus the AI Gateway. The gateway has no branch-level state to read back, so a bare env pull asks for it rather than detecting it and may mint a branch credential. To leave it out, name only what you do want with --service and/or --env.

If the gateway can't be resolved, it is dropped with a warning and the rest of the pull still lands. Gateway variables already in your file for this branch are left alone — a pull that couldn't reach the gateway is no evidence the branch has stopped having one — while ones left over from a different branch are pruned like any other stale value.

# Refresh the linked branch's vars in place
neon env pull

# Pull a specific branch into a specific file
neon env pull --branch preview --file .env.preview

# Only the AI Gateway
neon env pull --service ai-gateway

# Repeat the flag or comma-separate; -s, --service and --services are all accepted
neon env pull -s postgres -s data-api
neon env pull -s postgres,auth

# Pull one exact variable; repeat -e or comma-separate for more
neon env pull -e DATABASE_URL
neon env pull -e DATABASE_URL,NEON_AUTH_BASE_URL

# The selectors compose as a union: all Auth vars plus DATABASE_URL
neon env pull -s auth -e DATABASE_URL

Every services flag in the CLI takes those three spellings, the same value syntax, and the same service names — see config init --services.

--service Variables
postgres DATABASE_URL, DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED
auth NEON_AUTH_BASE_URL, NEON_AUTH_JWKS_URL
data-api NEON_DATA_API_URL
object-storage AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3, AWS_REGION
ai-gateway NEON_AI_GATEWAY_TOKEN, NEON_AI_GATEWAY_BASE_URL

-e, --env accepts any variable in the table plus NEON_BRANCH. It is case-sensitive and rejects unknown names rather than silently widening the pull. NEON_BRANCH is written by unscoped and service-scoped pulls because it is branch identity, not a service; an env-only pull writes it only when you select it.

--env never narrows --service: neon env pull -s postgres -e DATABASE_URL still pulls the complete Postgres bundle (DATABASE_URL, DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED, and NEON_BRANCH). The two selectors always form a union.

A scoped pull is scoped in both directions. An unscoped env pull owns the Neon-named variables: pointing a directory at a branch without Neon Auth prunes the stale NEON_AUTH_* lines. --service narrows that to the services you named, while --env narrows it to the exact keys you named, so env pull -e DATABASE_URL never touches DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED. (AWS_* is never pruned by any pull: those names collide with credentials you may set yourself, so env pull only ever writes them.)

A scoped pull also never revokes a credential. Where an unscoped pull revokes the credential it replaces, a scoped one leaves the old one live — it can't tell which other variables still use it. It says so when it happens; revoke it in the Neon Console if nothing does.

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY must be selected together. Neon issues them as one object-storage credential; pulling only one would pair a fresh half with whatever old half remains in the file.

Naming a service the branch does not have is an error, not an empty pull:

--service auth: branch br-snowy-frost-12345 has no Neon Auth integration, so there are no
auth env vars to pull. Provision it first (`neon deploy`, `neon config apply`, or the Neon
Console), or drop auth from --service.

link, checkout, and config apply invoke env pull automatically (see above). Those bundled pulls follow rules 2 and 3 above without the implied AI Gateway: minting a credential for a service you never named isn't something a side effect of another command should do. Run neon env pull to get it.

If you'd rather not keep env vars on disk, inject them at runtime instead with neon-env run -- <your dev command> (from @neon/env) or neon dev, and pass --no-env-pull to link / checkout.

neon dev resolves the same set, by the same rules — including the AI Gateway on a branch with no neon.ts. A function running locally gets what the deployed runtime would inject into it, which is the whole point of dev; a handler that reads NEON_AI_GATEWAY_BASE_URL should not work in production and fail on your machine. dev writes nothing, but it does read your .env / .env.local to reuse the branch credential behind the AI Gateway and object storage. Without a file to read from it issues one on every start and leaves the last one live — it has nowhere to keep it, and so cannot name it to revoke it. It says so when it happens; run env pull (or just link / checkout) once and restarts reuse the credential instead.

Where .neon lives: link writes .neon into the current working directory by default. If an existing .neon is found in any parent directory, that file is reused — so commands run from a sub-directory of a linked project still pick up the project's context. To pin the location explicitly, pass --context-file <path>.

.gitignore scaffolding: when .neon is created for the first time, the CLI also makes sure a .gitignore sits alongside it listing .neon. If .gitignore doesn't exist it's created with a single .neon line; if it does exist, .neon is appended only when missing (no duplicates, your other entries are left alone). On subsequent updates to an existing .neon, .gitignore is left untouched — so if you deliberately un-ignore .neon (e.g. to commit shared context), the entry is not re-added on every command.

Config as code (config / deploy)

Describe a branch's desired state in a neon.ts policy and reconcile it from the CLI — the Neon equivalent of terraform status / plan / apply. A policy splits into a static existential set — top-level auth / dataApi toggles and the beta preview block (Functions, buckets, AI Gateway) that decide what exists — and a dynamic branch closure that tunes each branch (compute settings, TTL, protection, parent) based on the branch it's evaluated for (name, isDefault, …):

// neon.ts
import { defineConfig } from '@neon/config/v1';

export default defineConfig({
  // Static: what exists on every branch (drives the typed env).
  auth: true,
  // Dynamic: per-branch tuning only — cannot add/remove services.
  branch: (branch) => {
    if (branch.isDefault) {
      return { protected: true };
    }
    return { parent: 'main', ttl: '7d' };
  },
});
Getting a neon.ts (config init)

neon config init scaffolds the policy and installs @neon/config / @neon/env, so a project can go straight to plan / apply. It is purely local — no auth, no API calls. In an interactive terminal it asks which services the policy should declare:

? Which Neon services should neon.ts declare? (space to toggle, enter to confirm) ›
◯   Managed Better Auth
     Authentication with users and sessions stored in Postgres.
◯   Functions
     Long-running, without timeouts, and closer to your database.
◯   Object Storage
     S3-compatible blob storage that branches with your projects.
◯   AI Gateway
     All models, one API, one bill. Powered by Databricks. Not available on the Neon free plan.

Selecting nothing is a valid answer: you get the starter policy, which is also what a non-interactive run (CI, no TTY) writes. Pass --services to skip the prompt anywhere:

# Pick interactively (TTY) or take the starter policy (CI)
neon config init

# Declare services with no prompt
neon config init --services auth,functions,object-storage,ai-gateway

# Repeat the flag instead, and shorten it — every services flag takes all three spellings
neon config init -s auth -s functions

# Explicitly ask for the bare starter policy
neon config init --services none

# Scaffold but print the install command instead of running it
neon config init --no-install

Object storage is spelled object-storage here, matching env pull --service and the rest of the CLI. The old storage still works and warns; it will be removed.

Choosing Functions also writes the handler the policy points at, since source is only resolved when apply bundles it — a declared function with no file on disk fails at deploy:

// hello.ts
export default async function hello(): Promise<Response> {
  return new Response('Hello from Neon Functions');
}

An existing neon.ts (or hello.ts) is never overwritten.

Four sub-commands plus two top-level aliases drive it:

# Scaffold a neon.ts and install the config packages (local only)
neon config init

# Inspect the branch's live Neon state (read-only — never mutates)
neon config status

# `neon status` is an alias for `neon config status`
neon status

# Dry-run diff: show exactly what `apply` would change
neon config plan

# Reconcile the policy against the branch
neon config apply

# `neon deploy` is an alias for `neon config apply`
neon deploy

Project & branch resolution follows the same chain as the rest of the CLI, each entry winning over the next:

  1. --project-id <id> flag
  2. projectId from the closest .neon file (found by walking up from the current directory — see "Where .neon lives" above)
  3. If still unresolved and the API key maps to exactly one project, that project is auto-detected

The branch is chosen with --branch <id|name>; without it the project's default branch is used. The policy itself is found by walking up from the current directory for a neon.ts, or pass --config <path> to point at one explicitly.

Apply-only flags (also available on deploy):

  • --update-existing — auto-confirm overriding existing remote settings on the branch. Without it, drift on settings already present remotely (compute, TTL, protected) is reported as a conflict and apply makes no changes until you resolve it or pass this flag.
  • --allow-protected — auto-confirm applying to a branch Neon marks as protected. Without it, apply refuses to touch a protected branch.

Output: status prints the project, branch, and reverse-engineered config. plan / apply render a git diff-style report (matching neon diff): service changes (Neon Auth, Data API, buckets, functions) list as green + additions, while branch setting changes (TTL, protected, compute) show grouped under a ~ <branch> header, one sorted field → value line each. A bare apply that hits drift on settings already present remotely prints those as a sorted before→after diff (current → desired, old in red / new in green) and exits non-zero until you pass --update-existing. Pass --output json (or --output yaml) to emit the full machine-readable result (PushResult) instead, for piping into other tools or CI.

config status --current-branch (alias neon status --current-branch) prints only the branch pinned in the local .neon file — no network, no auth, no analytics — and exits non-zero when none is pinned. This behavior lets it safely drive a shell prompt. Example starship segment:

[custom.neon]
description = "Current Neon database branch"
format = "[$symbol$output]($style) "
style = "bold green"
# `symbol` below uses a Nerd Font glyph; swap it for a plain
# label/emoji if you don't have a Nerd Font installed.
symbol = " "
command = "neon status --current-branch"
# Starship evaluates this on EVERY prompt render. To keep prompts instant
# everywhere outside a Neon project, do a zero-subprocess walk-up for an
# ancestor `.neon` first (the same walk the CLI does, stopping at $HOME and /).
# Only when one is found do we invoke the CLI, whose exit code is the real
# gate: non-zero (no branch pinned) hides the segment cleanly.
when = '''
d="$PWD"
while [ "$d" != "$HOME" ] && [ "$d" != / ]; do
  if [ -e "$d/.neon" ]; then
    neon status --current-branch >/dev/null 2>&1
    exit $?
  fi
  d=$(dirname "$d")
done
exit 1
'''
# CI gate: fail the build if the branch has drifted from the policy
neon config plan --project-id polished-snowflake-12345678 --output json

# Reconcile a feature branch, overriding any manual tweaks made in the console
neon deploy --branch my-feature --update-existing

Function deploys declared under preview.functions are bundled by neon's own esbuild helper and uploaded as part of apply, so the policy stays declarative and the packaged CLI never has to embed esbuild's native binary.

When a package cannot be bundled — a native addon with no esbuild loader, or an optional peer dependency a library references on an untaken code path — list it in that function's externalPackages and the bundler leaves the import alone. neon dev honours the same list. It does not make the package resolvable in the deployed archive (there is no node_modules next to the bundle), so it only unblocks an import that is never evaluated — a dependency the handler actually calls has to be bundled, and a natively-backed one cannot be. See @neon/config.

Scaffold a project (bootstrap)

neon bootstrap copies a Neon starter template into a new (or current) directory — conceptually like degit, but it only pulls from a small set of templates we maintain in the public neondatabase/examples repo. The template copy needs no Neon login: it downloads files from GitHub.

After scaffolding, an interactive terminal asks about dependency install, git, agent tooling (the Neon plugin, or skills and MCP separately — never both), and neon link before running those steps. Dependency install is last, except when the template has a neon.ts and you chose to link — then install runs first so link can pull env. --default / -y skips the template, install, git, and agent pickers, then installs agent tooling for project folders, else the host CLI agent. If none are found, it exits: pass --agent <name>, run from a supported agent, or omit --default / -y in a terminal to pick. --agent / -a names coding agents, skips agent selection, and is forwarded to plugins, or to skills and mcp, not both. link --yes still asks for a project unless one is already linked. --no-agent-setup and --no-link skip those. Non-interactive without --default prints next steps and does not install, set up agents, or link.

Pass a target directory (or . for the current one). In an interactive terminal you pick the template from a list; in CI / non-interactive contexts pass --template <id>.

# Pick a template interactively and scaffold it into ./my-app
$ neon bootstrap my-app

# Scaffold a specific template into the current directory (skips the template picker)
$ neon bootstrap . --template hono

# Skip agent selection; install the plugin for those agents
$ neon bootstrap my-app --agent cursor --agent claude-code

# List templates
$ neon bootstrap --list-templates

# Machine-readable catalog
$ neon bootstrap --list-templates --output json

The target directory must be empty unless you pass --force (a lone .git is ignored, so a freshly git inited folder is fine). Symlinks and executable bits in the template are preserved.

Set up a project (init)

neon init sets up this directory for Neon.

An empty directory (nothing except .git) runs neon bootstrap . and stops. With -y that is neon bootstrap . --default. Bootstrap handles scaffolding, agent tooling, and linking. Interactive bootstrap prints a NEON banner, asks every setup question, then runs the work — dependency install last, except when a neon.ts needs deps before link.

An existing app installs agent tooling, then neon link unless .neon already has a projectId, then neon config init. Interactive config init opens the services picker; -y uses --services none (starter policy).

In an interactive terminal it offers one of: the Neon plugin (neon plugins), skills and MCP separately (neon skills, then neon mcp), or skip agent setup. It never runs plugin and skills+MCP together.

$ neon init
$ neon init -y
$ neon init --agent cursor --agent claude-code

Without a TTY, pass -y. --agent skips agent selection but does not replace -y for link or templates.

-y skips the template picker and the agent-setup offer. Empty dir: bootstrap --default. Existing app: plugin when Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex is in project folders, else the host CLI agent; otherwise skills and MCP. If none are found, it exits: pass --agent <name>, run from a supported agent, or omit -y in a terminal to pick. VS Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, and Grok only take the plugin user-level (neon plugins --global), so -y uses skills and MCP for those.

--agent / -a (repeatable) names coding agents and skips agent selection, interactive or with -y. Init forwards those names to plugins, or to skills and mcp, not both.

-y forwards -y to plugins or skills/mcp, --default to bootstrap, --yes to link, and --services none to config init. --agent is forwarded with them. mcp -y is the global install. link --yes only skips the "already linked" confirmation; it still asks for a project unless one is already linked.

A failed step stops the rest. --profile and --config-dir are forwarded to each child. --output json and --output yaml are refused; the commands init runs print their own output.

skills needs Node.js 22.20 or newer. See bootstrap, plugins, skills, link, and mcp for what those commands write.

Install the Neon MCP server (mcp)

neon mcp writes the hosted Neon MCP server (https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp) into coding-agent config files.

# Interactive: global or project, then agents, then API key or OAuth, then confirm.
$ neon mcp

# Skip prompts. Global config, installed apps else the host CLI agent, reuse or mint an API key.
$ neon mcp -y

# OAuth: no API key minted. The agent prompts for Neon sign-in on first use.
$ neon mcp --oauth

# Named agents.
$ neon mcp --agent cursor --agent claude-code

# Project-level config. A minted key is still account-wide unless a project is pinned.
$ neon mcp --project

# Hide write tools. Does not change the minted key.
$ neon mcp --read-only

# Pin MCP tools to one project. A newly minted API key is limited to that project.
$ neon mcp --project-id <project-id>

# Limit which tool categories are visible.
$ neon mcp --category querying --category schema

On a TTY the command asks for config location (global is the default), then agents, then API key vs OAuth, then a summary to confirm before it writes. Detected agents start selected: globally installed agents or project-folder markers such as .cursor when the install is project.

-y skips those questions. neon mcp -y writes https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp into global config for globally installed apps, else the host CLI agent, reuses an existing Neon MCP API key or mints an account-wide key, leaves write tools enabled, exposes every tool category, and does not pin a project (including from .neon). --agent, --project, --oauth, --read-only, --project-id and --category still apply with -y. --read-only and --category are flags only and are never prompted. A linked project-folder install asks whether to pin MCP tools to that .neon project (?projectId=). If you pin and selected API-key auth, the minted key is limited to that project too. An unlinked project folder does not ask. Global installs never add that param unless you pass --project-id. Without a TTY, pass -y to mint into every detected agent, --agent <name> to name them, or --oauth to write the URL only. If -y finds no agent, it exits: pass --agent <name>, run from a supported agent, or omit -y in a terminal to pick. neon mcp --help lists the server URL, those -y defaults, the supported agent names, and the --category values.

Supported agents: antigravity, cline, cline-cli, claude-code, codex, cursor, gemini-cli, goose, github-copilot-cli, grok-build, mcporter, opencode, vscode, windsurf, zed. Project installs drop antigravity, cline, cline-cli, goose and windsurf. claude-desktop is a known name that is then skipped.

The default mints an account-wide API key (or reuses the Bearer already configured for Neon at https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp) and writes it into each selected agent's config. That key reaches everything the account can, in every organization. Revoke it with neon api-keys revoke <id>. --oauth writes the URL with no Authorization header; the agent signs in on first use. --project writes into the project config (.cursor/mcp.json and similar). --read-only adds ?readonly=true. --project-id adds ?projectId= and, when a key is minted, limits that key to the named project. Accepting the linked-project pin does the same. Revoke a project-scoped key with neon api-keys revoke <id> --org-id <org>. A reused Bearer keeps the scope it already has. --category adds ?category= (repeatable or comma-separated: projects, branches, schema, querying, neon_auth, data_api, observability, docs). --read-only and --category restrict which MCP tools the server exposes; they do not change what the minted key can do.

Install Neon agent skills (skills)

neon skills installs Neon agent skills by running npx skills add. It does not call the Neon API. This command needs Node.js 22.20 or newer. The rest of the CLI supports Node.js 20.19 or newer.

# Interactive: this directory, then agents, then skills, then confirm.
$ neon skills

# Skip prompts. This directory, detected agents (project folders, else the host CLI agent), the default skills.
$ neon skills -y

# Named skills into detected agents.
$ neon skills -y -s neon -s neon-ai-gateway

# Named skills into a named agent.
$ neon skills -s neon -s neon-ai-gateway --agent cursor

# User-level skills.
$ neon skills --global

# Update installed skills in this directory.
$ neon skills update
$ neon skills update -y
$ neon skills update --global -y

On a TTY the command asks which agents and which skills, then shows a summary to confirm. Detected agents start selected from project-folder markers such as .cursor. Default skills start selected. neon-postgres-agent-platforms is offered and starts unselected.

-y skips those questions and installs the default skills into detected agents: project-folder markers such as .cursor, else the agent driving the CLI. --agent / -a names coding agents and skips the agent picker. --skill / -s names specific skills and skips the skill picker; it does not select agents. --global -y uses installed apps, else the host CLI agent. Without a TTY, pass -y, or --skill <name> (add --agent <name> to name agents). If -y finds no agent, it exits: pass --agent <name>, run from a supported agent, or omit -y in a terminal to pick.

--skill names by source repo: neondatabase/agent-skills (neon, neon-ai-gateway, neon-functions, neon-object-storage, neon-postgres, neon-postgres-branches, neon-postgres-egress-optimizer); neondatabase/neon-for-agent-platforms (neon-postgres-agent-platforms).

Supported agents match neon mcp, minus agents that cannot install skills: antigravity, cline, cline-cli, claude-code, claude-desktop, codex, cursor, gemini-cli, goose, github-copilot-cli, grok-build, opencode, vscode, windsurf, zed. mcporter is a known MCP name that is then skipped. neon skills --help lists the same skill and agent values, and that -y leaves out neon-postgres-agent-platforms.

Install the Neon plugin (plugins)

neon plugins installs the Neon agent plugin (neon-postgres) by running npx plugins add. It does not call the Neon API.

# Interactive: agents, then confirm.
$ neon plugins

# Skip prompts. Detected agents (project folders, else the host CLI agent).
$ neon plugins -y

# Named agents.
$ neon plugins --agent cursor --agent claude-code

# User-level install.
$ neon plugins --global

On a TTY the command asks which agents, then shows a summary to confirm. Detected agents start selected from project-folder markers such as .cursor. There is one plugin (neon-postgres); there is no plugin picker and no update subcommand.

-y skips those questions and installs into detected agents: project-folder markers such as .cursor, else the agent driving the CLI. --agent / -a names coding agents and skips the agent picker. --global -y uses installed apps, else the host CLI agent. Without a TTY, pass -y or --agent <name>. If -y finds no agent, it exits: pass --agent <name>, run from a supported agent, or omit -y in a terminal to pick.

Default scope is project. --global is user. On macOS and Linux, Cursor and Claude Code store the plugin cache under ~/.claude/plugins; on Windows, Cursor installs into Cursor extensions. project vs user is the scope field the plugins CLI records, not a directory in the repo. VS Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, and Grok Build only install user-level: they are skipped at the default scope with a warning, and a VS Code-only project fails if nothing else is selected. Pass --global for those.

Supported agents with a plugins mapping: claude-code, claude-desktop, codex, cursor, github-copilot-cli, grok-build, vscode. claude-desktop installs as Claude Code; detecting both produces one install and lists both names in the table. mcporter is a known MCP name that is then skipped.

The plugins CLI installs every plugin it finds in the Neon plugin package. Today that is neon-postgres from neondatabase/agent-skills. It includes the Neon MCP server (https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp) and these skills: neon, neon-ai-gateway, neon-functions, neon-object-storage, neon-postgres, neon-postgres-branches, neon-postgres-egress-optimizer. It does not include neon-postgres-agent-platforms.

neon plugins --help lists the plugin, those contents, and the supported agent names.

Snapshots (snapshots)

neon snapshots (alias neon snapshot) manages snapshots — point-in-time backups of a branch that you can list, rename, expire, restore into a branch, or schedule automatically. Snapshots are a Beta Neon feature and were previously only available in the Console and REST API; this command group brings them to the CLI.

Every sub-command resolves the project through the standard chain (--project-id, then the .neon context file, then a single-project auto-detect). Branch-scoped sub-commands (create, schedule) default to the branch pinned in .neon, falling back to the project's default branch, and accept --branch <id|name>. The get, update, delete, and restore sub-commands take a snapshot id or name as their positional argument (an id wins; an ambiguous name errors and asks you to use the id).

# Snapshot the head of the current/default branch
neon snapshots create --name pre-migration

# Snapshot a specific branch at a point in time (RFC 3339 timestamp OR LSN — mutually exclusive)
neon snapshots create --branch main --timestamp 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z
neon snapshots create --branch main --lsn 0/1F3C8A0 --expires-at 2025-12-31T23:59:59Z

# List / inspect
neon snapshots list
neon snapshots get pre-migration

# Rename or change expiration (omit both to error; --expires-at and --clear-expiration conflict)
neon snapshots update snap-1234 --name nightly
neon snapshots update snap-1234 --expires-at 2030-01-01T00:00:00Z
neon snapshots update snap-1234 --clear-expiration      # keep indefinitely

# Restore a snapshot to a NEW branch
neon snapshots restore snap-1234 --name recovered

# Restore ONTO an existing branch. Without --finalize the restore is left un-finalized
# so you can inspect it first, then swap it in:
neon snapshots restore snap-1234 --target-branch main
neon snapshots finalize br-restored-1234                # commit the swap
# …or do it in one step:
neon snapshots restore snap-1234 --target-branch main --finalize

# Delete
neon snapshots delete snap-1234

# Automatic snapshot (backup) schedule of a branch
neon snapshots schedule get --branch main
neon snapshots schedule set --branch main --frequency daily --hour 3 --retention 604800
neon snapshots schedule set --branch main --schedule '[{"frequency":"weekly","day":1,"hour":2},{"frequency":"daily","hour":3}]'

All sub-commands honor the global options, including --output json|yaml|table.

Database diagnostics (inspect)

neon inspect db stalled-queries takes a read-only snapshot of active queries that have run for more than 30 seconds and groups parallel workers with their leader. Oldest group first. Table output shows duration, wait event, blocking pids, role, query group, and query. --output json adds timestamps, query IDs, pids, database, and the rest of the row. A blocking pid can belong to an idle-in-transaction backend this command does not list; neon inspect db locks shows lock holders.

neon inspect db stalled-queries
neon inspect db stalled-queries --output json

Logs (logs)

neon logs reads the log records the services on a branch emit — Neon Functions, object storage, and Postgres computes. Logs require Neon Platform Beta and are currently available only for projects in aws-us-east-2.

Every sub-command resolves the project through the standard chain (--project-id, then the .neon context file, then a single-project auto-detect), and takes --branch <id|name>, defaulting to the project's default branch. logs query searches the previous hour by default; logs field-values searches the previous six hours. The maximum time window is seven days.

# The last 30 minutes on the default branch
neon logs query --since 30m

# Postgres compute errors on main, oldest first
neon logs query --branch main --source pg_endpoint --minimum-severity error --sort-order asc

# An explicit window (--start-time replaces --since; --end-time works with either)
neon logs query --start-time 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z --end-time 2025-01-01T01:00:00Z

# One request trace, across every service that took part in it
neon logs query --trace-id 4bf92f3577b34da6a3ce929d0e0e4736

# What the structured filters cannot express: a raw LogQL selection. It replaces
# them, but the window, --limit, --sort-order and --cursor still apply.
neon logs query --since 1h --logql '{entity_type="function"} |= "timeout"'

# Which fields this branch supports, and the values it has actually seen
neon logs fields
neon logs field-values service_name --since 6h --source function

A response holds at most --limit records (1–1000; default 100). When more matched, table output prints the --cursor to repeat the same query with; --output json|yaml returns is_truncated and next_cursor on the envelope instead, so nothing but the payload lands on stdout. Table output shows the common fields; use structured output for the complete records:

$ neon logs query --since 24h --output json
{
  "logs": [
    {
      "timestamp": "2025-01-01T00:00:02.000Z",
      "message": "GET /api/todos 200",
      "source": "function",
      "service_name": "api",
      "severity_text": "INFO",
      "trace_id": "4bf92f3577b34da6a3ce929d0e0e4736",
      "attributes": { "http_status": 200 }
    }
  ],
  "next_cursor": "eyJvZmZzZXQiOjEwMH0",
  "is_truncated": true
}

Two combinations are rejected before the request: --since with --start-time, and --logql with any of --source, --service-name, --scope-name, --minimum-severity, --severity-text, --body-contains or --trace-id. --minimum-severity and --severity-text are independent filters and combine with AND. If Neon reports that --minimum-severity is unsupported, use --severity-text instead; neon logs field-values severity_text lists the exact values present on a branch.

--body-contains compares a case-sensitive substring against the rendered message. Structured bodies, including object storage records, are rendered as compact JSON, so match the JSON form (for example, "http_status":200).

Profiles

The CLI holds one Neon account by default. A profile adds another, and is a pointer: a credentials file path, or the sentinel "keyring" when the secret is in the OS keyring.

~/.config/neon/
├── credentials.json          # this IS the DEFAULT profile
├── credentials.work.json     # created by `neon profile create work`
└── profiles.json             # created once a second profile exists, or DEFAULT is keyring
neon profile create work              # a browser sign-in, or an API key — see below
neon profile create work --keyring    # same, stored in the OS keyring
neon profile list
neon profile remove work
$ neon profile list
Profiles
Active  Name     Account         Auth     Credentials          Scope
*       DEFAULT  me@example.com  oauth    credentials.json     account
        work     me@example.com  api key  keyring              account
        ci       org-abc-123     api key  credentials.ci.json  project proj-1

Scope is what the credential can reach. An OAuth session and an unscoped user API key both show account. A project or org key names that project or org. Credentials is the path relative to the config directory, or keyring. A path outside the config directory is shown absolute. --output json keeps the absolute path, and also includes file (ok, invalid, missing, or unreadable) and storage (file or keyring). A keyring get of null is unreadable, not missing: the addon cannot tell those apart.

Select one per invocation with --profile, or per shell with NEON_PROFILE. There is no profile use command and nothing is stored about which profile is "current", so what you type is always what runs.

Entries in profiles.json are pointers — a path, or the exact string "keyring" — and a path may point anywhere, which is how you adopt a directory you already have without moving or re-authenticating anything:

{
  "version": 1,
  "profiles": {
    "DEFAULT": { "credentials": "keyring" },
    "work": { "credentials": "../neonctl-work/credentials.json" }
  }
}

An unreadable profiles.json fails every command that needs a profile, including a file-only DEFAULT. That file is the only record of where each account's credentials live, so the CLI will not guess past it. Fix or delete it.

neon profile remove revokes what the profile holds — an OAuth refresh token at the authorization server, or an API key this CLI minted — rather than only forgetting it locally. A key you supplied is the exception and stays live, because nothing records its id; the command says so. It asks for confirmation first, which --yes skips; without a terminal on stdin, in CI or behind a pipe, it refuses rather than prompting into the void. It deletes the credentials file only when the CLI created it: an adopted path like the one above is unlinked and left on disk, and the command says so. A keyring profile's OS item is deleted when the store confirms it is gone. If it cannot, remove still resets the profile and warns that a leftover may remain in the OS store; it is unused once the profile is gone. Removing the last named profile deletes profiles.json unless DEFAULT itself is keyring — that entry is the only record that the secret is not in credentials.json. neon profile remove DEFAULT signs you out.

Where the secret is stored

The default is a credentials file. A profile uses the OS keyring (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, Linux Secret Service) only when its profiles.json pointer is "keyring". That is per profile. Reads never migrate.

neon auth --keyring                         # sign DEFAULT into the OS keyring
neon auth --keyring --profile work          # sign work into the OS keyring
neon profile create work --keyring          # create a named profile in the keyring
neon profile remove work --yes              # drop a keyring profile, then create it again as a file

File to keyring is neon auth --keyring or neon profile create … --keyring: a new sign-in, then the previous credential is revoked and the owned file is deleted. create on an existing name always revokes after a successful write. auth revokes when it writes to the keyring, including a re-login that follows an existing pointer. auth that overwrites a file does not. Keyring to file is remove, then create or auth again. create and auth without --keyring follow an existing "keyring" pointer, so a keyring profile cannot leave the OS store until remove succeeds.

--api-key and NEON_API_KEY skip both stores. A GitHub-release neon-<platform> binary recognizes a "keyring" pointer and refuses: it cannot load the OS keyring addon. Use the npm-installed neon. Older releases treat the sentinel as a relative path.

A "keyring" pointer whose OS item cannot be read is not treated as signed-out. Commands that would otherwise open a browser fail: could not read the OS keyring item. Unlock it and retry, or run neon auth --profile DEFAULT. To reset the profile: neon profile remove DEFAULT --yes. A missing credentials.json with no profiles.json is still signed-out, and those commands start OAuth.

A profile holds either a sign-in or an API key

neon profile create makes a profile, and how you call it decides which kind of credential it holds. A key-backed profile is what you want for an agent, a shared machine, or anything that must never be interrupted by a browser:

neon profile create work                            # sign in; replaces work if it already exists
neon profile create work --keyring                  # same, stored in the OS keyring
neon profile create work --api-key "$KEY"           # store a key you already have
echo "$KEY" | neon profile create work --api-key -  # or pipe it, keeping it out of argv
neon profile create ci --mint                       # sign in once, keep only a minted key
neon profile create ci --mint --org-id org-abc-123  # minted for an organization
neon profile create ci --mint --project-id proj-1   # minted for one project only
neon profile rotate-key work                        # mint a replacement, revoke the old one

Replacing a profile revokes the credential it held, so a key this CLI minted stops working everywhere it was pasted, and an OAuth session is signed out. To keep a working profile and swap only its key, use rotate-key.

create and rotate-key print the profile they wrote, so an agent needn't follow up with list. Under --output json that is a record, and it never carries the secret:

$ neon profile create ci --mint --org-id org-abc-123 --output json
{"name":"ci","account":"org-abc-123","auth":"api key","scope":"org org-abc-123","keyId":3239771,"credentials":"/home/me/.config/neon/credentials.ci.json"}

One flag takes the key, because the shell already covers the variations: --api-key "$(cat ~/keys/work)" reads a file and --api-key "$KEY" takes a variable. Those put the key in the process arguments, where ps and shell history can see it, so --api-key - reads it from stdin instead — the usual convention for a piped value. --mint avoids the question entirely, because the key never leaves the CLI.

A profile is one kind or the other, never both. type in the credentials file states which:

// oauth: what a plain `create` (or `neon auth --profile`) writes. An absent `type` means this.
{ "access_token": "…", "refresh_token": "…", "expires_at": 1786…, "user_id": "…" }

// api_key: what `--api-key` writes
{ "type": "api_key", "api_key": "napi_…", "user_id": "…" }

// api_key from `--mint --org-id`, which records the scope it was issued at
{ "type": "api_key", "api_key": "napi_…", "key_id": 123, "org_id": "org-…" }

Nothing is carried over when a profile is replaced, so one profile can never hold two credentials — or two different accounts. The secret stays in the credentials file or the OS keyring and never goes into profiles.json, so listing profiles cannot leak one. Files are written owner-only through a temporary file and a rename, which also repairs the permissions of a file created too permissively.

--mint is the one to reach for. It signs you in through the browser once, mints a key with that session, stores only the key, and signs the session back out — so afterwards nothing about the profile can open a browser, and no half-forgotten login is left behind. --org-id and --project-id narrow what the minted key can reach, exactly as they do on neon api-keys create; a project-scoped key cannot create projects, mint keys, or read any other project.

Every key is verified against the API before it is stored, and the account it belongs to is recorded so profile list can show it. Only a real API key is accepted: an OAuth access token authenticates today and then expires with nothing to refresh it.

rotate-key mints at the scope the profile already has — replacing an org key with an account key would quietly widen everything it reaches — and stores the new key before revoking the old one, so a failed write leaves the old key working.

One thing it cannot do: an organization key cannot mint its own replacement. Neon only accepts a personal credential when creating organization keys, so rotating an org- or project-scoped profile means signing in again — neon profile create ci --mint --org-id org-abc-123. rotate-key checks this before minting and says so, rather than letting the API answer with a rule you had no reason to expect.

Two things the CLI cannot do for a key you supplied rather than minted. It cannot revoke it, because GET /api_keys exposes no prefix and a stored secret cannot be matched to a listing entry, so both rotate-key and profile remove say the old key is still live and point you at neon api-keys list. For a key you supplied it records the organization the API reports, but cannot know whether that key was narrowed to a single project — so rotate-key will not suggest an organization-wide replacement without telling you to check neon api-keys list first.

If a stored key stops working there is nothing to refresh, so recovery is one browser sign-in: neon profile create work --mint.

Which credential an invocation uses

An explicit flag always beats an environment variable:

Given What runs
--api-key and --profile neither — contradictory, so the command fails
--api-key and NEON_PROFILE the flag's key
--profile and NEON_API_KEY the profile
NEON_API_KEY and NEON_PROFILE the key, and the ignored profile is named in a warning
--profile or NEON_PROFILE alone that profile
nothing DEFAULT

Passing both flags fails rather than picking a winner: --api-key supplies a credential and --profile selects a stored one, so there is no reading of the command that makes both true.

When both are only environment variables the key wins, which keeps a CI pipeline that injects NEON_API_KEY working even if a NEON_PROFILE leaks into the environment — but the disregarded profile is named on stderr rather than passed over silently.

neon auth and the profile subcommands are outside all of this, because they read the same flags to mean something else: neon auth --profile work names where to write a credential, and neon profile create work --api-key … names one to store.

neon init forwards --profile and --config-dir to the commands it runs. An explicit --api-key is passed to those children through NEON_API_KEY, not argv.

API passthrough (api)

neon api sends an authenticated request to any Neon API route. neon api --list catalogs the routes. neon api <path> --describe prints the OpenAPI request shape for one operation so you can fill -F and -Q without guessing. Body field names are dotted to match -F.

neon api --list
neon api /projects --describe
neon api /projects -X POST --describe -o json
neon api /projects/{project_id}/branches -X POST --describe
neon api /projects/foo-bar-123/branches -X POST -F branch.name=dev

--describe does not send the selected API request. It uses the same CLI authentication as --list. -X defaults to GET; if that method is missing, the error names the methods that exist.

API keys (api-keys)

neon api-keys list                                        # your account's keys
neon api-keys list --org-id org-…                         # an organization's, with scope shown

neon api-keys create --name ci                            # account key
neon api-keys create --name ci    --org-id org-…          # organization key
neon api-keys create --name agent --project-id frosty-…   # can access only that project

neon api-keys revoke <id> [--org-id org-…]

The key is returned once, on create, and cannot be retrieved again. It prints on its own line below the metadata, so it can be selected in one gesture regardless of terminal width — and … | tail -1 on stdout yields exactly the key, since both notices go to stderr.

$ neon api-keys create --name agent --project-id proj-in-org
API key
Id       303
Name     agent
Project  proj-in-org

napi_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
WARNING: Store this key now: it is not shown again.
INFO: Limited to proj-in-org: it cannot create projects, mint API keys, or read any other project. It can still change and delete everything inside that project.

--org-id and --project-id are mutually exclusive. A project-scoped key is an organization key, and its organization is looked up from the project rather than chosen separately. With neither flag you get an account key.

Project-scoped keys

A key created with --project-id bounds what it can reach to one project. Verified against a real scoped key:

Attempt Result
Read and write its own project works
Read any other project project not found — not even an existence oracle
neon projects create project-scoped keys are not allowed to create projects
neon projects list refused
neon api-keys create / list refused (true of any organization key, not only scoped ones)
neon orgs list works — it can see the id, name and handle of the organization it belongs to
Anything else about that organization (GET /organizations/{id}, members) refused

It is not read-only. Inside its one project it can do everything the API allows, including deleting branches and the project itself — neon deploy working at all is proof of that. What it bounds is reach, which is what lets you hand it to an agent or a CI job without handing over your account:

neon link --project-id frosty-…       # once, as yourself — writes .neon
NEON_API_KEY=napi_… neon deploy       # then the agent, reaching only that project

neon link needs --project-id explicitly when using a scoped key: the interactive picker lists your projects, which a scoped key cannot do.

api-keys deliberately ignores the .neon context file, unlike every other project command. Otherwise neon api-keys create --name ci inside a linked directory would silently mint a key scoped to that project instead of the account key you asked for. How far a credential reaches comes only from a flag you typed.

Seeing what is scoped
$ neon api-keys list --org-id org-7
API keys in org-7
Id   Name      Project         Created At            Last Used At          Last Used From Addr
301  scoped    proj-in-org     2026-01-02T00:00:00Z
302  org-wide  (all projects)  2026-01-03T00:00:00Z  2026-02-03T00:00:00Z  203.0.113.9

last_used_at and last_used_from_addr are how you spot a key worth revoking.

Commands

Command Subcommands Description
auth Authenticate
claim (claimable) create, status, accept, list, delete Manage claimable projects
profile list, create, rotate-key, remove Manage named sets of credentials
api-keys list, create, revoke Manage API keys
api Call any Neon API route
projects list, create, update, delete, get Manage projects
ip-allow list, add, remove, reset Manage IP Allow
me Show current user
branches list, create, rename, add-compute, set-default, set-expiration, delete, get Manage branches
databases list, create, delete Manage databases
function deploy, list, get, delete Manage Neon Functions
roles list, create, delete Manage roles
operations list Manage operations
logs query, fields, field-values Query branch logs (Beta)
inspect db stalled-queries Inspect Postgres diagnostics
snapshots list, get, create, update, delete, restore, finalize, schedule get, schedule set Manage snapshots
connection-string Get connection string
psql Connect to a database via psql
set-context Deprecated; use link
env pull Manage a branch's env vars
checkout Pin a branch in .neon
diff Git-style schema diff vs a branch
link Link a directory to a project
open Open the linked project in Console
config init, status, plan, apply Drive a branch from neon.ts
deploy Alias for config apply
bootstrap Scaffold a template, then agent tooling and link
init Empty dir: bootstrap. Existing: agents, link, neon.ts
mcp Install the Neon MCP server
plugins Install the Neon plugin
skills update Install Neon agent skills
bucket create, list, delete, object list, object get, object put, object delete (incl. --recursive) Manage buckets and their objects
completion Generate a completion script

Global options

Global options are supported with any Neon CLI command.

Option Description Type Default
-o, --output Set the Neon CLI output format (json, yaml, or table) string table
--config-dir Path to the Neon CLI configuration directory string /home/<user>/.config/neon
--profile Named credentials to use, from profiles.json string DEFAULT
--api-key Neon API key string ""
--analytics Manage analytics boolean true
-v, --version Show the Neon CLI version number boolean -
-h, --help Show the Neon CLI help boolean -

  • -o, --output

    Sets the output format. Supported options are json, yaml, and table. The default is table. Table output may be limited. The json and yaml output formats show all data.

    neon me --output json

  • --config-dir

    Specifies the path to the neon configuration directory, which holds the credentials.json written by neon auth and, when a second profile exists or DEFAULT is keyring, profiles.json. The default is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/neon, or ~/.config/neon; run neon --help to see the resolved path. This option is only necessary if you keep your configuration somewhere else.

    The directory was called neonctl before the CLI was renamed. An existing one is still read, and is used in place — nothing is moved or copied, so there is never a second credentials file to go stale. A directory you pass explicitly is used exactly as given and never falls back to the legacy name, so pointing a CI run at a scratch directory cannot pick up local credentials.

    neon projects list --config-dir /home/dtprice/.config/neon

  • --profile

    Selects a named set of credentials, for holding more than one Neon account at a time. A profile is a pointer to a credentials file, recorded in profiles.json next to it.

    neon auth --profile work        # create it, or sign in again
neon profile list               # names, accounts, and where each one's credentials live
neon projects list --profile work
NEON_PROFILE=work neon projects list

    Precedence is --profile, then NEON_PROFILE, then DEFAULT. DEFAULT is plain credentials.json, so an install with a single account needs no profiles.json and behaves exactly as before. See Profiles to list or remove them.

  • --api-key

    Specifies your Neon API key. You can authenticate using a Neon API key when running a Neon CLI command instead of using neon auth. For information about obtaining an Neon API key, see Authentication, in the Neon API Reference.

    neon <command> --api-key <neon_api_key>

  • --analytics

    Analytics are enabled by default to gather information about the CLI commands and options that are used by our customers. This data collection assists in offering support, and allows for a better understanding of typical usage patterns so that we can improve user experience. Neon does not collect user-defined data, such as project IDs or command payloads. To opt-out of analytics data collection, specify --no-analytics or --analytics false.

  • -v, --version

    Shows the Neon CLI version number.

    $ neon --version
1.15.0

  • -h, --help

    Shows the neon command-line help. You can view help for neon, a neon command, or a neon subcommand, as shown in the following examples:

    neon --help

neon branches --help

neon branches create --help

Contribute

This repo uses pnpm. The required version is pinned in .tool-versions and package.json's packageManager field. The simplest way to get the right version is mise: mise install reads .tool-versions and installs Node and pnpm. Alternatives: npm install -g pnpm@9.15.9, or Corepack (corepack enable pnpm).

To run the CLI locally, execute the build command after making changes:

pnpm install
pnpm run build

To develop continuously:

pnpm run watch

To run commands from the local build, replace the neon command with node dist; for example:

node dist branches --help
Embedded psql tests

The embedded TypeScript psql implementation has its own conformance test suite that runs the same scripts against the embedded psql and a reference psql binary, then diffs the output.

bun run test:conformance         # run against $PSQL_BINARY (defaults to the system psql)
bun run test:conformance:matrix  # run across PG 14/15/16/17/18 locally (requires Docker)

Releasing

Maintainers: see the repository's release skill for the Changesets bump and external publish flow.

Keywords

neonneonctlclipostgresdatabaseserverless