# Neon — Serverless Postgres with Database Branching

> Serverless PostgreSQL with instant database branching, autoscaling, and a generous free tier. Branch your database like git branches — test schema changes without touching production. 16,000+ stars.

## Install

Merge the JSON below into your `.mcp.json`:

## Quick Use

1. Sign up at [neon.tech](https://neon.tech) (free tier: 0.5 GB storage, always-on)
2. Create a project and copy your connection string
3. Connect from any app:

```typescript
import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const users = await sql`SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = true`;
```

Add Neon MCP to `.mcp.json`:
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon"],
      "env": { "NEON_API_KEY": "your-api-key" }
    }
  }
}
```

---

## Intro

Neon is a serverless PostgreSQL database with instant branching, autoscaling to zero, and a generous free tier with 16,000+ GitHub stars. Its killer feature is database branching — create a copy-on-write branch of your entire database in milliseconds, like git branches for data. Test migrations, preview deployments, and AI agent experiments without touching production. Best for modern web apps on Vercel/Cloudflare that need Postgres without server management. Works with: any PostgreSQL client, Drizzle, Prisma, Next.js. Setup time: under 2 minutes.

---

## Key Features

### Database Branching
```bash
# Create a branch for testing a migration
neon branches create --name feat/new-schema

# Branch has full copy of data — test freely
# Delete when done — production untouched
neon branches delete feat/new-schema
```

Use cases:
- Preview deployments (each PR gets its own DB branch)
- Schema migration testing
- AI agent sandboxing (let agents write to a branch, not production)

### Scale to Zero
No traffic? Database sleeps and costs nothing. First query wakes it in ~500ms.

### Serverless Driver
Works in edge functions (Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge):

```typescript
import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";

// Works in edge functions — no TCP connection needed
const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const result = await sql`SELECT NOW()`;
```

### MCP Server Tools

With the Neon MCP server, AI agents can:
```
"Create a new database branch for testing"
"Run this migration on the test branch"
"Show all branches and their sizes"
"Delete the test branch"
"List all tables in the production database"
```

### Drizzle ORM Integration

```typescript
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/neon-http";
import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const db = drizzle(sql);
```

### Free Tier

| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---------|------|-----|
| Storage | 0.5 GB | 50 GB+ |
| Compute | 190 hours/month | Unlimited |
| Branches | 10 | Unlimited |
| Projects | 1 | Unlimited |
| Scale to zero | Yes | Yes |

### Key Stats
- 16,000+ GitHub stars
- Instant database branching
- Scale to zero (pay nothing when idle)
- Edge-compatible serverless driver
- MCP server available

### FAQ

**Q: What is Neon?**
A: Serverless PostgreSQL with instant database branching, autoscaling, and a free tier. Branch your database like git branches for safe testing.

**Q: Is Neon free?**
A: Free tier includes 0.5 GB storage and 190 compute hours/month. Pro from $19/month.

**Q: How fast is branching?**
A: Instant — branches use copy-on-write, so creating one takes milliseconds regardless of database size.

---

## Source & Thanks

> Created by [Neon](https://github.com/neondatabase). Licensed under Apache 2.0.
>
> [neon](https://github.com/neondatabase/neon) — stars 16,000+

Thanks for bringing git-style branching to databases.

---

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## Quick Start

Sign up at [neon.tech](https://neon.tech) and copy the connection string:

```typescript
import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";
const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const users = await sql`SELECT * FROM users`;
```

---

## Overview

Neon is a serverless PostgreSQL database with 16,000+ GitHub stars. Its signature feature is database branching — create database copies in milliseconds and test migrations like git branches. Supports autoscaling to zero and edge functions. Free tier includes 0.5GB storage.

---

## Source & Thanks

> Created by [Neon](https://github.com/neondatabase). Licensed under Apache 2.0.
>
> [neon](https://github.com/neondatabase/neon) — stars 16,000+

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/neon-serverless-postgres-database-branching-a561d526
Author: MCP Hub