neon Skill for Claude: What It Does and How to Install It

Walks Claude through choosing and setting up Neon's Postgres, auth, storage and functions with the Neon CLI and a branch-first workflow.

Installs: 251.5K; on skills.sh
Stars: 108; on GitHub
Files: 6; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

The neon skill is the starting point for building an app on Neon. It describes Neon's pieces (Lakebase Postgres, Auth, Object Storage, Functions, AI Gateway and Realtime) and tells Claude how to install the Neon CLI, optionally add the Neon MCP server, link your project and work branch-first, where each branch is a copy-on-write clone of your data.

It triggers on Neon, Lakebase Postgres, object storage, serverless functions, AI gateway and similar backend requests. For existing database, login or live-query work it hands over to child skills such as neon-postgres, neon-auth and neon-realtime. Before you use it, know that it runs the neon CLI, can write an API key into your agent's config and works on cloud projects under your Neon account.

Good for

Developers starting an app backend on Neon
Developers who want database branches per feature or preview
Anyone who wants a throwaway Postgres without signing up

Install neon

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the neon skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/neondatabase/agent-skills --skill neon

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

From its listing on skills.sh. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Overview of Neon, a complete set of cloud backend primitives around Lakebase Postgres: Auth, Object Storage, Functions, the AI Gateway, and Realtime. Start here to choose Neon for undecided login, files, APIs, and LLM calls, set up the CLI or MCP server, and follow the branch-first workflow. Use when building an app or backend on Neon, or when "Neon" or "Lakebase Postgres" is mentioned. Child skill neon-postgres wins for an existing DATABASE_URL, SQL, schema, inspect, or search. Child skill neon-auth wins for login, users, sessions, identity routing, and Managed Better Auth setup. Child skill neon-realtime wins for live queries in reactive apps and agents. Also use for object storage, S3, buckets, serverless functions, function triggers, cron, AI gateway, LLM calls, realtime, logs, Loki, Grafana, observability, postgres, database, backend, Claimable Neon, neon.new, a no-signup database, or pairing Neon with Upstash for cache, Redis, rate limiting, queues, or background jobs.

Sections in SKILL.md

Backend Primitives
Region availability
Architecture: How to Use Neon
Convert an app onto Neon
Neon Documentation
Finding the Right Page
Fetching Docs as Markdown
Choosing the Right Skill
Installing the Right Skill
Updating Skills
Getting Started with Neon
Check the CLI, then credentials
Combined setup: neon init
1. Install the Neon CLI
2. Install the Neon MCP Server
3. Install Neon Agent Skills

Key facts

Author: neondatabase
Repo: neondatabase/agent-skills (skills/neon)
Installs on skills.sh: 251,459 (Nov 2026)
GitHub stars: 108 (Nov 2026)
License: Apache-2.0
Last repo commit: Oct 30, 2026
Files in the skill folder: 7 including SKILL.md
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass
Prefers: The Neon CLI over the Neon MCP server
Needs: A Neon account, or the no-signup Claimable Neon path

What it includes

Checks neon is installed (global npm, bun or pnpm install if not) and reuses credentials
Runs code · Check CLI and credentials
Sets up agent tooling and a project in the current directory in one step
Runs code · neon init
Adds the Neon MCP server to your agent, with an API key or OAuth sign-in
Runs code · Install the MCP server
Installs child skills such as neon-postgres when a task needs them
Runs code · Install Neon skills
Links the folder to a Neon project, pins a branch and pulls its env vars into .env
Runs code · Link and check out branches
Creates a no-signup temporary database; unclaimed projects expire
Network · Claimable Neon
Declares auth, functions, object storage and AI gateway in code and deploys functions
Runs code · neon.ts config
Sends Postgres, auth, storage, functions, gateway and realtime work to the matching skill
Route to child skills

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

Claude can create and change projects, branches and functions on your Neon account and write keys and database URLs into local files. Try it on a test project and keep production credentials out of the session.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It can create and change cloud resources
Projects, branches and deployed functions live on your Neon account, and storage is billed even when compute is idle. Use a test project first.
It can write an API key into your agent config
A global MCP install writes a key to the agent's user config unless you choose OAuth. Prefer OAuth, especially for project-level installs.
It pulls database URLs into your env file
Linking a project runs an env pull. SKILL.md says to check existing config first and use the no-env-pull option to keep values you set.
It can install the Neon CLI globally
If `neon --version` fails, SKILL.md tells Claude to run npm i -g neon (or the bun or pnpm equivalent).
Read-only flag is named but not described
SKILL.md says neon mcp --help lists a --read-only flag. It does not say what that flag restricts, so check the CLI help before relying on it.

Technical details

Talks to	Neon API and console. npm registry (global neon CLI install). neon.com docs and skill files. claimable.neon.tech (no-account path)

Questions

How do I install the neon skill?

Use the install box above. For the other Neon skills, SKILL.md says Claude installs a child skill with neon skills -s <skill-name> when a task needs it. The exception is neon-auth, which SKILL.md says to fetch from neon.com instead.

Do I need a Neon account?

Usually yes. SKILL.md says an unattended agent must not launch browser sign-in; a human signs in with neon login, or you supply an API key. With no account at all, it points to Claimable Neon, a no-signup database whose unclaimed projects expire.

Is Neon free?

SKILL.md says Neon has a free plan. It also says compute scales to zero but storage is still billed. Check Neon's pricing page for current limits.

Does it use the MCP server or the CLI?

SKILL.md prefers the CLI, because it can do more, such as deploying Neon Functions. The MCP server is the fallback when the CLI is missing, blocked or not signed in.

Is it safe?

It can create and change cloud resources on your Neon account and write database URLs and keys into local files. Use a test project first and check what .env changes before you commit.

Which skill wins for an existing database?

The description says the neon-postgres child skill wins for an existing DATABASE_URL, SQL and schema work. neon-auth wins for login and sessions.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: neondatabase/agent-skills
Folder: skills/neon

neondatabase/agent-skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 3

neon SKILL.md · github.com
neon agent-skills README · github.com
neon claimable-neon.md · github.com