managing-neon

name	managing-neon
description	Use when working with Neon — neon serverless Postgres management via the neonctl CLI and Neon API. Covers projects, branches, databases, roles, endpoints, and compute scaling. Use when managing Neon databases or reviewing branch workflows.
connection_type	neon
preload	false

Managing Neon

Manage Neon serverless Postgres using the neonctl CLI or Neon API.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always discover available resources before performing analysis.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Projects ==="
neonctl projects list --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.region_id)\t\(.pg_version)\t\(.created_at)"' | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Branches ==="
for proj in $(neonctl projects list --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[].id'); do
    echo "--- Project: $proj ---"
    neonctl branches list --project-id "$proj" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.primary)\t\(.current_state)\t\(.created_at)"' | head -10
done

echo ""
echo "=== Endpoints ==="
for proj in $(neonctl projects list --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[].id'); do
    echo "--- Project: $proj ---"
    neonctl endpoints list --project-id "$proj" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[] | "\(.id)\t\(.branch_id)\t\(.type)\t\(.current_state)\t\(.host)"' | head -10
done

echo ""
echo "=== Databases ==="
for proj in $(neonctl projects list --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[].id'); do
    BRANCH=$(neonctl branches list --project-id "$proj" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[0].id')
    echo "--- Project: $proj ---"
    neonctl databases list --project-id "$proj" --branch-id "$BRANCH" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[] | "\(.name)\t\(.owner_name)"' | head -10
done

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

PROJECT_ID="${1:?Project ID required}"

echo "=== Project Details ==="
neonctl projects get "$PROJECT_ID" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq '{
    id, name, region_id, pg_version,
    store_passwords, history_retention_seconds,
    compute_last_active_at, created_at, updated_at
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Branch Details ==="
neonctl branches list --project-id "$PROJECT_ID" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq '.[] | {
    id, name, primary, current_state,
    logical_size, data_transfer_bytes,
    created_at, updated_at
}' | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Endpoint Compute ==="
neonctl endpoints list --project-id "$PROJECT_ID" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq '.[] | {
    id, type, current_state, host,
    autoscaling_limit_min_cu, autoscaling_limit_max_cu,
    suspend_timeout_seconds
}' | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Roles ==="
BRANCH=$(neonctl branches list --project-id "$PROJECT_ID" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[0].id')
neonctl roles list --project-id "$PROJECT_ID" --branch-id "$BRANCH" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.[] | "\(.name)\t\(.protected)\t\(.created_at)"' | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Operations (Recent) ==="
neonctl operations list --project-id "" --output json 2>/dev/null | jq -r  |  -10

Output Format

PROJECT_ID       NAME        REGION     PG_VERSION  CREATED
abc123def456     my-app-db   us-east-2  16          2024-01-15T10:00:00Z

Safety Rules

• Use read-only commands: list, get
• Never run delete, suspend, reset without explicit user confirmation
• Use --output json with jq for structured output parsing
• Limit output with | head -N to stay under 50 lines

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative