Summary: The Neon CLI neon config command manages a branch declaratively with a neon.ts policy file. Use neon config init to scaffold a starter neon.ts and install the config packages, neon config status to show the branch's live Neon state (neon status --current-branch prints the pinned branch offline for shell prompts), neon config plan for a dry run of what an apply would change, and neon config apply (or its top-level alias neon deploy) to apply the policy to the branch. Supports --config to point at a neon.ts file, --env to load environment variables before evaluating it, and --allow-protected and --update-existing confirmation flags for non-interactive use.

Manage a branch with a neon.ts policy: init, status, plan, and apply

The config command manages a branch declaratively with a neon.ts policy file: scaffold a starter config, inspect the branch's live state, preview what an apply would change, and apply the policy. For the neon.ts file format, see the neon.ts reference.

Subcommands: apply, init, plan, status

The top-level neon deploy command is an alias for config apply, and neon status is an alias for config status.

Scaffolds a starter neon.ts policy file in the current project and installs the @neon/config and @neon/env packages, so you can start managing a branch declaratively. The generated file uses the standard named defineConfig import from @neon/config/v1 and exports the result as the module default, for example:

import { defineConfig } from "@neon/config/v1";

export default defineConfig({
  // Declare your Neon services here
  auth: false,
  // Branch policy: per-branch tuning
  branch: (branch) => {
    if (branch.isDefault) {
      // Default branch: no overrides, uses project defaults
      return {};
    }
    if (!branch.exists) {
      // New non-default branches: auto-expire
      // Run `neon checkout <name>` to create a new branch with these settings
      return { ttl: "7d" };
    }
    // Existing branch: no changes
    return {};
  },
});

If a neon.ts, neon.mts, neon.js, or neon.mjs file already exists, config init is idempotent: it leaves that file untouched instead of overwriting hand-written policy.

config init runs entirely locally and does not call the Neon API. It detects your package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun) from how the command was invoked. Before installing, it makes sure node_modules/ is listed in your .gitignore, appending it if it's missing. Pass --no-install to skip installation and just print the command to run.

neon config init [options]

neon config init

For non-interactive setup, run it with package installation disabled, then install the printed dependencies yourself (or add them to your lockfile in a separate step):

neon config init --no-install
npm install @neon/config @neon/env

Use config init when you want a trusted starter artifact and package list. Hand-write neon.ts instead when you need a different filename/module format or want to avoid modifying files in the current directory.

Tip: After running an interactive neon link, the CLI prompts you to run config init as its final step, unless the project already has a neon.ts file.

Shows the branch's live Neon state.

neon config status [options]

neon config status

The top-level neon status command is an alias for config status and accepts the same options.

Pass --current-branch to print only the branch pinned in the local .neon file. This variant makes no network request and requires no login or analytics, so it is cheap enough to drive a shell prompt.

It prints the branch name to stdout and exits 0. When no branch is pinned, it prints nothing to stdout, writes a neon checkout <branch> hint to stderr, and exits with a non-zero status, so a prompt can guard on the command directly.

neon status --current-branch

For example, add your current Neon branch to a starship prompt. Append this [custom.neon] module to ~/.config/starship.toml. The command prints the pinned branch, and when hides the segment (exits non-zero) whenever you are not in a Neon project:

# ~/.config/starship.toml
[custom.neon]
description = "Current Neon branch"
command = "neon status --current-branch"   # prints the branch pinned in .neon (no network)
when = "neon status --current-branch"       # exits non-zero when no branch -> segment is hidden
symbol = "🌿 "
style = "bold green"
format = "[$symbol$output]($style) "

Tip: Faster outside Neon projects

The when above runs the CLI on every prompt everywhere. To skip it unless a .neon file exists somewhere up the tree, replace when with a pure-shell walk-up and add shell = ["sh"] so it runs under sh even if your interactive shell is fish or PowerShell:

shell = ["sh"]
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
'''

For a full copy-paste (and agent-ready) walkthrough, including prerequisites and troubleshooting, see this Starship + Neon branch setup gist.

Shows what config apply would change, as a dry run. Nothing is modified.

neon config plan [options]

neon config plan --config ./neon.ts --env .env.local

Applies a neon.ts policy to the branch.

neon config apply [options]

For non-interactive use (scripts, CI, agents), pass --update-existing and --allow-protected to auto-confirm the corresponding prompts.

neon config apply --branch feature/auth --update-existing --allow-protected

• deploy
• status
• dev

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