Summary: Neon Local is a Docker proxy that routes local Postgres connections to a Neon cloud branch. No connection string changes are needed when switching branches. Use it to connect to an existing branch via BRANCH_ID, or to auto-create ephemeral branches with PARENT_BRANCH_ID that are deleted when the container stops. Both the standard postgres driver and the Neon serverless driver are supported through the same Docker configuration.

Use Docker environments to connect to Neon and manage branches automatically

Neon Local is a proxy service that creates a local interface to your Neon cloud database. It supports two main use cases:

1. Connecting to existing Neon branches - Connect your app to any existing branch in your Neon project
2. Connecting to ephemeral Neon branches - Connect your app to a new ephemeral database branch that is instantly created when the Neon Local container starts and deleted when the container stops

Your application connects to a local Postgres endpoint, while Neon Local handles routing and authentication to the correct project and branch. This removes the need to update connection strings when working across database branches.

To connect to an existing Neon branch, provide the BRANCH_ID environment variable to the container. This allows you to work with a specific branch without creating a new one.

docker run \
  --name db \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -e NEON_API_KEY=<your_neon_api_key> \
  -e NEON_PROJECT_ID=<your_neon_project_id> \
  -e BRANCH_ID=<your_branch_id> \
  neondatabase/neon_local:latest

db:
  image: neondatabase/neon_local:latest
  ports:
    - '5432:5432'
  environment:
    NEON_API_KEY: ${NEON_API_KEY}
    NEON_PROJECT_ID: ${NEON_PROJECT_ID}
    BRANCH_ID: ${BRANCH_ID}

To create ephemeral branches (default behavior), provide the PARENT_BRANCH_ID environment variable instead of BRANCH_ID. The Neon Local container automatically creates a new ephemeral branch of your database when the container starts, and deletes it when the container stops. This ensures that each time you deploy your app via Docker Compose, you have a fresh copy of your database, without needing manual cleanup or orchestration scripts. Your database branch lifecycle is tied directly to your Docker environment.

docker run \
  --name db \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -e NEON_API_KEY=<your_neon_api_key> \
  -e NEON_PROJECT_ID=<your_neon_project_id> \
  -e PARENT_BRANCH_ID=<parent_branch_id> \
  neondatabase/neon_local:latest

db:
  image: neondatabase/neon_local:latest
  ports:
    - '5432:5432'
  environment:
    NEON_API_KEY: ${NEON_API_KEY}
    NEON_PROJECT_ID: ${NEON_PROJECT_ID}
    PARENT_BRANCH_ID: ${PARENT_BRANCH_ID}

Run the Neon Local container using the following docker run command:

docker run \
  --name db \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -e NEON_API_KEY=<your_neon_api_key> \
  -e NEON_PROJECT_ID=<your_neon_project_id> \
  neondatabase/neon_local:latest

Add Neon Local to your docker-compose.yml:

db:
  image: neondatabase/neon_local:latest
  ports:
    - '5432:5432'
  environment:
    NEON_API_KEY: ${NEON_API_KEY}
    NEON_PROJECT_ID: ${NEON_PROJECT_ID}

The Neon Local container now supports both the postgres and Neon serverless drivers simultaneously through a single connection string. You no longer need to specify a driver or configure different connection strings for different drivers.

Connect to Neon Local using a standard Postgres connection string.

postgres://neon:npg@localhost:5432/<database_name>?sslmode=require

postgres://neon:npg@${db}$:5432/<database_name>?sslmode=require

# where {db} is the name of the Neon Local service in your compose file

Note:

For javascript applications The Neon Local container uses an automatically generated self-signed certificate to secure communication between your app and the container. Javascript applications using the pgor postgres postgres libraries to connect to the Neon Local proxy will also need to add the following configuration to allow your app to connect using the self-signed certificate.

ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false }

Connect using the Neon serverless driver.

Note: The Neon Local container only supports HTTP-based communication using the Neon Serverless driver, not websockets. The following configurations will enable your app to communicate using only HTTP traffic with your Neon database.

import { neon, neonConfig } from '@neondatabase/serverless';

neonConfig.fetchEndpoint = 'http://localhost:5432/sql';
neonConfig.useSecureWebSocket = false;
neonConfig.poolQueryViaFetch = true;

const sql = neon('postgres://neon:npg@localhost:5432/<database_name>');

import { neon, neonConfig } from '@neondatabase/serverless';

neonConfig.fetchEndpoint = 'http://{db}:5432/sql';
neonConfig.useSecureWebSocket = false;
neonConfig.poolQueryViaFetch = true;

const sql = neon('postgres://neon:npg@{db}:5432/<database_name>');

// where {db} is the name of the Neon Local service in your compose file

No additional environment variables are needed - the same Docker configuration works for both drivers:

docker run \
  --name db \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -e NEON_API_KEY=<your_neon_api_key> \
  -e NEON_PROJECT_ID=<your_neon_project_id> \
  neondatabase/neon_local:latest

To persist a branch per Git branch, add the following volume mounts:

db:
  image: neondatabase/neon_local:latest
  ports:
    - '5432:5432'
  environment:
    NEON_API_KEY: ${NEON_API_KEY}
    NEON_PROJECT_ID: ${NEON_PROJECT_ID}
    DELETE_BRANCH: false
  volumes:
    - ./.neon_local/:/tmp/.neon_local
    - ./.git/HEAD:/tmp/.git/HEAD:ro,consistent

Note: This will create a .neon_local directory in your project to store metadata. Be sure to add .neon_local/ to your .gitignore to avoid committing database information.

If using Docker Desktop for Mac, ensure that your VM settings use gRPC FUSE instead of VirtioFS. There is currently a known bug with VirtioFS that prevents proper branch detection and live updates inside containers.

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