Connect a Bun application to Neon
Summary: Connecting a Bun application to a Lakebase Postgres database requires either Bun's built-in
sqlclient (no extra dependencies) or the@neondatabase/serverlessdriver installed viabun add. Choose this page when setting up Bun, Hono, or Elysia with Lakebase Postgres, covering project creation,POSTGRES_URLcredential storage in.env.local, and a working TypeScript query to verify the connection.
Connect a Bun application to Neon
Section titled “Connect a Bun application to Neon”Set up a Neon project in seconds and connect from a Bun application
This guide describes how to create a project on Neon and connect to it from a Bun application. Examples are provided for using Bun's built-in SQL client and the @neondatabase/serverless driver. Use the client you prefer.
Note: The same configuration steps can be used for Hono, Elysia, and other Bun-based web frameworks.
Create a project on Neon
Section titled “Create a project on Neon”If you do not have one already, create a project.
- Navigate to the Projects page in the console.
- Click New Project.
- Specify your project settings and click Create Project.
Create a Bun project and add dependencies
Section titled “Create a Bun project and add dependencies”Create a Bun project and change to the newly created directory:
mkdir bun-neon-example
cd bun-neon-example
bun init -yNext, add project dependencies if you intend to use the Neon serverless driver. Otherwise, Bun's built-in sql client is readily available.
Bun.sql
# No dependencies needed for Bun's built-in SQL clientNeon serverless driver
bun add @neondatabase/serverlessStore your Neon credentials
Section titled “Store your Neon credentials”Add a .env.local file to your project directory and add your Neon connection details to it. Bun automatically loads variables from .env, .env.local, and other .env.* files. You can find the connection details for your database by clicking the Connect button in the Console nav to open the Connect to your branch modal. Select Bun from the Connection string dropdown. For more information, see Connect from any application.
POSTGRES_URL='postgresql://[user]:[password]@[neon_hostname]/[dbname]?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require'Note: Bun.sql uses POSTGRES_URL as the default environment variable for the Primary connection URL for Postgres
Important: To ensure the security of your data, never expose your Neon credentials directly in your code or commit them to version control.
Configure the Postgres client
Section titled “Configure the Postgres client”Add an index.ts file (or index.js) to your project directory and add the following code snippet to connect to your Neon database. Choose the configuration that matches your preferred client.
Bun.sql
import { sql } from 'bun';
async function getPgVersion() {
const result = await sql`SELECT version()`;
console.log(result[0]);
}
getPgVersion();Neon serverless driver
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
const sql = neon(process.env.POSTGRES_URL);
async function getPgVersion() {
const result = await sql`SELECT version()`;
console.log(result[0]);
}
getPgVersion();Run index.ts
Section titled “Run index.ts”Run bun run index.ts (or bun index.js) to view the result.
$ bun run index.ts
{
version: "PostgreSQL 17.2 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0, 64-bit",
}References
Section titled “References”Related docs (Frameworks)
Section titled “Related docs (Frameworks)”- Astro
- Entity Framework
- Encore
- Express
- Medusa.js
- Micronaut Kotlin
- NestJS
- Next.js
- Node.js
- Nuxt
- Phoenix
- Quarkus (JDBC)
- Quarkus (Reactive)
- React
- React Router
- Reflex
- Remix
- SolidStart
- Sveltekit
- Symfony
- Hono
- RedwoodSDK
- Vue
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