Summary: Neon Object Storage uses Neon credentials with storage:read and storage:write scopes. Each credential maps to an S3 Access Key ID and Secret Access Key. Credentials are scoped to a branch and valid for that branch and all its descendants.

How Neon credentials map to S3 access keys

Neon Object Storage uses the same scoped-credential system as AI Gateway: one credential API mints branch-scoped tokens that differ by scope (Object Storage uses storage:read and storage:write). You create a scoped credential via the Neon API, and it maps directly to the S3 Access Key ID and Secret Access Key your SDK expects. No AWS account or IAM configuration required.

An object storage credential requires at minimum one of:

• storage:read: allows GetObject, HeadObject, ListObjects, and ListBuckets
• storage:write: allows all read operations plus PutObject and DeleteObject

CLI

Create a credential with the Neon CLI:

neon credentials create --scope storage:read --scope storage:write --name my-app-credential

The api_token and s3_secret_access_key are printed once, so store them right away. Map token_id to AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and s3_secret_access_key to AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY (see Mapping to your S3 SDK). Run it in a directory linked to your project, or pass --project-id and --branch.

Console

In the Neon Console, click Connect at the top of the sidebar and open the Storage tab. Use the client selector to pick S3 client, Files SDK, or Python for a ready-to-run snippet, or Parameters only for the raw .env. Click Reveal credential to show AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, Copy credentials to copy it, or Rotate credentials to issue new keys.

AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3=https://br-cool-darkness-a1b2c3d4.storage.c-1.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=nak_live_...
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=nsk_live_...
AWS_REGION=us-east-2

The Connect dialog reveals and rotates the current credential. To list all credentials for the branch or revoke one, use the Neon CLI or the API (below).

API

curl -X POST "https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/{project_id}/branches/{branch_id}/credentials" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"scopes": ["storage:read", "storage:write"], "principal_type": "user", "name": "my-app-credential"}'

The name and expires_at fields are optional.

Warning: expires_at is not currently enforced. A credential created with an expires_at value in the past still authenticates successfully. Don't rely on it for access control; revoke credentials explicitly instead. See Revoking credentials.

The response includes these fields. Both secrets are returned once only, so store them immediately:

{
  "token_id": "nak_live_...",
  "token_id_short": "9043e374b584...",
  "name": "my-app-credential",
  "api_token": "nt_live_...",
  "s3_secret_access_key": "nsk_live_...",
  "scopes": ["storage:read", "storage:write"],
  "branch_id": "br-winter-pond-aptw82ef",
  "created_at": "2026-06-08T00:00:00Z",
  "expires_at": null
}

Warning: Both api_token and s3_secret_access_key are returned exactly once at creation. They cannot be retrieved again. Store them in a secrets manager or environment variables before the response is lost.

Configure your S3 client using these values:

TypeScript

import { S3Client } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3';

const client = new S3Client({
  region: process.env.AWS_REGION,
  endpoint: process.env.AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3,
  credentials: {
    accessKeyId: process.env.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,   // token_id
    secretAccessKey: process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!, // s3_secret_access_key
  },
  forcePathStyle: true,
});

Python

import boto3, os

client = boto3.client(
    's3',
    region_name=os.environ['AWS_REGION'],
    endpoint_url=os.environ['AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3'],
    aws_access_key_id=os.environ['AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID'],         # token_id
    aws_secret_access_key=os.environ['AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY'], # s3_secret_access_key
)

AWS CLI

# These env vars are already in AWS-standard form; no remapping needed.
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=nak_live_...
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=nsk_live_...
export AWS_REGION=us-east-2

Note: forcePathStyle: true is required for the AWS SDK for JavaScript when using a custom S3 endpoint.

For local development, neon env pull writes storage credentials to your .env file automatically. No manual copy-paste from the API response:

neon env pull --file .env.local

This populates AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, and AWS_REGION for the current branch alongside your database connection string. To check the current credential status:

neon config status

For production deployments, use the API-based workflow to create named, scoped credentials.

Issue separate credentials for read and write access when you want to limit exposure:

• Server-side code that uploads files: storage:write (includes read)
• Client-side or CDN code that only fetches: storage:read
• Presigned URLs: generate these server-side from a storage:write credential. The URL itself requires no credential in the browser.

The S3 data plane enforces scope on every request. A credential without a storage scope returns 403 AccessDenied on all S3 operations. Server-side COPY requires both storage:read and storage:write.

When your code runs inside Neon Functions, Neon injects storage credentials automatically. You don't need to create a credential:

See Environment variables for the full list of variables Neon injects into a function.

Credentials are branch-scoped and tied to the function's serving branch. Injected values are defaults, not reserved names: a user-supplied environment variable with the same name (set via --env or in neon.ts) overrides the injected credential, same as any other Neon-injected variable. See Environment variables. Because the credentials use AWS-standard names, the AWS SDK picks them up automatically when you don't override them. Only forcePathStyle needs explicit configuration:

import { S3Client } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3';

const client = new S3Client({
  region: process.env.AWS_REGION,
  endpoint: process.env.AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3,
  credentials: {
    accessKeyId: process.env.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID!,
    secretAccessKey: process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY!,
  },
  forcePathStyle: true,
});

Each credential is tied to the branch it was created on. It is valid for:

• That branch (the anchor branch)
• Any branch descended from it: preview branches, feature branches, CI branches

It's not valid for branches outside that lineage.

main  ──── credential valid here
  └── preview/feature-x  ──── and here
        └── preview/sub-branch  ──── and here
staging  ──── credential NOT valid here (different lineage)

To list all credentials for the current branch (name, key ID, creation date, and last used time), use the Neon CLI (neon credentials list) or the API:

curl "https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/{project_id}/branches/{branch_id}/credentials" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY"

This returns credential metadata. Secrets are never returned after creation.

To revoke, use the Neon CLI (neon credentials revoke <token_id>) or the API:

curl -X DELETE "https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects/{project_id}/branches/{branch_id}/credentials/{token_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY"

With the Neon CLI, run neon credentials list to find a credential, then revoke it by its token_id:

neon credentials revoke <token_id>

To rotate a credential in place, run neon credentials rotate <token_id>. This mints a new s3_secret_access_key while keeping the token_id (your AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID) the same, so you only update the secret. Otherwise, create a new credential, update your environment variables, then revoke the old one.

• Buckets
• Objects
• Logs

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