Summary: TanStack Start integration guide for Lakebase Postgres covers creating a Lakebase Postgres project, installing a supported driver (node-postgres, postgres.js, or the Neon serverless driver), and writing server functions that query the database. Choose this page when building a type-safe React or Solid app with TanStack Start and need working code for both regular and static server functions backed by Lakebase Postgres.

Set up a project on Neon in seconds and connect from a TanStack Start application

Pre-built prompt for connecting TanStack Start applications to Lakebase Postgres View prompt

TanStack Start is an open-source, fully type-safe web framework for building feature rich React and Solid based applications using the TanStack ecosystem.

To create a project on Neon and access it from a Start application:

If you do not have one already, create a Neon project. Save your connection details including your password. They are required when defining connection settings.

1. Navigate to the Projects page in the Neon Console.
2. Click New Project.
3. Specify your project settings and click Create Project.

1. Create a Start project if you do not have one. For instructions see the quick start guides, in the TanStack documentation.

2. Add project dependencies using one of the following commands:

   node-postgres

   npm install pg

   postgres.js

   npm install postgres

   Neon serverless driver

   npm install @neondatabase/serverless

Add a .env file to your project directory and add your Neon connection string to it. You can find your Neon database connection string by clicking the Connect button in the Console nav to open the Connect to your branch modal. For more information, see Connect from any application.

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://<user>:<password>@<endpoint_hostname>.neon.tech:<port>/<dbname>?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require"

If you haven't created a project yet, Claimable Neon provisions a temporary Neon project without an account. A human can claim the project into a Neon account before it expires. See Claimable Neon.

There are multiple ways to make server side requests with TanStack Start. See below for the different implementations.

In your server functions, add the following code snippet to connect to your Neon database:

node-postgres

import { Pool } from 'pg';
import { createServerFn } from "@tanstack/react-start";

const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  ssl: true,
});

export const getData = createServerFn({ method: "GET" }).handler(async () => {
  const client = await pool.connect();
  try {
    const { rows } = await client.query('SELECT version()');
    return rows[0].version;
  } finally {
    client.release();
  }
});

postgres.js

import postgres from 'postgres';
import { createServerFn } from "@tanstack/react-start";

export const getData = createServerFn({ method: "GET" }).handler(async () => {
   const sql = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL, { ssl: 'require' });
  const response = await sql`SELECT version()`;
  return response[0].version;
});

Neon serverless driver

import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";
import { createServerFn } from "@tanstack/react-start";

export const getData = createServerFn({ method: "GET" }).handler(async () => {
  const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
  const response = await sql`SELECT version()`;

  return response[0].version;
});

Then consume the data in your start application, like you would normally, with any other data fetching operation.

import { createFileRoute } from "@tanstack/react-router";
import { getData } from "../data/get-neon-data.ts";

export const Route = createFileRoute("/")({
  loader: async () => {
    return getData();
  },

  component: RouteComponent,
});

export default function RouteComponent() {
  const data = Route.useLoaderData();

  return <>{data}</>;
}

In your static server functions, add the following code snippet to connect to your Neon database:

node-postgres

import { Pool } from 'pg';
import { createServerFn } from "@tanstack/react-start";
import { staticFunctionMiddleware } from "@tanstack/start-static-server-functions";

const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  ssl: true,
});

export const getData = createServerFn({ method: "GET" })
.middleware([staticFunctionMiddleware])
.handler(async () => {
  const client = await pool.connect();
  try {
    const { rows } = await client.query('SELECT version()');
    return rows[0].version;
  } finally {
    client.release();
  }
});

postgres.js

import postgres from 'postgres';
import { createServerFn } from "@tanstack/react-start";
import { staticFunctionMiddleware } from "@tanstack/start-static-server-functions";

export const getData = createServerFn({ method: "GET" })
.middleware([staticFunctionMiddleware])
.handler(async () => {
  const sql = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL, { ssl: 'require' });
  const response = await sql`SELECT version()`;
  return response[0].version;
});

Neon serverless driver

import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";
import { createServerFn } from "@tanstack/react-start";
import { staticFunctionMiddleware } from "@tanstack/start-static-server-functions";

export const getData = createServerFn({ method: "GET" })
.middleware([staticFunctionMiddleware])
.handler(async () => {
  const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
  const response = await sql`SELECT version()`;

  return response[0].version;
});

Then like before you can consume the data in your components.

Be aware Static Server Functions are executed at build time, and cached as a static asset for pre-rendering or static generation.

import { createFileRoute } from "@tanstack/react-router";
import { getData } from "../data/get-neon-data.ts";

export const Route = createFileRoute("/")({
  loader: async () => {
    return getData();
  },

  component: RouteComponent,
});

export default function RouteComponent() {
  const data = Route.useLoaderData();

  return <>{data}</>;
}

When you run npm run dev you can expect to see the following on localhost:3000:

PostgreSQL 16.0 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (Debian 10.2.1-6) 10.2.1 20210110, 64-bit

Neon does not provide a built-in file storage service. For managing binary file data (blobs), we recommend using dedicated, specialized storage services. Follow our guide on File Storage to learn more about how to store files in external object storage and file management services and track metadata in Neon.

You can find the source code for the applications described in this guide on GitHub.

• Get started with TanStack Start Server Functions and Neon: Get started with TanStack Start Server Functions and Neon
• Get started with TanStack Start Static Server Functions and Neon: Get started with TanStack Start Static Server Functions and Neon

• Set up Managed Better Auth: Add managed authentication that branches with your database
• Add Object Storage: S3-compatible file storage that branches with your database
• Deploy a Function: Run backend compute next to your database, no separate hosting needed
• Call an LLM with AI Gateway: Access foundation models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and more with one credential

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