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Connect MCP Clients to Neon

Learn how to connect MCP clients such as Cursor, Claude Desktop, Cline, Windsurf and Zed to your Neon Postgres database.

The Neon MCP Server allows you to connect various Model Context Protocol (MCP) compatible AI tools to your Neon Postgres databases. This guide provides instructions for connecting popular MCP clients to the Neon MCP Server, enabling natural language interaction with your Neon projects.

This guide covers the setup for the following MCP Clients:

By connecting these tools to the Neon MCP Server, you can manage your Neon projects, databases, and schemas using natural language commands within the MCP client interface.

Prerequisites

For Local MCP Server setup, you also need a Neon API key. See Neon API Keys documentation.

note

Ensure you are using the latest version of your chosen MCP client as MCP integration may not be available in older versions. If you are using an older version, update your MCP client to the latest version.

Connect to Neon MCP Server

You can connect to Neon MCP Server in two ways:

  1. Remote MCP Server (Preview): Connect to Neon's managed remote MCP server using OAuth.
  2. Local MCP Server: Install and run the Neon MCP server locally, using a Neon API key.

note

The remote hosted MCP server is in preview due to the new OAuth MCP specification, expect potential changes as we continue to refine the OAuth integration.

Claude Desktop

  1. Open Claude desktop and navigate to Settings.
  2. Under the Developer tab, click Edit Config (On Windows, it's under File -> Settings -> Developer -> Edit Config) to open the configuration file (claude_desktop_config.json).
  3. Add the "Neon" server entry within the mcpServers object: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.neon.tech/sse"]
    }
  }
}
  4. Save the configuration file and restart Claude Desktop.
  5. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Claude Desktop to access your Neon account.

For more, see Get started with Neon MCP server with Claude Desktop.

Cursor

  1. Open Cursor. Create a .cursor directory in your project root if needed.
  2. Create or open the mcp.json file in the .cursor directory.
  3. Add the "Neon" server entry within the mcpServers object: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.neon.tech/sse"]
    }
  }
}
  4. Save the configuration file. Cursor may detect the change or require a restart.
  5. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Cursor to access your Neon account.

For more, see Get started with Cursor and Neon Postgres MCP Server.

Windsurf (Codeium)

  1. Open Windsurf and navigate to the Cascade assistant sidebar.
  2. Click the hammer (MCP) icon, then Configure to open the configuration file (~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json).
  3. Add the "Neon" server entry within the mcpServers object: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.neon.tech/sse"]
    }
  }
}
  4. Save the file.
  5. Click the Refresh button in the Cascade sidebar next to "available MCP servers".
  6. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Windsurf to access your Neon account.

For more, see Get started with Windsurf and Neon Postgres MCP Server.

Cline (VS Code Extension)

  1. Open Cline in VS Code (Sidebar -> Cline icon).
  2. Click MCP Servers Icon -> Installed -> Configure MCP Servers to open the configuration file.
  3. Add the "Neon" server entry within the mcpServers object: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "Neon": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.neon.tech/sse"]
    }
  }
}
  4. Save the file. Cline should reload the configuration automatically.
  5. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Cline to access your Neon account.

For more, see Get started with Cline and Neon Postgres MCP Server.

Zed

note

MCP support in Zed is currently in preview. Ensure you're using the Preview version of Zed to add MCP servers (called Context Servers in Zed). Download the preview version from zed.dev/releases/preview.

  1. Open the Zed Preview application.
  2. Click the Assistant (✨) icon in the bottom right corner.
  3. Click Settings in the top right panel of the Assistant.
  4. In the Context Servers section, click + Add Context Server.
  5. Configure the Neon Server:
    • Enter Neon in the Name field.
    • In the Command field, enter: 
      npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.neon.tech/sse
    • Click Add Server.
  6. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Zed to access your Neon account.
  7. Check the Context Servers section in Zed settings to ensure the connection is successful. "Neon" should be listed.

For more details, including workflow examples and troubleshooting, see Get started with Zed and Neon Postgres MCP Server.

Other MCP clients

Adapt the instructions above for other clients:

  • Remote MCP server: Add the following JSON configuration within the mcpServers section of your client's MCP configuration file:

    "neon": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.neon.tech/sse"]
}

    Then follow the OAuth flow on first connection.

  • Local MCP server: Use the Smithery command:

    npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install neon --client <client_name> --config "{\"neonApiKey\":\"YOUR_NEON_API_KEY\"}"

    Replace YOUR_NEON_API_KEY with your actual Neon API key. Replace <client_name> with the name of your MCP client application. Supported client names include:

If your MCP client is not listed here, you can manually add the Neon MCP Server details to your client's mcp_config file. The specific configuration varies slightly depending on your operating system.

For MacOS and Linux, add the following JSON configuration within the mcpServers section of your client's mcp_config file, replacing <YOUR_NEON_API_KEY> with your actual Neon API key:

"neon": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", "<YOUR_NEON_API_KEY>"]
}

Replace <YOUR_NEON_API_KEY> with your Neon API key.

note

After successful configuration, you should see the Neon MCP Server listed as active in your MCP client's settings or tool list. You can enter "List my Neon projects" in the MCP client to see your Neon projects and verify the connection.

Troubleshooting

If your client does not use JSON for configuration of MCP servers (such as older versions of Cursor), you can use the following command when prompted:

# For Remote MCP server
npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.neon.tech/sse

# For Local MCP server
npx -y @neondatabase/mcp-server-neon start <YOUR_NEON_API_KEY>

Next steps

Once connected, you can start interacting with your Neon Postgres databases using natural language commands within your chosen MCP client. Explore the Supported Actions (Tools) of the Neon MCP Server to understand the available functionalities.

Resources

Need help?

Join our Discord Server to ask questions or see what others are doing with Neon. Users on paid plans can open a support ticket from the console. For more details, see Getting Support.

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