Neon Functions

FIRST: Use the parent neon skill for a Neon overview, getting started with Neon, Neon development best practices, and more.

If the neon skill is not installed, fetch it from https://neon.com/docs/ai/skills/neon/SKILL.md or install it with:

neon skills -s neon -y

Neon Functions

Currently available in aws-us-east-2, aws-us-east-1, aws-eu-central-1, and aws-ap-southeast-1.

Neon Functions are long-running Node.js HTTP handlers deployed onto a Neon branch. Each function gets a public HTTPS URL, runs in the same region as your database, and — if the branch has Postgres — gets DATABASE_URL injected automatically. You deploy and manage them through the same Neon CLI, neon.ts, and API you already use.

Use this skill to help the user define, run locally, deploy, and manage functions next to their database. Deliver a deployed function with its invocation URL, a working local neon dev loop, or a precise answer from the official Neon docs.

When to Use

Reach for Neon Functions when the workload is a request/response handler that benefits from staying alive and staying close to the data:

• Long-running request/response flows that outlast lambda-style limits. Agents that make several LLM calls and tool invocations per request, or image/video generation, routinely blow past the ~10–60s execution caps and short streaming windows of traditional serverless functions. Neon Functions are long-running: the handler just needs to start responding within 15 minutes, and an open stream stays alive as long as bytes keep flowing. That's enough headroom for real agent workloads.
• Stateful streaming without bolting on Redis. Because a function stays alive across a request, it can host an SSE endpoint or a WebSocket server and hold the connection open in-process — no external state store (Redis, etc.) needed just to keep a stream coherent. Module-scope state (a pg pool, an in-memory counter) persists across requests on the same isolate.
• Compute that must sit next to Postgres. The function runs in the same region as the branch's database, so there are no cross-region round trips on every query. DATABASE_URL is injected for you.
• A backend that branches with your data. Each branch runs its own version of the function at its own URL, against its own isolated database (and storage, and gateway) state. Preview deployments, CI, and dev environments each get a self-contained backend — deploying to a child never affects the parent.
• Query Postgres from the Function (or an existing framework handler). Prefer that over the Data API. Use the Data API when the application already uses PostgREST or Supabase-js database calls, or is migrating that client.
• Webhooks, bots, and post-response work. Webhook handlers that fan out into multiple DB writes, Discord/WebSocket bots, and fire-and-forget follow-ups via waitUntil (analytics, audit logs) all fit.
• Recurring HTTP work. A Function Trigger POSTs to the function on a cron (type: "schedule") or when an object is created in Object Storage (type: "storage_object_created"). Same fetch handler, same 15-minute time-to-first-byte limit. See Function Triggers.

If the workload is a pure static site, or something that must run outside the supported regions (aws-us-east-2, aws-us-east-1, aws-eu-central-1, and aws-ap-southeast-1) today, this isn't the right tool yet (see Timeouts and Runtime Limits and Availability).

What It Does

• Long-running & serverless — Built for WebSocket servers (see WebSocket Servers), SSE endpoints (see Server-Sent Events (SSE)), long agent HTTP streams, and APIs. Still scales to zero when idle.
• Web-standard handler — A function is any default export with a fetch(request) method returning a Response (Workers/WinterTC-compatible). A Hono app exports exactly that shape, so export default app just works. Runs on Node.js 24, so all Node APIs are available.
• Close to your database — Runs in the branch's region; DATABASE_URL injected automatically when the branch has Postgres.
• Branchable — Each branch runs its own function version at its own URL against its own isolated state.
• Same CLI/API — Deploy and manage via neon, neon.ts, or the Neon API.
• Function Triggers — Neon POSTs to the function on a cron or an object-storage upload. See Function Triggers.

Availability

Check this precondition before setting anything up: Neon Functions is currently available in aws-us-east-2, aws-us-east-1, aws-eu-central-1, and aws-ap-southeast-1. Confirm the user's Neon project is in one of these regions.

Architecture: Where Functions Fit

Neon (Functions included) is backend primitives, not full-stack app hosting. Host your app on Vercel (or Netlify, or another frontend/app host); Functions are the long-running, stateful slice of your backend that lives next to your data. They compose with that platform in two ways:

• Add a Function to a full-stack app. Your Next.js / TanStack Start app on Vercel (or Netlify) owns UI, auth (Managed Auth, Better Auth, Clerk, or another IdP), and talks directly to Lakebase Postgres and Object Storage. Add a Function as a Hono API layer for the web app and other clients, or for one job next to the data: Object Storage uploads, AI agents, Discord bots, WebSocket or SSE servers. (See Functions as an Agent Backend for the client-direct pattern.)
• Run the whole backend control plane on Functions. Especially when the frontend is client-only — TanStack Router, React Router in client mode, and similar SPAs hosted on Vercel or Netlify — the client calls Functions directly. Build REST APIs and request/response agents, host MCP servers, and run anything stateful or that belongs close to Postgres and Object Storage.

Either way, authenticate by caller: JWT or API key for app and public HTTP (see the WARNING under Functions as an Agent Backend); parseTriggerDelivery for Function Trigger routes; production hardening in Production hardening. Because a Function is just your backend, you can move pieces between your host and Neon — relocate an agent or a stateful WebSocket server onto a Function when it needs more runtime, and back if needed.

Prefer a Function, or an existing framework handler, that queries Postgres. Use Data API when the application already uses PostgREST/Supabase-js database calls or is migrating that client.

Production hardening

Before exposing production routes, read Production hardening.

Pick by caller: trusted app server, Function Trigger, or public consumer. Keep long browser streams on the client-direct JWT path unless a verified streaming-compatible proxy is required. Authentication rejects application work; requests to the native URL still reach the Function.

Setup

Functions are declared in neon.ts (see the neon skill for the branch-first workflow and neon.ts basics). Add @neon/config and declare functions under functions, keyed by slug:

// neon.ts
import { defineConfig } from "@neon/config/v1";

export default defineConfig({
  functions: {
    todos: {
      // slug: ^[a-z0-9]{1,20}$ — lowercase letters/digits, no hyphens
      name: "todo api", // display label only
      source: "src/index.ts", // entry file, relative to neon.ts
    },
  },
});

The slug is the function's permanent identity (it appears in the invocation URL and CLI commands) and can't be changed after the first deploy. Use name for a human-readable label.

A minimal function — a Hono app that queries the branch's Postgres via the injected DATABASE_URL:

// src/index.ts
import { Hono } from "hono";
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/node-postgres";
import { Pool } from "pg";
import { parseEnv } from "@neon/env";
import { attachDatabasePool } from "@neon/functions";
import config from "../neon";
import { todos } from "./db/schema";

const env = parseEnv(config);
const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: env.postgres.databaseUrl, max: 5 });
attachDatabasePool(pool);
const db = drizzle(pool);

const app = new Hono();
app.get("/", (c) => c.text("Neon + Hono + Drizzle"));
app.post("/todos", async (c) => {
  const { text } = await c.req.json<{ text: string }>();
  const [row] = await db.insert(todos).values({ text }).returning();
  return c.json(row, 201);
});
app.get("/todos", async (c) => c.json(await db.select().from(todos)));

export default app;

Create the pg pool at module scope (reused across requests on the same isolate) and keep max small (e.g. 5), since each isolate keeps its own pool. Call attachDatabasePool(pool) so an idle disconnect is not an uncaughtException — see Connecting to Postgres.

parseEnv(config) requires every variable the config implies. A function that only talks to Postgres over the pooled URL can scope it to just that key — parseEnv then validates and returns only what you asked for (the keys autocomplete from your neon.ts):

const { postgres } = parseEnv(config, ["DATABASE_URL"]); // not the unpooled URL, auth, etc.
const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: postgres.databaseUrl, max: 5 });
attachDatabasePool(pool);

Develop Locally and Deploy

neon dev      # serves every function in neon.ts with hot reload; injects DATABASE_URL & friends
neon deploy --env <file>   # preferred full deploy from neon.ts; --env is the file Function env is read from

Keep .env or .env.local up to date with every key under functions.*.env. neon env pull writes Neon-managed vars only; add Function secrets to that file, then pass it as --env. neon deploy --env <file> loads that file into process.env each time, then uploads those values. A missing value is undefined and defineConfig throws. Omit the key from neon.ts if you do not want to write it. Never coerce a missing process.env value to an empty string (that uploads "" and deletes the live key). An empty assignment (KEY=) is also "". Use process.env.X! when TypeScript needs an assertion.

To deploy a single function without applying neon.ts: neon functions deploy <slug> --src src/index.ts (--src takes either the entry file or a directory containing index.ts, index.mjs, or index.js). That command's --env is KEY=VALUE (repeatable), not a file path. Use it for a targeted env update. Retrieve the public URL with neon functions get <slug> (the invocation_url field, of the form https://<branch_id>-<slug>.compute.<cell>.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech). Manage with neon functions list|get|delete.

When neon checkout creates a new branch and a neon.ts is present, it applies the policy automatically. Pass --env <file> on that create so Function env that reads process.env resolves (neon checkout feat --create --env .env.local). Existing process env wins over the file. Checking out an existing branch never reconciles it — apply config changes with neon deploy --env <file> (add --update-existing only after reviewing those changes).

Native binaries and custom builds

The default deploy bundles source into one index.mjs, which cannot hold a compiled binary. Ship one as a separate archive file:

• npm package with a Node addon (sharp): externalPackages: ["sharp"]. The deploy installs its linux-arm64 glibc build and copies the files in.
• Your own build output (.node, .so, .wasm, data files): bundler: "none" with a prebuilt directory, or an inline bundler: async (fn) => ({ "index.mjs": …, "bin/tool": … }).
• A standalone executable you spawn: ship it as above, then copy it to /run and chmod 755 it at startup. Files in /opt/function arrive as mode 644 on a read-only filesystem, and /tmp is noexec.

Runtime target, pros and cons, working snippets, and size limits: references/native-binaries.md.

Neon Infrastructure as Code (neon.ts)

The functions block from Setup is part of neon.ts, Neon's infrastructure-as-code file — one TypeScript file declares every function (its source, display name, and env) alongside any other branch services, in version control (see the neon skill for the full reference). Treat it like Terraform for your branch:

neon config status   # print the branch's live config (deployed functions)
neon config plan     # dry-run diff of what apply would change
neon config apply --env <file>  # bundle + deploy the declared functions  (neon deploy is an alias; pass --env when Function env reads process.env)

Functions are branch-scoped: each branch runs its own deployment at its own URL. When a neon.ts is present, neon checkout applies the policy as it creates a branch. Pass --env <file> on that create when Function env reads process.env. Checking out an existing branch doesn't redeploy — run neon deploy --env <file> to apply changes.

Per-branch deploy tuning (e.g. runtime) lives in the branch closure, keyed by slug, so it can vary by branch without changing which functions exist:

export default defineConfig({
  functions: { todos: { name: "todo api", source: "src/index.ts" } },
  branch: (branch) => ({
    functions: { todos: { runtime: "nodejs24" } },
  }),
});

Environment Variables

Neon injects branch-scoped connection strings and service URLs at runtime — you don't declare these or pass them at deploy time:

Object storage (AWS_*) and AI Gateway (NEON_AI_GATEWAY_*) vars are also injected when those services are declared — see the neon-object-storage and neon-ai-gateway skills.

neon env pull / neon-env run / neon dev emit NEON_BRANCH (and the connection strings) into your local dev environment too, so local runs mirror the deployed runtime.

Your own secrets are per-deployment. Preferred path: declare them in neon.ts and run neon deploy --env <file>. <file> is the gitignored file env pull already writes (.env if that file exists, otherwise .env.local). Env pull writes Neon-managed vars only; add Function secrets to that file. All declared Function env keys must be present. Omit a key from neon.ts if you do not want to write it. undefined means you asked to write the key and the value is missing (defineConfig throws). Never coerce a missing process.env value to an empty string: that uploads "" and deletes the live key. An empty assignment in the file (KEY=) is also "". If TypeScript needs an assertion, use process.env.X! and make sure the file has the value:

functions: {
  todos: {
    name: "todo api",
    source: "src/index.ts",
    env: { RESEND_API_KEY: process.env.RESEND_API_KEY! },
  },
}

neon functions deploy --env KEY=VALUE is the manual path (repeatable; --env KEY= deletes a key; unmentioned keys carry over). Use it for a targeted env update, not a full neon.ts apply.

Load Function secrets into the same file env pull wrote, then neon deploy --env <file>. Pull the branch's Neon-managed vars onto disk for local dev with neon env pull (link/checkout do this automatically; pass --no-env-pull to skip and use neon-env run -- <cmd> for runtime injection). Limits: ≤1,000 vars, ≤64 KiB total, and the NEON_ prefix is reserved.

Connecting to Postgres

When the branch has Postgres, Neon injects the connection strings at runtime — you don't declare them, pass them at deploy time, or hardcode anything. The two you'll use:

• DATABASE_URL — pooled connection string (routed through Neon's connection pooler). Use it for normal request/response query traffic. Kept un-prefixed because every Postgres ORM (Drizzle, Prisma, Knex, …) reads DATABASE_URL by default.
• DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED — direct connection string to the same database. Use it for migrations, LISTEN/NOTIFY, and long multi-statement transactions.

Use Drizzle (or another ORM) on top of node-postgres (pg) for queries and schema management — not Neon's serverless driver. Functions are long-running and reuse an isolate across many requests, so a persistent pg pool is the right fit; the serverless driver's HTTP transport is meant for fully isolated, lambda-style runtimes.

Create the connection pool once at module scope and reuse it across requests — don't open a connection per request:

import { attachDatabasePool } from "@neon/functions";
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/node-postgres";
import { Pool } from "pg";

const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL, max: 5 });
attachDatabasePool(pool);
const db = drizzle(pool);

node-postgres emits idle-client failures as error on the pool. With no listener that is an uncaughtException and Node exits the isolate. Call attachDatabasePool(pool) once after new Pool. Requires @neon/functions ≥ 0.8.0. Expected idle disconnects (ECONNRESET, EPIPE, ETIMEDOUT, Postgres 57P01, node-postgres's Connection terminated unexpectedly) are silent. Anything else is console.error, or onUnexpectedError if you pass it on the first call. The first call wins; a later call that passes onUnexpectedError is ignored and warns. This does not close the pool.

Pooling is recommended because an isolate is reused across many requests (and several requests can be in flight on the same isolate at once — see Timeouts and Runtime Limits). A module-scope pool is opened once on cold start and then shared by every subsequent request that isolate serves, so you amortize connection setup instead of paying it on every request and you avoid exhausting Postgres connections under load.

Keep max small (e.g. 5): each isolate keeps its own pool, so total connections to Postgres scale with the number of live isolates. You don't need to close the pool on shutdown — when the runtime evicts an isolate it sends SIGINT/SIGTERM, and Neon's pooler reclaims those connections for you, so an explicit drain handler is redundant.

Reading process.env.DATABASE_URL directly works everywhere. The function in Setup instead uses @neon/env's parseEnv(config) to read the same value in a typed, validated way — either is fine.

Timeouts and Runtime Limits

Functions are long-running but still serverless — they are a request/response runtime, not a background job runner. The hard limits:

• Time to first byte: 15 minutes. Your handler must begin returning a response within 15 minutes of receiving a request. Most handlers finish in seconds; the 15-minute ceiling exists so agent workloads like image/video generation have room.
• Heartbeat: 15 minutes. Open WebSocket/SSE connections stay alive as long as data flows. The timeout only fires when a connection goes silent — send at least one byte every 15 minutes to keep a quiet stream alive.
• waitUntil: 15 minutes. Work registered with waitUntil (from @neon/functions) keeps the invocation alive after the response is sent, up to 15 minutes — for cleanup like analytics writes and audit logs, not a background job runner. Off the Neon runtime (local neon dev, tests) it's a no-op: the promise still runs but isn't tracked.
• Idle eviction. With no active connections Neon shuts the function down; it may also evict/restart for operational reasons — e.g. maintenance, or moving the function to a different compute node (active functions can run for hours first). Treat eviction like a process restart — WebSocket/SSE clients must reconnect. Neon sends SIGINT before evicting, so a process.on("SIGINT", ...) handler lets you detect that the function is about to be evicted and run any last-minute cleanup. You don't need one just to close Postgres connections — Neon's pooler reclaims those on its own.
• Runtime: Node.js 24, memory fixed at 2048 MiB. Slugs must match ^[a-z0-9]{1,20}$. An isolate is reused across many requests — multiple requests can be in flight on the same isolate at once (interleaved on Node's single-threaded event loop), and under load the runtime runs several isolates in parallel, each with its own copy of module state. State held in module scope is therefore per-isolate (shared by every request that isolate handles) and in-memory only — persist anything that must survive eviction in Postgres. This reuse is exactly why you create a connection pool once at module scope rather than per request (see Connecting to Postgres).

Functions as an Agent Backend (Next.js and Similar Frameworks)

A Neon Function is a great home for an AI agent precisely because it doesn't time out the way lambda-style serverless does (15-minute budget, see Timeouts and Runtime Limits). Proxying that stream through a Next.js route handler, Remix/SvelteKit/Nuxt action, or similar hosted on Vercel, Netlify, and the like cuts the stream when it exceeds that host's configured duration or transport limits, even though the Function would keep going. Keep the client-direct JWT path below as the default. A streaming-compatible proxy (HTTP-triggered Cloudflare Worker, after you verify the stream) is the public-consumer exception in Production hardening.

Building the agent itself. The Vercel AI SDK and Mastra are the recommended ways to build the agent — point either at the Neon AI Gateway (see the neon-ai-gateway skill) for one credential across every model, with no extra provider keys. For a complete AI SDK agent running as a Function (streaming toUIMessageStreamResponse, multi-step tool calling next to Postgres, and persisting generated images to Object Storage), see references/ai-sdk.md; for the Mastra equivalent with built-in tracing, see references/mastra-studio.md.

The fix: call the function directly from the client. Don't route the long request through your app server.

Browser ──(Authorization: Bearer <JWT>)──▶  Neon Function (agent)   ✅ no host timeout
Browser ──▶ your app backend ──▶ Neon Function                       ❌ host cuts the stream

• Get a short-lived bearer token from the identity the app already uses. Do not switch Clerk, Better Auth, Auth.js, Supabase Auth, or Managed Auth in order to call a Function.
  • Managed Auth, default client (createAuthClient / Next wrapper): authClient.token(), then data.token. Verify with injected NEON_AUTH_JWKS_URL and issuer new URL(process.env.NEON_AUTH_BASE_URL!).origin.
  • Managed Auth with SupabaseAuthAdapter(): that client has no .token(). Use getSession(), then data.session.access_token. Same JWKS/issuer as above.
  • Existing Better Auth / Auth.js / other signer that already publishes JWKS: use that JWKS URL, issuer, and audience. Inspect the installed contract; cookie or database sessions are not a JWKS.
  • Cookie/database sessions only: mint a short token on the existing app backend (that call is fast and stays within host limits), then the browser calls the Function directly with Authorization: Bearer. The Function stream must not go through the app host.
• Hand the token to the client, e.g. with the Vercel AI SDK: new DefaultChatTransport({ api: NEON_FUNCTION_URL, fetch }) where fetch attaches Authorization: Bearer <token>. Your app server is never in the path of the long stream.
• Add CORS so the browser can reach it (handle OPTIONS, set Access-Control-Allow-Origin/-Headers).

[!WARNING] A Neon Function has a public HTTPS URL — it is reachable by anyone. A direct client→function call means there is no app backend in front of it to gate access, so you must authenticate the function yourself. Verify a JWT against the caller's JWKS, check a shared secret / API key, or reject the request. Never deploy an unauthenticated agent. Browser callers use short-lived user tokens. Server or proxy origin secrets (X-Secret) stay server-side; see Production hardening.

// src/index.ts — verify the caller before doing any work
import { createRemoteJWKSet, jwtVerify } from "jose";

const jwks = createRemoteJWKSet(new URL(process.env.NEON_AUTH_JWKS_URL!));
const issuer = new URL(process.env.NEON_AUTH_BASE_URL!).origin;

export default {
  async fetch(request: Request) {
    if (request.method === "OPTIONS")
      return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: cors(request) });

    const auth = request.headers.get("authorization");
    if (!auth?.toLowerCase().startsWith("bearer ")) {
      return new Response("Unauthorized", {
        status: 401,
        headers: cors(request),
      });
    }
    let userId: string;
    try {
      const { payload } = await jwtVerify(auth.slice(7), jwks, { issuer });
      if (!payload.sub) {
        return new Response("Unauthorized", {
          status: 401,
          headers: cors(request),
        });
      }
      userId = payload.sub;
    } catch {
      return new Response("Unauthorized", {
        status: 401,
        headers: cors(request),
      });
    }
    // Authorize resource access by userId, then run the agent scoped to that user.
    // ... return result.toUIMessageStreamResponse({ headers: cors(request) })
  },
};

That snippet is Managed Auth verification. Mint the bearer token with .token() (data.token) on the default client, or getSession() then data.session.access_token on SupabaseAuthAdapter(). For another identity, pass that app's JWKS URL and issuer through Function env (see Environment Variables) and include audience only when that token contract requires it. https://neon.com/docs/compute/functions/authentication.md

A valid token is not permission to read another user's rows. Exercise two users: each can access their own data; cross-user access is denied. Repeat after restarting the Function against stored rows. A request-supplied owner id cannot grant access.

Persist anything you need to keep (generated images, history) in Postgres — module state doesn't survive eviction.