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Evidence record · captured 2026-10-11

Neon Postgres

Guides work against an existing Neon Postgres database (branded 'Lakebase Postgres on Neon' in the skill): selecting org/project, pooled vs direct connection strings and driver choice, schema migrations, branching, autoscaling and scale-to-zero, instant restore, read replicas, IP allow lists, logical replication, and Lakebase Search (vector, full-text/BM25, hybrid). It defers new backends, Auth, files and Functions to the parent `neon` skill.

Official publisherUnverifiedSource reviewedBehavior not tested
Source review

Editorial assessment

This is a source-only assessment. It does not claim runtime or security testing.

What it does

Teaches the agent the Neon-specific side of an existing Postgres database: which connection string to use when, branch-based migration testing, and read-only diagnostics. Generic query tuning goes to a separate skill.

Best for

  • Wiring an app to Neon and choosing pooled vs direct connections and a driver for the runtime
  • Testing a schema migration on a branch of production data before applying it
  • Investigating slow queries or cache behavior with neon inspect db checks

Strengths in the source

  • Has the agent reuse an existing DATABASE_URL instead of listing orgs or creating a second project, and read .env before modifying it.
  • A use-case table and a gotchas section explain why migrations, dumps, replication and LISTEN/NOTIFY must use the direct URL, with the misleading errors pooling produces.
  • Maps symptoms to specific diagnostic checks and warns that unused-index and bloat results are candidates, not permission to drop or rebuild.
  • Tells the agent to ask before running CREATE EXTENSION and not to run EXPLAIN ANALYZE autonomously on mutating SQL.

Limitations

  • Tells the agent to fetch the parent neon skill (and a branching skill) from neon.com at run time if not installed, so the pinned copy is not the whole behavior.
  • Requires a Neon account and project; the neonctl CLI or the Neon MCP server is needed for project selection, branching and diagnostics.
  • Many sections are short pointers to neon.com docs, and plan-dependent details such as scale-to-zero settings and restore windows can change.

When not to use it

  • Postgres hosted anywhere other than Neon
  • New backends, auth, file storage or functions on Neon, which the skill routes to its parent and sibling skills

Reviewed by Retenta editorial on 2026-10-11; scope: source only.

Files included in this review
  • skills/neon-postgres/SKILL.md

Evidence and boundaries

Execution · not tested

Retenta has not executed this skill.

Security · not tested

The skill folder bundles no executable scripts. Retenta has not run a security scan.

Pinned publisher source
skills/neon-postgres/SKILL.md
Revision
bfd013c352ed31b57a573e4f60263afc5fdd7f7a
License evidence
Apache-2.0Retenta preserves the license text captured with this immutable upstream snapshot; no independent legal or security review is claimed.
Last source change
2026-09-23
Independent verification
Published by Neon, but not independently verified by a third-party reviewer.
Upstream repository
Open publisher repository

Compatibility

Claude Code

documented

Named in the upstream skill or repository documentation; not tested by Retenta.

Cursor

documented

Named in the upstream skill or repository documentation; not tested by Retenta.

Pi

documented

Named in the upstream skill or repository documentation; not tested by Retenta.

any Agent Skills client via npx skills

documented

Named in the upstream skill or repository documentation; not tested by Retenta.

Requirements and access

  • Neon account / DATABASE_URL
  • Optional: neonctl CLI, @neondatabase/serverless driver
  • Network access (may fetch the parent skill from neon.com)

Referenced tools

No named tool is required by the reviewed SKILL.md.

Install from the source

Clones the current default branch, which may be newer than the reviewed revision bfd013c. The destination shown is Claude Code's personal skills folder; other agents read the same folder from their own skills directory.

View the SKILL.md at its source Verify the publisher's install documentation

More Databases skills →

Install the full skill folder

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/neondatabase/agent-skills.git
cp -R agent-skills/skills/neon-postgres ~/.claude/skills/neon-postgres

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