--- title: Connect MCP clients to Neon subtitle: Learn how to connect MCP clients such as Cursor, Claude Desktop, Cline, Windsurf, Zed, and VS Code to your Neon Postgres database. enableTableOfContents: true updatedOn: '2025-10-23T10:46:41.575Z' --- The **Neon MCP Server** allows you to connect various [**Model Context Protocol (MCP)**](https://modelcontextprotocol.org) 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: - [Claude Desktop](#claude-desktop) - [Claude Code](#claude-code) - [Cursor](#cursor) - [Windsurf (Codeium)](#windsurf-codeium) - [Cline (VS Code extension)](#cline-vs-code-extension) - [Zed](#zed) - [VS Code (with GitHub Copilot)](#vs-code-with-github-copilot) - [ChatGPT](#chatgpt) 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. The Neon MCP Server grants powerful database management capabilities through natural language requests. **Always review and authorize actions requested by the LLM before execution.** Ensure that only authorized users and applications have access to the Neon MCP Server. The Neon MCP Server is intended for local development and IDE integrations only. **We do not recommend using the Neon MCP Server in production environments.** It can execute powerful operations that may lead to accidental or unauthorized changes. For more information, see [MCP security guidance →](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#mcp-security-guidance). ## Prerequisites - An MCP Client application. - A [Neon account](https://console.neon.tech/signup). - **Node.js (>= v18.0.0) and npm:** Download from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org). For Local MCP Server setup, you also need a Neon API key. See [Neon API Keys documentation](/docs/manage/api-keys#creating-api-keys). 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 or a Neon API key. 2. **Local MCP Server:** Install and run the Neon MCP server locally, using a Neon API key. ## 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: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp"] } } } ``` > To use SSE instead of streamable HTTP responses, you can specify the `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse` endpoint instead of `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp`. 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. > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). 1. Open your terminal. 2. Run the following command, replacing `YOUR_NEON_API_KEY` with your actual Neon API key: ```bash npx @neondatabase/mcp-server-neon init YOUR_NEON_API_KEY ``` 3. Restart Claude Desktop. For more, see [Get started with Neon MCP server with Claude Desktop](/guides/neon-mcp-server). ## Claude Code 1. Ensure you have Claude Code installed. Visit [docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) for installation instructions. 2. Open terminal and add Neon MCP with ```sh claude mcp add --transport http neon https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp ``` 3. Start a new session of `claude` to trigger OAuth authentication flow 4. You can also trigger authentication with `/mcp` within Claude Code.
If you prefer to authenticate using a Neon API key, provide `Authorization` header to `mcp add` command: ``` claude mcp add --transport http neon https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer " ``` > Replace `` with your actual Neon API key which you obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section 1. Ensure you have Claude Code installed. Visit [docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) for installation instructions. 2. Open terminal and add Neon MCP with ```sh claude mcp add neon -- npx -y @neondatabase/mcp-server-neon start " Replace `` with your actual Neon API key which you obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section 3. Start new Claude Code session with `claude` command and start using Neon MCP ## Cursor ### Quick Install (Recommended) Click the button below to install the Neon MCP server in Cursor. When prompted, click **Install** within Cursor. Add Neon MCP server to Cursor ### Manual Setup 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: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp", "headers": {} } } } ``` > To use SSE instead of streamable HTTP responses, you can specify the `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse` endpoint instead of `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp`. 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. > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). 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. Replace `` with your actual Neon API key which you obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } } } ``` 4. Save the configuration file. Cursor may detect the change or require a restart. For more, see [Get started with Cursor and Neon Postgres MCP Server](/guides/cursor-mcp-neon). ## Windsurf (Codeium) 1. Open Windsurf and navigate to the Cascade assistant sidebar. 2. Click the hammer (MCP) icon, then **Configure** which opens up the "Manage MCPs" configuration file. 3. Click on "View raw config" to open the raw configuration file in Windsurf. 4. Add the "Neon" server entry within the `mcpServers` object: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp"] } } } ``` > To use SSE instead of streamable HTTP responses, you can specify the `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse` endpoint instead of `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp`. 5. Save the file. 6. Click the **Refresh** button in the Cascade sidebar next to "available MCP servers". 7. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize Windsurf to access your Neon account. > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). 1. Open Windsurf and navigate to the Cascade assistant sidebar. 2. Click the hammer (MCP) icon, then **Configure** which opens up the "Manage MCPs" configuration file. 3. Click on "View raw config" to open the raw configuration file in Windsurf. 4. Add the "Neon" server entry within the `mcpServers` object: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } } } ``` > Replace `` with your actual Neon API key which you obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section. 5. Save the file. 6. Click the **Refresh** button in the Cascade sidebar next to "available MCP servers". For more, see [Get started with Windsurf and Neon Postgres MCP Server](/guides/windsurf-mcp-neon). ## 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: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.neon.tech/sse"] } } } ``` > For [streamable HTTP responses](#streamable-http-support) instead of SSE, you can specify the `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp` endpoint instead of `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. > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). 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: ```json { "mcpServers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } } } ``` > Replace `` with your actual Neon API key which you obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section. 4. Save the file. Cline should reload the configuration automatically. For more, see [Get started with Cline and Neon Postgres MCP Server](/guides/cline-mcp-neon). ## Zed 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](https://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: ```bash npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.neon.tech/sse ``` - Click **Add Server**. > For [streamable HTTP responses](#streamable-http-support) instead of SSE, you can specify the `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp` endpoint instead of `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse`. 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. > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). 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 the following, replacing `` with your actual Neon API key obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section: ```bash npx -y @neondatabase/mcp-server-neon start ``` - Click **Add Server**. 6. 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](/guides/zed-mcp-neon). ## VS Code (with GitHub Copilot) To use MCP servers with VS Code, you need [GitHub Copilot](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GitHub.copilot) and [GitHub Copilot Chat](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GitHub.copilot-chat) extensions installed 1. Open VS Code. 2. Create a `.vscode` folder in your project's root directory if it doesn't exist. 3. Create or open the `mcp.json` file in the `.vscode` directory and add the following configuration into the file (if you have other MCP servers configured, add the "Neon" server entry within the `servers` object): ```json { "servers": { "Neon": { "url": "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp", "type": "http" } }, "inputs": [] } ``` > For [streamable HTTP responses](#streamable-http-support) instead of SSE, you can specify the `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp` endpoint instead of `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse`. 4. Save the `mcp.json` file. 5. Click on Start on the MCP server. 6. An OAuth window will open in your browser. Follow the prompts to authorize VS Code (GitHub Copilot) to access your Neon account. 7. Once authorized, you can now open GitHub Copilot Chat in VS Code and [switch to Agent mode](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/chat-agent-mode). You will see the Neon MCP Server listed among the available tools. > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). 1. Open VS Code. 2. Open your [User Settings (JSON) file](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers#_add-an-mcp-server-to-your-user-settings): Use the command palette (`Ctrl+Shift+P` or `Cmd+Shift+P`) and search for "Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)". 3. Add the Neon MCP server configuration to your `settings.json` file. If the `"mcp.servers"` object doesn't exist, create it: ```json { // ... your other settings ... "mcp": { "servers": { "Neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } } } // ... } ``` 4. Save the `settings.json` file. 5. Click on Start on the MCP server. 6. You can now open GitHub Copilot Chat in VS Code and [switch to Agent mode](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/chat-agent-mode). You will see the Neon MCP Server listed among the available tools. For detailed instructions on utilizing the Neon MCP server with GitHub Copilot in VS Code, including a step-by-step example on generating an Azure Function REST API, refer to [How to Use Neon MCP Server with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](/guides/neon-mcp-server-github-copilot-vs-code). ## ChatGPT You can connect ChatGPT to the Neon MCP Server using custom MCP connectors. This integration extends ChatGPT with Neon's database capabilities so you can query, manage, and interact with your Neon projects directly within ChatGPT. ![ChatGPT with Neon MCP Server](/docs/changelog/chatgpt_mcp.png) To connect ChatGPT to the Neon MCP Server, you need to first enable ChatGPT's developer mode, then add the Neon MCP Server as a custom connector. This makes the connector available for your account; you'll need to separately enable both developer mode and Neon as a source for any chat where you want to use Neon. 1. **Add MCP server to ChatGPT** In your ChatGPT account settings, go to **Settings** → **Connectors** → **Advanced Settings** and enable **Developer mode**. Still on the Connectors tab, you can then **create** a Neon connection from the **Browse connectors** section. Use the following URL: ```bash https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp ``` Make sure you choose **OAuth** for authentication and check "I trust this application", then complete the authorization flow when prompted.
![ChatGPT connector configuration](/docs/ai/chatgpt_mcp_add_connector.png)
![ChatGPT with Neon MCP tools enabled](/docs/ai/chatgpt_mcp_tools.png)
2. **Enable Neon per chat** In each chat where you want to use Neon, click the **+** button and enable Developer Mode for that chat. Under **Add sources**, you can then enable the Neon connector you just created. Once connected, you can use natural language to manage your Neon databases directly in ChatGPT. ## 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: > By default, the Remote MCP Server connects to your personal Neon account. To connect to an organization's account, you must authenticate with an API key. If your client supports it, provide the key in the `Authorization` header. For more information, see [API key-based authentication](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#api-key-based-authentication). ```json "neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp"] } ``` > MCP supports two remote server transports: the deprecated Server-Sent Events (SSE) and the newer, recommended Streamable HTTP. If your LLM client doesn't support Streamable HTTP yet, you can switch the endpoint from `https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp` to `https://mcp.neon.tech/sse` to use SSE instead. Then follow the OAuth flow on first connection. - **Local MCP server:** Add the following JSON configuration within the `mcpServers` section of your client's `MCP` configuration file, replacing `` with your actual Neon API key obtained from the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) section: For **MacOS and Linux**, add the following JSON configuration within the `mcpServers` section of your client's `mcp_config` file, replacing `` with your actual Neon API key: ```json "neon": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } ``` For **Windows**, add the following JSON configuration within the `mcpServers` section of your client's `mcp_config` file, replacing `` with your actual Neon API key: ```json "neon": { "command": "cmd", "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } ``` For **Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)**, add the following JSON configuration within the `mcpServers` section of your client's `mcp_config` file, replacing `` with your actual Neon API key: ```json "neon": { "command": "wsl", "args": ["npx", "-y", "@neondatabase/mcp-server-neon", "start", ""] } ``` 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 ### Configuration Issues 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: ```bash # For Remote MCP server npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.neon.tech/mcp # For Local MCP server npx -y @neondatabase/mcp-server-neon start ``` ### OAuth Authentication Errors When using the remote MCP server with OAuth authentication, you might encounter the following error: ``` {"code":"invalid_request","error":"invalid redirect uri"} ``` This typically occurs when there are issues with cached OAuth credentials. To resolve this: 1. Remove the MCP authentication cache directory: ```bash rm -rf ~/.mcp-auth ``` 2. Restart your MCP client application 3. The OAuth flow will start fresh, allowing you to properly authenticate This error is most common when using the remote MCP server option and can occur after OAuth configuration changes or when cached credentials become invalid. ## 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)](/docs/ai/neon-mcp-server#supported-actions-tools) of the Neon MCP Server to understand the available functionalities. ## Resources - [MCP Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.org) - [Neon API Reference](https://api-docs.neon.tech/reference/getting-started-with-neon-api) - [Neon API Keys](/docs/manage/api-keys#creating-api-keys) - [Neon MCP server GitHub](https://github.com/neondatabase/mcp-server-neon) - [VS Code MCP Server Documentation](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers)