> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

# How do I connect my application to my Neon database using the connection string?

Read DATABASE_URL from your environment and pass it to a Postgres driver.

Once you have a connection string from the **Connect** widget on your Neon **Project Dashboard**, save it as an environment variable (commonly `DATABASE_URL`) and pass it to a Postgres driver in your code. Neon speaks the standard Postgres wire protocol, so anything that talks to Postgres works: `pg`, `psycopg2`, `psql`, Prisma, Drizzle, SQLAlchemy, and so on. For serverless and edge runtimes, the [Neon serverless driver](https://neon.com/docs/serverless/serverless-driver) adds HTTP and WebSocket access.

## 1. Save the connection string in `.env`

```text filename=".env"
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://alex:AbC123dEf@ep-cool-darkness-a1b2c3d4-pooler.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/dbname?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require"
```

Add `.env` to `.gitignore`. Keep the `sslmode=require` and `channel_binding=require` parameters in place. Neon requires TLS.

## 2. Connect from your code

**Node.js (neon)**

```javascript
// Best for serverless and edge runtimes
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const rows = await sql`SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${1}`;
console.log(rows);
```

**Node.js (pg)**

```javascript
// Standard Node.js (Express, Fastify, long-lived servers)
import { Pool } from 'pg';

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

const { rows } = await pool.query('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = $1', [1]);
console.log(rows);
```

**Python (psycopg2)**

```python
import os
import psycopg2

with psycopg2.connect(os.environ["DATABASE_URL"]) as conn:
    with conn.cursor() as cur:
        cur.execute("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = %s", (1,))
        rows = cur.fetchall()
        print(rows)
```

**psql**

```bash
psql "$DATABASE_URL"
```

For Prisma, Drizzle, SQLAlchemy, and other ORMs, see the [framework guides](https://neon.com/docs/get-started/frameworks).

## 3. Pick the right connection type

Neon offers two flavors of the same connection string:

- **Pooled** (hostname has `-pooler`): routes through PgBouncer in transaction mode and supports up to 10,000 concurrent client connections per compute. Use it for serverless functions, web apps, and high-concurrency clients.
- **Direct**: opens a session straight to Postgres. Use it for migrations, `pg_dump`, `LISTEN`/`NOTIFY`, logical replication, and any session-level features. The number of direct connections you can hold open scales with compute size.

The Connect widget gives you either by toggling **Connection pooling**. Most apps set `DATABASE_URL` to the pooled URL and `DIRECT_URL` to the direct URL for migrations. See [Connection pooling](https://neon.com/docs/connect/connection-pooling) for when to use which.

**Important: Always read the string from the environment**

Hardcoding the URL in source code is a common source of credential leaks. Read it from `process.env.DATABASE_URL`, `os.environ`, or your secret manager. If you're deploying to Vercel, Render, Fly, or similar, set `DATABASE_URL` in the platform's env settings. The [Neon-Vercel integration](https://neon.com/docs/guides/vercel-managed-integration) sets it automatically.

> **Choose your connection method**
>
> Compare drivers and connection types based on where you're deploying.
>
> [Read the docs](https://neon.com/docs/connect/choose-connection)