Connecting with the Vercel-Managed Integration

About this integration

Vercel-Managed Integration (also known as Neon Postgres Native Integration) lets you add a Neon Postgres database to your Vercel project with billing handled entirely inside Vercel. Installing it:

• Creates a Neon account + project for you (if you don't already have one)
• For existing Neon users, adds a new organization named Vercel: <team-name> to your account
• Injects the required database environment variables (DATABASE_URL, etc.) into your Vercel project
• Optionally creates a dedicated database branch for every Preview Deployment so you can test schema changes safely

Installation walkthrough

1. Open Neon integration

   Open the Neon integration on the Vercel Marketplace and click Install.

2. Add the integration in Vercel

   This opens the Install Neon modal where you can choose between two options. Select Create New Neon Account, then click Continue.

   

3. Complete Vercel's configuration

   Accept the terms, pick a region & plan, then name your database. (Remember: a "Database" in Vercel is a Project in Neon.)

4. View storage settings

   After creation you'll land on Vercel's Storage tab that includes status, plan, connection string, billing plan, and more.

5. Optionally open the project in the Neon Console

   From the Storage tab, click Open in Neon to jump straight to your new Neon project dashboard in the Neon Console. You'll notice it lives in an organization named Vercel: <your-vercel-team>.

Connecting the database to a Vercel project

1. In Storage → <your database> → Connect Project choose the Vercel project and the environments that should receive database variables (Development, Preview, Production).

   

2. (Optional) Under Advanced Options → Deployments Configuration enable Preview to turn on Preview Branching (see next section).

   

3. Click Connect.

Enable automated preview branching (recommended)

Preview branching creates an isolated Neon branch (copy-on-write) for every Vercel Preview Deployment so database schema changes can be tested safely.

To enable:

1. While connecting the project (step above) toggle Required → Preview.
2. Make sure Resource must be active before deployment is also on. This allows Vercel to wait for the branch to be ready.

Once enabled, the flow looks like this:

1. Developer pushes to feature branch → Vercel kicks off Preview Deployment.

2. Vercel sends a webhook to Neon → Neon creates branch preview/<git-branch>.

3. Environment variables for the branch connection are injected via webhook at deployment time, overriding preview environment variables for this deployment only (cannot be accessed or viewed in your Vercel project's environment variable settings).

4. (Optional) Run migrations in build step so schema matches code.

   

   To apply schema changes automatically, add migration commands to your Vercel build configuration:

   1. Go to Vercel Dashboard → Settings → Build and Deployment Settings

   2. Enable Override and add your build commands, including migrations, for example:

      npx prisma migrate deploy && npm run build

   This ensures schema changes in your commits are applied to each preview deployment's database branch.

Test the setup

To verify preview branching works:

1. Create a local branch: git checkout -b test-feature
2. Make any change and commit: git commit -a -m "Test change"
3. Push: git push
4. Check Vercel deployments and Neon Console branches to confirm the preview branch was created

Automatic branch cleanup

Preview branches are automatically deleted when their corresponding Vercel deployments are deleted. This keeps your Neon project organized and reduces storage usage.

How it works:

• Each Git branch can have multiple Vercel deployments, all using the same Neon branch.

• When the last deployment for a Git branch is deleted (manually or via Vercel's deployment retention policy), Neon automatically deletes the corresponding database branch.

• Cleanup happens when deployments are deleted, which you can configure using Vercel's retention policy settings. By default, Pre-Production Deployments (preview environments) are retained for 180 days:

  

Managing & billing

Because your database is managed by Vercel, you can only perform these actions in the Vercel dashboard:

• Change plan, billing tier, or scale settings (compute size, autoscaling, scale-to-zero)
• View or modify database configuration via Storage → Settings → Change Configuration
• Monitor usage via Storage → Usage (also available in Neon Console)
• Create additional databases (each becomes a new Neon project)
• Rename or delete a database (deleting removes the underlying Neon project permanently)
• Manage members / collaborators (handled through Vercel "Members", not the Neon Console) - (see FAQ for details)
• Delete the Neon organization (only happens automatically if you uninstall the integration)
• Update connection-string environment variables (prefix changes, etc.)

Everything else (querying data, branching, monitoring usage) works exactly the same in the Neon Console.

Team member synchronization

Team membership changes in Vercel automatically sync to your Neon organization:

• Initial access: Team members must click Open in Neon from the Vercel integration page and complete authentication before they appear in the Neon organization. This one-time step links their Vercel identity to Neon.
• Role changes: When a team member's role changes in Vercel, their Neon role updates based on Vercel's JWT token mapping (see FAQ for details). Most Vercel roles (Owner, Admin, Member) map to 'Admin' in Neon, while read-only roles (Viewer, Billing) map to 'Member' in Neon.
• Removals: When a user is removed from your Vercel team, they're automatically removed from the associated Neon organization.

This ensures both platforms stay aligned for security and access control.

Project transfers between teams

When you transfer a Vercel project to another team, the linked Neon project automatically moves to the new team's Neon organization:

• The linked Neon project moves from the old organization to the new one.
• Environment variables and settings transfer with it.
• If the destination's plan doesn't support the project's requirements (autoscaling limits, point-in-time restore window, etc.), you'll be prompted to upgrade.

This eliminates the need to manually reconfigure integrations when reorganizing projects.

Common operations

Add another database (project)

1. Go to Integrations → Neon Postgres → Manage → More Products → Install
2. Select region, scale settings, and plan
3. Specify a Database Name and click Create

Change compute / scale settings

Storage → Settings → Change Configuration lets you resize compute, adjust scale-to-zero, or switch Neon plan tiers. Changes apply to all databases in the installation.

Delete the database

Deleting from Vercel permanently removes the Neon project and all data. This cannot be undone. To delete:

1. Vercel Dashboard → Storage → Settings
2. Select your database
3. Find Delete Database section and confirm

Disconnect a project from database

To disconnect a Vercel project without deleting the database:

1. Go to Storage → <your database> → Projects
2. Select your project and choose Remove Project Connection

This removes database environment variables from your Vercel project but keeps the database intact. Previously created preview branches remain but new ones won't be created.

Manage branches created by the integration

Preview branches are automatically deleted when their deployments expire, but you can also manually delete branches via:

• Neon Console - Individual or bulk deletion
• Neon CLI - Command line management
• Neon API - Programmatic cleanup

Environment variables set by the integration

Limitations

• You cannot use this integration with the Neon-Managed integration in the same Vercel project
• Neon CLI access: Requires API key authentication (the neon auth command won't work since the account is Vercel-managed)
• Cannot install if you currently use Vercel Postgres (deprecated) - contact Vercel about transitioning
• Preview deployment environment variables: Branch-specific connection variables cannot be accessed or viewed in your Vercel project's environment variable settings (they're injected at deployment time only and not stored to avoid manual cleanup when branches are deleted)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why can't I see Vercel team members in the Neon Console?

Users added to your Vercel team aren't automatically visible in the Neon organization. Team members only appear in Neon when they:

1. Click the Open in Neon button from the Vercel integration page
2. Complete the authentication flow

Why do Vercel team members with 'Member' role have the 'Admin' role in Neon?

This occurs due to how Vercel's JWT tokens map roles to the integration. According to Vercel's documentation, the JWT token's user_role claim doesn't directly map Vercel team roles:

• ADMIN role in JWT: Granted to users capable of installing integrations (includes Vercel Owner, Admin, and Member roles) → maps to Admin in Neon.
• USER role in JWT: Only granted to users with read-only Vercel roles (includes Billing and Viewer roles) → maps to Member in Neon.

As a result, most active Vercel team members receive Admin access in the Neon organization. This is expected behavior and ensures team members can fully manage database resources.