How to set up Neon Local with Docker Compose and JavaScript Postgres clients

A practical guide to Neon Local with JavaScript and Docker Compose for local and production setups

ICYMI we recently launched Neon Local.

What is Neon Local?

Neon Local is a proxy service that creates a local interface to your Neon cloud database. By default, it automatically creates a new database branch when your container starts and deletes it when the container stops. Your app connects to a local Postgres endpoint while Neon Local handles routing and authentication to the correct project and branch. This means you don’t have to update connection strings across branches.

Our docs cover how to use Neon Local with both our serverless driver and pg, but one area that might cause some confusion is how to switch between Neon Local in development and your Neon cloud database in production.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to set up your project to work in both development and production environments.