Neon is just amazingly fast, serverless PostgreSQL with branching built-in. But after using it for a few months, I just hit a wall. The dashboard wasn't keeping up. It was slow, the queries were stalling, and eventually I just tweeted about it.
To their credit, the Neon CEO himself replied, and the team promptly fixed the backend issue. But when I thought about it yesterday, it left me with a thought:
Why am I even using a dashboard for this stuff?
So, I built an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server using Composio and Claude Code as my client, and it works great. Now, I manage all my Neon projects locally, no clicking things around, no waiting for the dashboard to load, just prompts and a good, reliable speed.
But first, what even is MCP?
MCP is like an adapter between LLMs (like Claude) and the tools we use every day.
Think of it like a USB-C for your AI agents.
According to modelcontextprotocol.io:
"MCP is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context to LLMs. Think of MCP like a USB-C port for AI applications. Just as USB-C provides a standardized way to connect your devices to various peripherals and accessories, MCP provides a standardized way to connect AI models to different data sources and tools.”
So with an MCP server, your LLM can plug into your Neon project and interact with it just like a human would.
Wait, what is Composio in this?
If you're wondering how Composio fits in, think about Composio as the integration layer that manages auth, config, and plugs tools like Neon into your AI workflow.
You can run your MCPs, but that means handling:
- Auth (OAuth, API keys)
- Manually describing each tool in the right format
With Composio, you skip all that. Just pick a tool from their dashboard (like Neon), connect it, and boom. It’s accessible from Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, or even just curl.
credits: modelcontextprotocol
In this blog post, I'll walk you through:
- What’s Neon MCP by Composio, and what can you do with it?
- How I set it up and now use Claude to manage projects locally
- How you can build this setup too, in minutes
What's Neon MCP by Composio (and why it's useful)?
Composio provides an MCP server that bridges Claude (or any LLM) with tools like Neon. It handles auth, context, and execution of tasks via simple, structured actions. Here's what you can do with it:
-
NEON_CREATE_PROJECT_WITH_QUOTA_AND_SETTINGS: Create a new project with a specific quota and settings. -
NEON_CREATE_BRANCH_DATABASE: Create a new branch database. -
NEON_RETRIEVE_BRANCH_DATABASE_DETAILS: Retrieve the details of a branch database. -
NEON_RETRIEVE_PROJECT_LIST: Retrieve the list of projects. -
NEON_DELETE_PROJECT_BY_ID: Delete a project by its ID, and more...
What I built (and why it helped)
I switch between projects a lot, testing ideas, spinning up fresh DBs, cleaning up old ones. Managing that from a slow UI was painful.
Now, I just ask Claude things like:
“Create a new Neon project called test-db, with default settings.”
And it just works.
How to set it up (and use it yourself)
You’ll need:
- Composio Neon MCP
- Claude Code
- Neon and your API key, which you can get from the dashboard itself.
Option 1: Using the Composio MCP page (quick and easy)
- Head to the MCP link
- Click the Claude tab → Generate → Copy the command.
- Run it in your terminal:
npx @composio/mcp@latest setup "<https://mcp.composio.dev/partner/composio/neon/mcp?customerId=[your-customer-id]>" "neon-lig0gc-38" --client claude
- Then copy the config file to your local project:
cp ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json .mcp.json
- Start Claude (claude) and prompt it to authenticate using your Neon API key.
Option 2: Using the Composio Dashboard (more control)
If you want more control over your Neon workflows. Here’s how to get started using the dashboard
- Head to the Composio Dashboard
- Navigate to MCP Confgs → Click “Create MCP Config”
Give the configuration a name, choose Neon as your toolkit, and move to the Integration step. But before that, select the tools you want your agent to use.
In the integration step, you’ll be redirected back to MCP Configs. Search for your newly created config, and hit “Create New Server”, and paste your Neon API key.
Click “Connect Account” and copy the generated command to run it locally.
Quick test: Try something like this to verify it’s working:
Create a new project with the "test-project" name, default settings, and default quota.
Using the MCP server with Claude Code
With everything set up, just open Claude Code and try stuff like:
- “Show me all existing Neon projects.”
- “Delete the test-db project.”
- “Create a branch on dev-db.”
Works across Cursor, Claude, Windsurf, or even plain HTTP endpoints.
Conclusion
I built this out of frustration, but ended up with a local, Claude-powered dev workflow, which I now genuinely enjoy using.
If you’re tired of slow dashboards or clicking through UIs, give this a shot. It’s fast, flexible, and kind of fun once it’s all set up.
Top comments (5)
🔥🔥🔥
🔥🔥
🔥
Neat! Yet another example of natural language replacing UI buttons. It's happening and I can't wait!
Absolutely.. we're almost heading toward something where “click here” turns into “just ask”