Neon Serverless PostgreSQL

Scale-to-zero PostgreSQL with automatic branching and instant provisioning

Neon provides serverless PostgreSQL with automatic scaling, branching, and point-in-time recovery for your AI agents.

from praisonaiagents import Agent

agent = Agent(
    name="Neon Agent",
    instructions="You are a helpful assistant with persistent memory.",
    db={"database_url": "postgresql://user:[e-mail]/db?sslmode=require"},
)
agent.start("Remember that I work at TechCorp as a developer")

The user chats with an agent; Neon wakes on demand, stores session state, and scales to zero when idle.

How It Works

Quick Start

1. Get Neon Credentials

   1. Create account at neon.tech
   2. Create a new project
   3. Copy connection string from dashboard

   export NEON_DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:[e-mail]/neondb?sslmode=require"
   
2. Create Agent with Neon

   from praisonaiagents import Agent
   
   agent = Agent(
       name="Neon Agent",
       instructions="You are a helpful assistant with persistent memory.",
       db={"database_url": "postgresql://user:[e-mail]/db?sslmode=require"}
   )
   
   # Start conversation
   result = agent.start("Remember that I work at TechCorp as a developer")
   print(result)
   
3. Test Persistence

   # Later session - agent remembers previous conversation
   result = agent.start("What company do I work for?")
   print(result)  # "You work at TechCorp as a developer"
   

---

Installation

pip

# Install with Neon/PostgreSQL support
pip install "praisonai[neon]"

Environment Variables

# Required
export NEON_DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:[e-mail]/db?sslmode=require"

# Optional
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."  # Or your preferred LLM provider

---

Configuration Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
database_url	str	None	Full PostgreSQL connection URL
max_retries	int	3	Retries for cold-start recovery
retry_delay	float	0.5	Base delay between retries (seconds)
pool_size	int	5	Connection pool size
auto_create_tables	bool	True	Create conversation tables automatically

---

Usage Patterns

Using Convenience Class

from praisonai.db.adapter import NeonDB
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Auto-reads from NEON_DATABASE_URL environment variable
db = NeonDB()
agent = Agent(name="Neon Agent", db=db)

Manual Configuration

from praisonai.db.adapter import PraisonAIDB
from praisonaiagents import Agent

db = PraisonAIDB(
    database_url="postgresql://user:[e-mail]/mydb?sslmode=require",
    max_retries=5,  # Extra retries for cold starts
    retry_delay=1.0  # 1 second base delay
)

agent = Agent(name="Custom Neon Agent", db=db)

Full Lifecycle Example

import os
from praisonai import ManagedAgent, LocalManagedConfig
from praisonai.db.adapter import NeonDB
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Phase 1: Create persistent agent
db = NeonDB(database_url=os.environ["NEON_DATABASE_URL"])
managed = ManagedAgent(
    provider="local",
    db=db,
    config=LocalManagedConfig(
        model="gpt-4o-mini",
        name="Neon Demo Agent",
        system="You are a helpful assistant. Remember all user preferences."
    )
)

agent = Agent(name="User", backend=managed)

# Teach the agent some facts
result1 = agent.run("I prefer concise responses and work in AI/ML")
print(f"Agent: {result1}")

result2 = agent.run("Also, I use Python and prefer practical examples")
print(f"Agent: {result2}")

# Phase 2: Save session and simulate scale-to-zero
session_data = managed.save_ids()
print(f"Session saved: {session_data['session_id']}")
del agent, managed, db  # Simulate shutdown

# Phase 3: Resume from Neon after cold start
db2 = NeonDB(database_url=os.environ["NEON_DATABASE_URL"])
managed2 = ManagedAgent(provider="local", db=db2)
managed2.resume_session(session_data["session_id"])

agent2 = Agent(name="User", backend=managed2)
result3 = agent2.run("What do you know about my preferences?")
print(f"Resumed Agent: {result3}")
# Should recall: concise responses, AI/ML work, Python preference

---

Neon-Specific Features

Database Branching

Create development branches of your agent’s data:

# Create a branch for testing
neon branches create --name agent-testing --parent main

# Get branch connection string
neon connection-string agent-testing

# Use branch for development
dev_db = NeonDB(database_url="postgresql://[e-mail]/db")
dev_agent = Agent(name="Dev Agent", db=dev_db)

# Test new conversation flows without affecting production
result = dev_agent.start("Test new features here")

Point-in-Time Recovery

Restore agent conversations to any point in time:

# Restore database to 2 hours ago
neon branches create --name agent-restore --parent main --point-in-time "2024-01-15 14:00:00"

Connection Pooling

Neon automatically pools connections, but you can tune for your workload:

from praisonai.db.adapter import NeonDB

db = NeonDB(
    database_url="postgresql://...?sslmode=require",
    pool_size=10,  # Larger pool for high-concurrency agents
    max_retries=3,  # Standard retry for Neon cold starts
)

---

Best Practices

Optimize for Cold Starts

Neon databases auto-suspend after 5 minutes of inactivity. The first connection takes ~500ms-2s:

from praisonai.db.adapter import NeonDB

# Optimize retry settings for cold starts
db = NeonDB(
    database_url="postgresql://...",
    max_retries=5,  # Extra retries for wake-up
    retry_delay=1.0,  # 1 second between retries
)

Use SSL Connections

Neon requires SSL for all connections. PraisonAI auto-adds sslmode=require:

# Both are equivalent - SSL is enforced automatically
db1 = NeonDB(database_url="postgresql://user:[e-mail]/db")
db2 = NeonDB(database_url="postgresql://user:[e-mail]/db?sslmode=require")

Monitor Usage

Track your database usage in the Neon dashboard:

• Compute time: Billed per second of activity
• Storage: Grows with conversation history
• Data transfer: Minimal for typical agent workloads

Set up alerts before hitting free tier limits (0.5GB storage, 100 hours compute/month).

Handle Network Issues

PraisonAI automatically handles transient connection failures:

# Connection failures are retried automatically
# No manual error handling needed
agent = Agent(
    name="Robust Agent",
    instructions="You handle network issues gracefully.",
    db={"database_url": os.environ["NEON_DATABASE_URL"]}
)

---

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Format	Example
NEON_DATABASE_URL	✅	postgresql://user:pass@host/db	postgresql://user:[e-mail]/neondb?sslmode=require
OPENAI_API_KEY	✅	sk-...	sk-1234567890abcdef...

---

Troubleshooting

Cold Start Timeouts

If you see connection timeouts on first request:

# Increase retry settings
db = NeonDB(max_retries=5, retry_delay=2.0)

SSL Certificate Issues

Ensure your Neon URL includes SSL mode:

# Add sslmode if missing
export NEON_DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:[e-mail]/db?sslmode=require"

Connection Pool Exhaustion

For high-concurrency agents, increase pool size:

db = NeonDB(pool_size=20)  # Default is 5

---

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