# Neon Data API

The Neon Data API is the HTTP query service in the Neon backend for apps and agents. It provides a secure, stateless interface to your database, letting you access and manage your data directly from web browsers, serverless functions, and edge runtimes using standard HTTP methods. Key benefits include:

- **Browser and edge compatibility.** Standard Postgres drivers don't work in web browsers and struggle in edge runtimes, so query from Cloudflare Workers, Vercel Edge, or a browser frontend over standard HTTP.
- **Connectionless scalability.** Short-lived HTTP requests replace persistent TCP connections, so you avoid connection pool exhaustion and scale to thousands of concurrent users.
- **Secure by default.** The API validates JWTs from any authentication provider and respects PostgreSQL [Row-Level Security (RLS)](/guides/postgres-guides-row-level-security) policies, so users only access data they're permitted to see. Use [Managed Better Auth](/guides/auth-index), or bring your own provider like [Auth0, Clerk, or Firebase](/guides/postgres-data-api-custom-authentication-providers).
- **CI/CD integration.** Test integrations in isolated branch environments with the [Neon Create Branch GitHub Action](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/neon-create-branch-github-action), which retrieves branch-specific Data API URLs for your workflows.

:::callout{intent="note" title="Secure your data before exposing it"}
The Data API has no permission layer of its own. Every request is authorized entirely by your PostgreSQL `GRANT` statements and [Row-Level Security (RLS)](/guides/postgres-guides-row-level-security) policies, so a missing or misconfigured policy can expose a table to anyone with the endpoint URL. Before exposing data, follow [Access control & security](/guides/postgres-data-api-access-control) and [Secure your app with RLS](/guides/postgres-guides-rls-tutorial), and run the [Data API advisors](/guides/postgres-data-api-database-advisor) to catch misconfigurations.
:::

## PostgREST compatibility

The Neon Data API is fully compatible with [PostgREST](https://postgrest.org/en/stable/). This compatibility allows you to query your database using any standard HTTP client (such as Postman or `cURL`) or integrate easily using client libraries, including [`@neondatabase/neon-js`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@neondatabase/neon-js) and [`@neondatabase/postgrest-js`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@neondatabase/postgrest-js).

## Quickstart

::::card-grid
:::card{title="Get Started" href="/guides/postgres-data-api-get-started"}
Learn how to enable and use the Neon Data API with step-by-step instructions.
:::

:::card{title="Tutorial" href="/guides/postgres-data-api-demo"}
Explore our demo note-taking app to learn Data API queries with RLS.
:::

:::card{title="Neon TypeScript SDK" href="/guides/postgres-reference-javascript-sdk"}
Complete reference for authentication and database query methods.
:::

:::card{title="SQL to REST Converter" href="/guides/postgres-data-api-sql-to-rest"}
Convert SQL queries into RESTful HTTP requests.
:::

:::card{title="Generate Types" href="/guides/postgres-data-api-generate-types"}
Generate TypeScript types from your database schema for type-safe queries.
:::
::::

## Need help?

Join our [Discord Server](https://neon.com/discord) to ask questions or see what others are doing with Neon. For paid plan support options, see [Support](/guides/postgres-introduction-support).

## Related pages

- [Getting started with Neon Data API](./postgres-data-api-get-started.md)
- [Guides](./postgres-guides.md)
- [Tools](./postgres-tools.md)
- [Using the Data API](./postgres-using-the-data-api.md)

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