# Higher manual snapshot limit on paid plans, Neon MCP branch forking, neon-for-agent-platforms skill, and Neon branching video

## Higher manual snapshot limit on paid plans

Paid plans now include **100 manual snapshots** per project, up from 10. Snapshots created by backup schedules do not count toward this limit.

Manual snapshots are restore points you create on demand. Use them when you want a named snapshot before a specific change, such as a migration, schema update, or release. They are separate from backup schedules, which capture automated snapshots on a regular cadence.

<img src="../img/site-assets/neon.com/docs/changelog/manual_snapshot.png" alt="Manual snapshot limit on the Backup &amp; restore page">

To create a manual snapshot, see [Backup & restore](/guides/resilience-architecture-guides-backup-restore).

## New to snapshots?

Snapshots capture your database at a point in time. You can restore a branch from a snapshot when you need to recover data or roll back to an earlier state.

- **In the Console:** [Backup & restore](/guides/resilience-architecture-guides-backup-restore) covers snapshots, backup schedules, limits, and restore workflows.
- **Via the API:** The [Neon API](/guides/apis-sdks-reference-api-snapshots-create-snapshot) supports create, list, update, delete, restore, and schedule management for scripts and agent workflows.

## New skill for agentic platform builders

If you're building a platform that provisions databases on behalf of your users or agents, the [Neon Agent Plan](/guides/plans-billing-agent-plan) is built for you. It's a usage-based plan for high-volume, programmatic database provisioning: think codegen tools, multi-tenant SaaS, and AI platforms that spin up a Neon project per user or per agent run.

There's now a companion skill to help you get set up: [neon-for-agent-platforms](https://github.com/neondatabase/neon-for-agent-platforms). It gives your AI coding assistant runnable TypeScript samples and workflow guidance for the key Agent Plan patterns: dual-org fleet setup (free-tier vs. paid customer pools), per-tenant project provisioning, project transfer between orgs, and querying the Consumption API.

```bash
npx skills add neondatabase/neon-for-agent-platforms -s neon-postgres-agent-platforms
```

For the full integration guide, see [AI agent integration](/guides/ai-agents-on-neon-guides-ai-agent-integration). For more on building agent platforms with Neon and how this skill helps, see the [blog post](https://neon.com/blog/neon-for-agent-platforms) from Neon developer advocate Savannah Longoria.

## Neon MCP Server: branch from any parent branch

The Neon MCP [`create_branch`](/guides/postgres-ai-neon-mcp-server) tool now accepts an optional `parentId` so you can fork any existing branch, not only the project default. If you omit `parentId`, behavior is unchanged.

**Why it helps**

If you or an agent is already working on a dev or staging branch, you often want a disposable copy of _that_ branch before a risky migration or experiment, not a fresh fork of the default branch. Passing `parentId` (the source branch ID, for example `br-...`) uses that branch as the parent. The Neon API already supported `parent_id` on [Create branch](/guides/apis-sdks-reference-api-branches-create-project-branch); this MCP update exposes it for agent workflows.

**Example prompt**

> Create a branch named `migration-test` from my staging branch `br-calm-credit-akyk05ll` in project `young-glade-00225221`.

Your agent can call `create_branch` with `parentId` set to that branch ID. See the [supported MCP tools](/guides/postgres-ai-neon-mcp-server#supported-actions-tools) list for parameters.

**Don't have the Neon MCP Server yet?**

From your project root:

```bash
npx neonctl@latest init
```

This configures the [Neon MCP Server](/guides/postgres-ai-neon-mcp-server) for supported editors and installs [Agent Skills](/guides/ai-agents-on-neon-ai-agent-skills). Restart your editor after setup. For OAuth, API keys, and other clients, see [Connect MCP clients to Neon](/guides/postgres-ai-connect-mcp-clients-to-neon).

## How Neon branching works

Neon branching uses copy-on-write, which means creating a branch doesn't copy any data and takes only milliseconds no matter how large your database is. No other Postgres provider does this.

[@ant\_giuliano](https://x.com/ant_giuliano) from Neon DevRel put together a video that shows you how it works: what branches are, how to create them, and how to use them in your developer and agent workflows.

[Watch on YouTube](https://youtube.com/watch?v=UuHnFlg66Io)

## Related pages

- [Add users and authentication](./auth-index.md)
- [AI tools for Agents](./ai-agents-on-neon-index.md)
- [APIs & SDKs](./apis-sdks-index.md)
- [Changelog](../changelog.md)
- [Explore the full platform: functions, object storage, AI Gateway, and more](./neon-docs-index.md)
- [Integrating with Neon](./building-on-neon-index.md)
- [Lakebase Postgres](./postgres-index.md)
- [More](./more-index.md)
- [Neon AI Gateway](./ai-gateway-index.md)
- [Neon community](./community-index.md)

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