# Connect a Hono application to Neon

Set up a Neon project in seconds and connect from a Hono application

Pre-built prompt for connecting Hono applications to Lakebase Postgres [View prompt](https://neon.com/prompts/hono-prompt)

[Hono](https://hono.dev/) is a lightweight, multi-runtime web framework for the Edge, Node.js, Deno, Bun, and other runtimes. This topic describes how to create a Neon project and access it from a Hono application.

To create a Neon project and access it from a Hono application:

## Create a Neon project

If you do not have one already, create a Neon project. Save your connection details including your password. They are required when defining connection settings.

1. Navigate to the [Projects](https://console.neon.tech/app/projects) page in the Neon Console.
2. Click **New Project**.
3. Specify your project settings and click **Create Project**.

## Create a Hono project and add dependencies

1. Create a Hono project if you do not have one. For instructions, see [Quick Start](https://hono.dev/docs/getting-started/basic), in the Hono documentation.

2. Add project dependencies using one of the following commands:

**node-postgres**

```shell
npm install pg
```

**postgres.js**

```shell
npm install postgres
```

**Neon serverless driver**

```shell
npm install @neondatabase/serverless
```

## Store your Neon credentials

Add a `.env` file to your project directory and add your Neon connection string to it. You can find your connection details by clicking **Connect** in the Console nav. For more information, see [Connect from any application](/guides/postgres-connect-connect-from-any-app).

```shell
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://<user>:<password>@<endpoint_hostname>.neon.tech:<port>/<dbname>?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require"
```

## Configure the Postgres client

In your Hono application (for example, in `src/index.ts` or a specific route file), import the driver and use it within your route handlers.

Here's how you can set up a simple route to query the database:

**node-postgres**

```typescript
import { Pool } from 'pg';
import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { serve } from '@hono/node-server';

const app = new Hono();
const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  ssl: true,
});

app.get('/', async (c) => {
  const client = await pool.connect();
  try {
    const { rows } = await client.query('SELECT version()');
    return c.json({ version: rows[0].version });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Database query failed:', error);
    return c.text('Failed to connect to database', 500);
  } finally {
    client.release();
  }
});

serve(app);
```

**postgres.js**

```typescript
import { Hono } from 'hono';
import postgres from 'postgres';
import { serve } from '@hono/node-server';

const app = new Hono();

app.get('/', async (c) => {
  try {
    const sql = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL, { ssl: 'require' });
    const response = await sql`SELECT version()`;
    return c.json({ version: response[0].version });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Database query failed:', error);
    return c.text('Failed to connect to database', 500);
  }
});

serve(app);
```

**Neon serverless driver**

```typescript
import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { serve } from '@hono/node-server';
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';

const app = new Hono();

app.get('/', async (c) => {
  try {
    const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
    const response = await sql`SELECT version()`;
    return c.json({ version: response[0]?.version });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Database query failed:', error);
    return c.text('Failed to connect to database', 500);
  }
});

serve(app);
```

## 5. Run the app

Start your Hono development server. You can use the following command:

```bash
npm run dev
```

Navigate to your application's URL ([localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000)). You should see a JSON response with the PostgreSQL version:

```json
{
  "version": "PostgreSQL 17.4 on x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0, 64-bit"
}
```

> The specific version may vary depending on the PostgreSQL version you are using.

## Next steps

- [Set up Managed Better Auth](/guides/auth-index): Add managed authentication that branches with your database
- [Add Object Storage](/guides/object-storage-index): S3-compatible file storage that branches with your database
- [Deploy a Function](/guides/neon-functions-index): Run backend compute next to your database, no separate hosting needed
- [Call an LLM with AI Gateway](/guides/ai-gateway-index): Access foundation models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and more with one credential

## Related pages

- [Connect Astro to Postgres on Neon](./neon-docs-guides-astro.md)
- [Connect a Bun application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-bun.md)
- [Connect an Entity Framework application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-dotnet-entity-framework.md)
- [Connect an Encore application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-encore.md)
- [Connect an Express application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-express.md)
- [Self-Host Medusa with Neon](./neon-docs-guides-medusajs.md)
- [Connect a Micronaut Kotlin application to Lakebase Postgres](./neon-docs-guides-micronaut-kotlin.md)
- [Connect a NestJS application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-nestjs.md)
- [Connect a Next.js application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-nextjs.md)
- [Connect a Node.js application to Neon](./neon-docs-guides-node.md)

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