To secure a Cursor + Neon + Railway stack, you need to: (1) use separate Neon database branches for production, staging, and development environments, (2) store connection strings in Railway environment variables with sslmode=require, (3) leverage PostgreSQL row-level security (RLS) for data access control, (4) use Neon's connection pooler endpoint for serverless workloads, and (5) create a .cursorignore file to prevent AI from accessing your .env files. This blueprint covers Neon branching, RLS implementation, and Railway service isolation.
TL;DR
Neon provides serverless Postgres with instant branching, perfect for preview deployments on Railway. Key security tasks: use separate database branches for each environment, store connection strings in Railway environment variables, leverage Postgres row-level security (RLS) when possible, and configure SSL for all connections. Neon's branching makes it easy to isolate test data from production.
Platform Guides & Checklists
Cursor Security Guide
Neon Security Guide
Railway Security Guide
Pre-Launch Checklist
Stack Overview
Neon's serverless Postgres combined with Railway's deployment platform creates a powerful, scalable stack:
| Component | Role | Security Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor | AI code editor | Query safety, credential management |
| Neon | Serverless Postgres | Branch isolation, RLS, SSL |
| Railway | Hosting platform | Environment variables, service isolation |
Part 1: Database Branch Strategy Neon
Using Neon Branches for Isolation Neon
Neon's branching lets you create instant database copies. Use this for environment isolation:
# Main branch (production)
main
└── Production data, protected
# Development branch (branched from main)
development
└── Development/staging environment
# Preview branches (created per PR)
preview/feature-123
└── Ephemeral, auto-deleted
Connection Configuration Neon Railway
# Production service
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@ep-xxx.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/main?sslmode=require"
# Staging service (different Railway service)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@ep-xxx.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/development?sslmode=require"
Always use sslmode=require. Neon supports SSL by default. Never disable it, even for local development. Use Neon's connection pooler endpoint for serverless workloads.
Part 2: Leveraging Postgres RLS Neon
Unlike MySQL databases, Neon (Postgres) supports row-level security:
-- Enable RLS on the posts table
ALTER TABLE posts ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;
-- Policy: Users can only see their own posts
CREATE POLICY "Users can view own posts"
ON posts FOR SELECT
USING (auth.uid() = author_id);
-- Policy: Users can only update their own posts
CREATE POLICY "Users can update own posts"
ON posts FOR UPDATE
USING (auth.uid() = author_id);
-- Policy: Anyone can read published posts
CREATE POLICY "Public can view published"
ON posts FOR SELECT
USING (published = true);
Integrating RLS with Your App Neon
import { Pool } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });
export async function queryAsUser(userId: string, query: string, params: any[]) {
const client = await pool.connect();
try {
// Set the user context for RLS policies
await client.query('SET LOCAL auth.uid = $1', [userId]);
// Now queries respect RLS policies
const result = await client.query(query, params);
return result.rows;
} finally {
client.release();
}
}
Part 3: Railway Service Security Railway
Environment Variable Configuration Railway
[build]
builder = "nixpacks"
[deploy]
healthcheckPath = "/health"
healthcheckTimeout = 300
# Don't set secrets here - use Railway dashboard
Service Isolation Railway
Create separate Railway services for different concerns:
Railway Project
├── web (frontend)
│ └── NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL
├── api (backend)
│ └── DATABASE_URL (from Neon)
│ └── JWT_SECRET
└── worker (background jobs)
└── DATABASE_URL (from Neon)
└── Different permissions if needed
Part 4: Connection Pooling Neon
Use Neon's connection pooler for serverless environments:
# Direct connection (for migrations)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@ep-xxx.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/neondb?sslmode=require"
# Pooler connection (for application)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@ep-xxx-pooler.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/neondb?sslmode=require"
# Note the "-pooler" in the hostname
Security Checklist
Pre-Launch Checklist for Cursor + Neon + Railway
Production database branch protected
Separate branches for dev/staging/production
SSL enabled (sslmode=require)
Connection pooler used for serverless
RLS enabled on sensitive tables
DATABASE_URL in Railway environment variables
Services isolated in Railway
.cursorignore excludes .env files
No credentials in railway.toml
Alternative Stack Configurations
Cursor + Supabase + Vercel Similar PostgreSQL with RLS, but with integrated auth and storage. Different hosting platform.
Cursor + PlanetScale + Vercel
Similar branching model but with MySQL. No built-in RLS, different security patterns.
Cursor + MongoDB + Railway
Same Railway hosting with MongoDB. Document database with different security model.
How does Neon branching differ from PlanetScale?
Both offer database branching, but Neon provides Postgres with full SQL support including foreign keys and RLS. PlanetScale is MySQL-compatible and handles relations differently. Choose based on your preferred database features.
When should I use the connection pooler?
Always use the pooler endpoint (-pooler suffix) for serverless or edge functions that create many short-lived connections. Use direct connections only for migrations or long-running processes.
Can I use Prisma with Neon?
Yes, Neon works with Prisma. Use the pooler endpoint in DATABASE_URL and the direct endpoint in DIRECT_URL for migrations. Prisma's query engine works well with Neon's serverless architecture.