You can deploy an AI-assisted incident search backend on a disposable Neon child branch by keeping its database, authentication, report files, Function, and AI Gateway configuration together. The tutorial’s Incident Atlas example uses a local React interface and a Neon Function for backend routes; the Function does not host the website.
What the Neon branch contains
Incident Atlas stores incident metadata and a search index in Lakebase Postgres, uses Neon Auth (Managed Better Auth) for operator sign-in, stores source reports in a private Object Storage bucket, exposes API routes through a Neon Function, and calls a configured model through Neon AI Gateway. The React UI runs locally in the demo.
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This is a collection of backend primitives, not a single bundled backend service. Neon VP Product Bryan Clark described that distinction in the September 17, 2026 GA announcement: “When we say ‘we’re building backends’, we think of ‘backend’ as a set of solid primitives an agent can call, not a bundle of managed services behind one bill.” He added, “The distinction is deliberate.” Neon’s GA announcement identifies Lakebase Postgres, Object Storage, Functions, Managed Better Auth, and AI Gateway as the five primitives.
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How to deploy the demo
The tutorial’s four commands manage the full temporary environment. Its bring-up script creates a timestamped child branch, provisions the backend components, and configures local authentication. Use the tutorial’s setup and scripts rather than treating these commands as generic Neon CLI commands.
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Run
npm run demo:up. The script creates anincident-atlas-demo-...child branch with a six-hour expiry; applies Auth, a private bucket, a Function, and AI Gateway; registers localhost as an Auth domain; and installs Lakebase Search’slakebase_textextension, a table, and a BM25 index. Its Neon configuration is inneon.ts, and its CLI flow is plan then apply. -
Run
npm run demo:testto exercise the protected API, uploads, enrichment, search, and cleanup checks described below. -
Run
npm run demo:opento open the local UI and use the incident workflow.What’s actually slowing this PC down?
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Run
npm run demo:downwhen finished to remove the temporary branch and its backend resources.
The tutorial reports a validated run in AWS US East (Ohio), region ID aws-us-east-2, and says Frankfurt also supported the complete backend at its publication on September 24, 2026. That is a publication-time setup, not a guarantee of current regional availability. Check Neon’s Functions documentation for current region support before choosing a deployment location.
In the tutorial’s configuration, Functions, Object Storage, and AI Gateway use top-level declarations because the tutorial says they had reached GA by publication. An older preview configuration shape is described as a deprecated compatibility path.
What the backend routes do
The deployed service is a Neon Function displayed as “Incident Atlas”; “One Function” is not a separate Neon product. The example exposes seven routes. /health is public for release checks, while the other six require a valid JWT.
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The browser obtains a bearer token from Neon Auth for protected requests. The Function validates the token’s signature and issuer against the branch’s Auth JWKS. It derives the owner identity from the verified JWT subject, sets that identity transaction-locally, and uses forced row-level security with an owner policy. The example also places the owner namespace in object paths.
Private report uploads
Reports travel directly from the browser to private Object Storage using a short-lived signed URL. Before creating a queued database record, the Function checks that the object belongs to the authenticated user’s namespace, that the expected byte count matches, and that the content type is allowed. In this demo, reports are capped at 32 KiB and the accepted types are Markdown, plain text, or JSON.
Search and model answers
Lakebase Search uses the lakebase_text extension and lakebase_bm25 index access method to rank a generated text column combining incident title, AI-generated summary, and original report. The Ask route passes at most four ranked reports to the model and requires inline citations to the supplied excerpts. It treats report text as untrusted input. These are implementation details of the tutorial, not evidence of comparative search quality.
AI Gateway credentials and raw model requests remain behind the Function rather than being sent to the browser. Keep that server-side boundary when adapting the pattern: a browser-facing interface should not receive model credentials.
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Branch isolation: what a child branch inherits
A normal Neon child branch is disposable, but it is not necessarily empty: it initially exposes the parent’s schema and rows through copy-on-write storage. Writes made in the child are isolated from the parent, but inherited data can still be visible in the preview. If sensitive rows must not flow into a preview, use schema-only branching instead. See Neon’s branching documentation.
Aligning backend components on the same branch makes the preview lifecycle easier to manage, but does not make every setting or permission safe automatically. Review branch inheritance, access permissions, secrets, retention, and workload requirements for your own deployment.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this architecture is—and is not—for
Neon Functions are backend compute
Neon’s Functions run JavaScript or TypeScript on Node.js 24 in the same region as their branch, according to documentation updated October 2, 2026. They can return JSON, streams, server-sent events, or WebSocket upgrades, and can run on cron or object-upload triggers. They do not host websites, so host the React UI separately. See the Functions overview.
Use a queue for independently retryable work
Functions respond to requests and can handle the event triggers described above, but Neon does not position them as a general-purpose queue for independently retryable jobs. If incident processing needs durable retries or a separate workflow lifecycle, use a queue or workflow engine rather than relying on the request/response Function alone. See Neon’s Functions guidance.
Allowances and regional availability can change
Neon’s September 17, 2026 GA announcement listed these Free Plan figures. They are vendor-published plan allowances from that date, not a promise that current limits or pricing remain unchanged.
| Free Plan item | Allowance stated by Neon on September 17, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Projects | 100 projects |
| Lakebase Postgres | 100 CU-hours and 0.5 GB database storage per project; 10 branches per project |
| Object Storage | 5 GB per project |
| Functions | 10 active Capacity-Hours, 400 waiting Capacity-Hours, and 1 million invocations per project per month |
| Managed Better Auth | Up to 60,000 monthly active users |
Check Neon’s pricing page for current allowances and metered use. The Functions documentation updated October 2, 2026 listed AWS US East (Ohio), AWS US East (N. Virginia), AWS Europe (Frankfurt), and AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore) as supported regions, with expansion planned; verify the current list before deployment.
What the tutorial’s smoke test establishes
The tutorial reports a live smoke test against a deployed temporary branch. It checks the protected route and JWT verification, private upload behavior, idempotent confirmation, model enrichment, a search excerpt, a cited answer, and removal of both the database row and stored object. This supports the claim that the demonstrated workflow was exercised end to end; it is not an independent performance benchmark or evidence of an incident-response outcome.
Before using the pattern beyond a demo, adapt validation and retention to your report formats and threat model, decide whether inherited branch data is acceptable, and verify that the selected plan, region, and service limits fit the workload.
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