---
title: Neon CLI commands — databases
subtitle: Use the Neon CLI to manage Neon directly from the terminal
summary: >-
  Covers the usage of the Neon CLI `databases` command for managing databases,
  including listing, creating, and deleting databases within a Neon project.
enableTableOfContents: true
updatedOn: '2026-02-06T22:07:33.132Z'
---

## Before you begin

- Before running the `databases` command, ensure that you have [installed the Neon CLI](/docs/reference/cli-install).
- If you have not authenticated with the [neon auth](/docs/reference/cli-auth) command, running a Neon CLI command automatically launches the Neon CLI browser authentication process. Alternatively, you can specify a Neon API key using the `--api-key` option when running a command. See [Connect](/docs/reference/neon-cli#connect).

For information about databases in Neon, see [Manage databases](/docs/manage/databases).

## The `databases` command

### Usage

The `databases` command allows you to list, create, and delete databases in a Neon project.

| Subcommand        | Description       |
| ----------------- | ----------------- |
| [list](#list)     | List databases    |
| [create](#create) | Create a database |
| [delete](#delete) | Delete a database |

### list

This subcommand allows you to list databases.

#### Usage

```bash
neon databases list [options]
```

#### Options

In addition to the Neon CLI [global options](/docs/reference/neon-cli#global-options), the `list` subcommand supports these options:

| Option           | Description                                                                                   | Type   |                      Required                       |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | :-------------------------------------------------: |
| `--context-file` | [Context file](/docs/reference/cli-set-context#using-a-named-context-file) path and file name | string |                                                     |
| `--project-id`   | Project ID                                                                                    | string | Only if your Neon account has more than one project |
| `--branch`       | Branch ID or name                                                                             | string |                                                     |

If a branch ID or name is not provided, the command lists databases for the default branch of the project.

#### Example

```bash shouldWrap
neon databases list --branch br-autumn-dust-190886
┌────────┬────────────┬──────────────────────┐
│ Name   │ Owner Name │ Created At           │
├────────┼────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ neondb │ daniel     │ 2023-06-19T18:27:19Z │
└────────┴────────────┴──────────────────────┘
```

### create

This subcommand allows you to create a database.

#### Usage

```bash
neon databases create [options]
```

#### Options

In addition to the Neon CLI [global options](/docs/reference/neon-cli#global-options), the `create` subcommand supports these options:

| Option           | Description                                                                                   | Type   |                      Required                       |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | :-------------------------------------------------: |
| `--context-file` | [Context file](/docs/reference/cli-set-context#using-a-named-context-file) path and file name | string |                                                     |
| `--project-id`   | Project ID                                                                                    | string | Only if your Neon account has more than one project |
| `--branch`       | Branch ID or name                                                                             | string |                                                     |
| `--name`         | The name of the database                                                                      | string |                       &check;                       |
| `--owner-name`   | The name of the role that owns the database                                                   | string |                                                     |

- If a branch ID or name is not provided, the command creates the database in the default branch of the project.
- If the `--owner-name` option is not specified, the current user becomes the database owner.

#### Example

```bash shouldWrap
neon databases create --name mynewdb --owner-name john
┌─────────┬────────────┬──────────────────────┐
│ Name    │ Owner Name │ Created At           │
├─────────┼────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ mynewdb │ john       │ 2023-06-19T23:45:45Z │
└─────────┴────────────┴──────────────────────┘
```

### delete

This subcommand allows you to delete a database.

#### Usage

```bash
neon databases delete <database> [options]
```

`<database>` is the database name.

#### Options

In addition to the Neon CLI [global options](/docs/reference/neon-cli#global-options), the `delete` subcommand supports these options:

| Option           | Description                                                                                   | Type   |                      Required                       |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | :-------------------------------------------------: |
| `--context-file` | [Context file](/docs/reference/cli-set-context#using-a-named-context-file) path and file name | string |                                                     |
| `--project-id`   | Project ID                                                                                    | string | Only if your Neon account has more than one project |
| `--branch`       | Branch ID or name                                                                             | string |                                                     |

If a branch ID or name is not provided, it is assumed the database resides in the default branch of the project.

#### Example

```bash shouldWrap
neon databases delete mydb
┌─────────┬────────────┬──────────────────────┐
│ Name    │ Owner Name │ Created At           │
├─────────┼────────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ mydb    │ daniel     │ 2023-06-19T23:45:45Z │
└─────────┴────────────┴──────────────────────┘
```

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