Connect to your database
Supabase provides multiple methods to connect to your Postgres database, whether you’re working on the frontend, backend, or utilizing serverless functions.
How to connect to your Postgres databases
How you connect to your database depends on where you're connecting from:
- For frontend applications, use the Data API
- For Postgres clients, use a connection string
- For single sessions (for example, database GUIs) or Postgres native commands (for example, using client applications like pg_dump or specifying connections for replication) use the direct connection string if your environment supports IPv6
- For persistent clients, and support for both IPv4 and IPv6, use Supavisor session mode
- For temporary clients (for example, serverless or edge functions) use Supavisor transaction mode
Quickstarts
Data APIs and client libraries
The Data APIs allow you to interact with your database using REST or GraphQL requests. You can use these APIs to fetch and insert data from the frontend, as long as you have RLS enabled.
For convenience, you can also use the Supabase client libraries, which wrap the Data APIs with a developer-friendly interface and automatically handle authentication:
Direct connection
The direct connection string connects directly to your Postgres instance. It is ideal for persistent servers, such as virtual machines (VMs) and long-lasting containers. Examples include AWS EC2 machines, Fly.io VMs, and DigitalOcean Droplets.
Direct connections use IPv6 by default. If your environment doesn't support IPv6, use Supavisor session mode or get the IPv4 add-on.
The connection string looks like this:
1postgresql://postgres:[YOUR-PASSWORD]@db.apbkobhfnmcqqzqeeqss.supabase.co:5432/postgresGet your project's direct connection string from your project dashboard by clicking Connect.
Shared pooler
Every Supabase project includes a free, shared connection pooler. This is ideal for persistent servers when IPv6 is not supported.
Supavisor session mode
The session mode connection string connects to your Postgres instance via a proxy.
The connection string looks like this:
1postgres://postgres.apbkobhfnmcqqzqeeqss:[YOUR-PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:5432/postgresGet your project's Session pooler connection string from your project dashboard by clicking Connect.
Supavisor transaction mode
The transaction mode connection string connects to your Postgres instance via a proxy which serves as a connection pooler. This is ideal for serverless or edge functions, which require many transient connections.
Transaction mode does not support prepared statements. To avoid errors, turn off prepared statements for your connection library.
The connection string looks like this:
1postgres://postgres.apbkobhfnmcqqzqeeqss:[YOUR-PASSWORD]@aws-0-[REGION].pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgresGet your project's Transaction pooler connection string from your project dashboard by clicking Connect.
Dedicated pooler
For paying customers, we provision a Dedicated Pooler (PgBouncer) that's co-located with your Postgres database. This will require you to connect with IPv6 or, if that's not an option, you can use the IPv4 add-on.
The Dedicated Pooler ensures best performance and latency, while using up more of your project's compute resources. If your network supports IPv6 or you have the IPv4 add-on, we encourage you to use the Dedicated Pooler over the Shared Pooler.
Get your project's Dedicated pooler connection string from your project dashboard by clicking Connect.
PgBouncer always runs in Transaction mode and the current version does not support prepared statement (will be added in a few weeks).
More about connection pooling
Connection pooling improves database performance by reusing existing connections between queries. This reduces the overhead of establishing connections and improves scalability.
You can use an application-side pooler or a server-side pooler (Supabase automatically provides one called Supavisor), depending on whether your backend is persistent or serverless.
Application-side poolers
Application-side poolers are built into connection libraries and API servers, such as Prisma, SQLAlchemy, and PostgREST. They maintain several active connections with Postgres or a server-side pooler, reducing the overhead of establishing connections between queries. When deploying to static architecture, such as long-standing containers or VMs, application-side poolers are satisfactory on their own.
Serverside poolers
Postgres connections are like a WebSocket. Once established, they are preserved until the client (application server) disconnects. A server might only make a single 10 ms query, but needlessly reserve its database connection for seconds or longer.
Serverside-poolers, such as Supabase's Supavisor in transaction mode, sit between clients and the database and can be thought of as load balancers for Postgres connections.
They maintain hot connections with the database and intelligently share them with clients only when needed, maximizing the amount of queries a single connection can service. They're best used to manage queries from auto-scaling systems, such as edge and serverless functions.
Connecting with SSL
You should connect to your database using SSL wherever possible, to prevent snooping and man-in-the-middle attacks.
You can obtain your connection info and Server root certificate from your application's dashboard:
Resources
Troubleshooting and Postgres connection string FAQs
Below are answers to common challenges and queries.
What is a “connection refused” error?
A “Connection refused” error typically means your database isn’t reachable. Ensure your Supabase project is running, confirm your database’s connection string, check firewall settings, and validate network permissions.
What is the “FATAL: Password authentication failed” error?
This error occurs when your credentials are incorrect. Double-check your username and password from the Supabase dashboard. If the problem persists, reset your database password from the project settings.
How do you connect using IPv4?
Supabase’s default direct connection supports IPv6 only. To connect over IPv4, consider using the Supavisor session or transaction modes, or a connection pooler (shared or dedicated), which support both IPv4 and IPv6.
How do you choose a connection method?
- Direct connection: Persistent backend services (IPv6 only)
- Supavisor session mode: Persistent backend needing IPv4
- Supavisor transaction mode: Serverless functions
- Shared pooler: General-purpose connections with IPv4 and IPv6
- Dedicated pooler: High-performance apps requiring dedicated resources (paid tier)
Where is the Postgres connection string in Supabase?
Your connection string is located in the Supabase Dashboard. Click the "Connect" button at the top of the page.
Can you use psql with a Supabase database?
Yes. Use the following command structure, replacing your_connection_string with the string from your Supabase dashboard:
1psql "your_connection_string"Ensure you have psql installed locally before running this command.