Why: Render free Postgres is deleted ~30 days after creation (the pain #34's runbook works around). Neon's free tier is persistent (autosuspends on inactivity instead of deleting), which permanently removes the monthly re-provision/re-seed fire drill and downgrades #34/#46 to low-urgency.
Not required — the app runs fine on Render Postgres. This is an operational-quality improvement for a demo product.
Scope (mostly config, little/no app code — app already uses DATABASE_URL + postgres://→postgresql:// normalization + pool_pre_ping):
- Provision a Neon project; get the pooled connection string with
?sslmode=require.
- Set
DATABASE_URL to the Neon string as a sync:false secret; remove the databases: block + fromDatabase binding from render.yaml.
- Run migrations (
scripts/setup_db.py via seed) + seed demo data against Neon.
- Verify
/health (database: connected), SSL, and the Neon pooler endpoint under Render's free-tier spin-down.
Watch-items: Neon autosuspend adds ~0.5s cold-start on first query (on top of Render spin-down) — acceptable for demo, pool_pre_ping absorbs stale conns; confirm psycopg SSL args; free tier 0.5 GB / limited compute hours (ample here).
Red-first: a connectivity check (or extend the existing startup DB-retry test) proving the app boots + /health reports connected against a Neon-style SSL connection string.
Done when: production runs on Neon, /health green, demo login + data verified; render.yaml no longer declares a managed Postgres; #34 runbook annotated as superseded (or updated for Neon's model).
Definition of Done: branch → PR Closes #<this> → 3 gates → CI green → merged; owner provisions the Neon project / supplies the connection string.
Why: Render free Postgres is deleted ~30 days after creation (the pain #34's runbook works around). Neon's free tier is persistent (autosuspends on inactivity instead of deleting), which permanently removes the monthly re-provision/re-seed fire drill and downgrades #34/#46 to low-urgency.
Not required — the app runs fine on Render Postgres. This is an operational-quality improvement for a demo product.
Scope (mostly config, little/no app code — app already uses
DATABASE_URL+postgres://→postgresql://normalization +pool_pre_ping):?sslmode=require.DATABASE_URLto the Neon string as async:falsesecret; remove thedatabases:block +fromDatabasebinding fromrender.yaml.scripts/setup_db.pyvia seed) + seed demo data against Neon./health(database: connected), SSL, and the Neon pooler endpoint under Render's free-tier spin-down.Watch-items: Neon autosuspend adds ~0.5s cold-start on first query (on top of Render spin-down) — acceptable for demo,
pool_pre_pingabsorbs stale conns; confirm psycopg SSL args; free tier 0.5 GB / limited compute hours (ample here).Red-first: a connectivity check (or extend the existing startup DB-retry test) proving the app boots +
/healthreports connected against a Neon-style SSL connection string.Done when: production runs on Neon,
/healthgreen, demo login + data verified;render.yamlno longer declares a managed Postgres; #34 runbook annotated as superseded (or updated for Neon's model).Definition of Done: branch → PR
Closes #<this>→ 3 gates → CI green → merged; owner provisions the Neon project / supplies the connection string.