> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://planetscale.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Neki quickstart > Create a single-shard Neki database, connect, and insert data export const PlatformAvailability = ({current, vitess, postgres, neki}) => { const docsHref = path => { if (!path) return path; const normalized = path.startsWith('/') ? path : `/${path}`; return normalized; }; const labels = { vitess: 'Vitess', postgres: 'Postgres', neki: 'Neki' }; const combinedLabels = { both: 'Vitess and Postgres', all: 'Vitess, Neki, and Postgres', 'postgres-neki': 'Postgres and Neki' }; if (combinedLabels[current]) { return
{combinedLabels[current]}
; } const hasVitess = current === 'vitess' || Boolean(vitess); const hasPostgres = current === 'postgres' || Boolean(postgres); const hasNeki = current === 'neki' || Boolean(neki); const only = [hasVitess, hasPostgres, hasNeki].filter(Boolean).length === 1; const engines = []; if (current === 'vitess' || current === 'postgres' || current === 'neki') engines.push(current); if (hasVitess && current !== 'vitess') engines.push('vitess'); if (hasNeki && current !== 'neki') engines.push('neki'); if (hasPostgres && current !== 'postgres') engines.push('postgres'); return
{engines.map(engine => { const isCurrent = current === engine; const href = docsHref(engine === 'vitess' ? vitess : engine === 'postgres' ? postgres : neki); const label = only ? `${labels[engine]} only` : labels[engine]; const state = isCurrent || !href ? 'current' : 'link'; if (isCurrent || !href) { return {label} ; } return {label} ; })}
; }; ## Getting started ### Prerequisites 1. You will need [a PlanetScale account](https://auth.planetscale.com/sign-up). 2. An administrator of your PlanetScale organization must [join the Neki Platform Preview](/docs/neki#availability-and-access). ### Create a Neki database Click "**New database**" > "**Create new database**" on your organization's overview page. Name your database. Select a region. For the lowest latency, select a region near you or your application's hosting location. Select **Neki** as the database engine. Create database form with the Neki engine selected Create database form with the Neki engine selected Select the desired cluster configuration, storage option, and cluster size for your database. If prompted, add a valid credit or debit card. Click "**Create database**" to deploy your database. Install and authenticate the [PlanetScale CLI](/docs/cli/planetscale-environment-setup). List organizations, then switch to the one enrolled in the Platform Preview: ```bash theme={null} pscale org list pscale org switch ``` List regions and pick a slug close to your application: ```bash theme={null} pscale region list ``` Create an HA Neki database. `--replicas 2` requests two replicas in addition to the primary, for three Postgres nodes on the initial shard. `PS_10` is a valid starting cluster size. ```bash theme={null} pscale database create \ --engine neki \ --region \ --cluster-size PS_10 \ --replicas 2 \ --wait ``` Provisioning can take a few minutes. `--wait` keeps the command open until the database is ready. Database names can contain up to 63 lowercase letters, numbers, dashes, or underscores. A name cannot start or end with a dash or underscore. ### Add a schema to your database Use the dashboard's web console to create some example tables. To use another SQL client, first see [Connect to your database](#connect-to-your-database). [Enable web console access for production branches](/docs/neki/web-console#enable-for-production-branches). Select **Console** and connect to the `main` branch. The console connects to the **Primary** server and the `postgres` database by default. See [Web console](/docs/neki/web-console) for connection controls and supported commands. Web console connected to the main branch Web console connected to the main branch Create some example tables by running the following commands in the web console: ```sql theme={null} CREATE TABLE categories ( id bigint GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, name varchar(255) NOT NULL ); ``` ```sql theme={null} CREATE TABLE products ( id bigint GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, name varchar(255) NOT NULL, image_url varchar(255), category_id bigint ); ``` ```sql theme={null} CREATE INDEX category_id_idx ON products (category_id); ``` You can confirm that the tables have been added by running: ```sql theme={null} SELECT table_name FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = 'public' AND table_name IN ('categories', 'products') ORDER BY table_name; ``` Web console showing the categories and products tables Web console showing the categories and products tables ### Insert data into your database Run the following SQL to add some rows to the tables: ```sql theme={null} INSERT INTO categories (name) VALUES ('Office supplies'); ``` ```sql theme={null} INSERT INTO products (name, image_url, category_id) VALUES ('Ballpoint pen', 'https://example.com/500x500', 1); ``` You can confirm the data has been added with: ```sql theme={null} SELECT * FROM products; ``` ```sql theme={null} SELECT * FROM categories; ``` Web console showing SELECT results for the products and categories tables Web console showing SELECT results for the products and categories tables You can view the schema of your database by navigating to the "**Branches**" tab and selecting the branch you want to view. You may need to click "**Refresh schema**". For now, select `main`, and it will display the names of the two tables you just created. Click on the name of each table to see further schema details. Branches page with the products table expanded to show its schema Branches page with the products table expanded to show its schema ### Connect to your database Connect from outside the PlanetScale dashboard by creating a new role in the **Settings** -> **Roles** page, or open `psql` through the PlanetScale CLI. On the dashboard page, you can also click **Connect** to create a new role. With the default branch selected, click **Connect** from your database dashboard. Click **Create new role**. A role determines which operations the connection can perform. See [Roles and credentials](/docs/neki/connecting/roles) for more details. Copy the generated `psql` command and enter it into your terminal. Connect page showing generated role credentials and the psql command Connect page showing generated role credentials and the psql command Open a `psql` session through the PlanetScale CLI. `pscale shell` creates temporary credentials, so you do not need a saved role for this step. ```bash theme={null} pscale shell main ``` For a persistent role that your application can reuse, create one from the dashboard **Connect** tab or with `pscale role`. See [Roles and credentials](/docs/neki/connecting/roles). When the `postgres` prompt appears, query the data you added: ```sql theme={null} SELECT c.name AS category, p.name AS product FROM categories AS c JOIN products AS p ON p.category_id = c.id; ``` ### What's next? Open the **Connect** page and select a framework or language to configure your application. See [Connect to Neki](/docs/neki/connecting) for connection parameters, replica routing, and router groups. A new Neki database starts on one shard. Continue with the [Sharding quickstart](/docs/neki/tutorials/sharding-quick-start-guide) to see how sharding works in Neki. When you want to continue developing your database, create a [development branch](/docs/neki/branching) from `main` so you can work independently of the production branch. See [Development environments](/docs/neki/development-environments) to initialize an empty branch for schema work and tests. ### Clean up Delete your database from **Settings** > **Delete database**, or use the CLI: ```bash theme={null} pscale database delete ``` Deleting the database permanently removes all of its branches and data. ## Need help? Get help from [the PlanetScale Support team](https://planetscale.com/contact?initial=support), or join our [Discord community](https://pscale.link/community) to see how others are using PlanetScale.