A step-by-step guide to automating Neon database branch creation using Git post-checkout hooks. Starting from a basic Githook script, the tutorial incrementally adds features: detecting new vs. existing branch checkouts, calling the Neon API via curl to create a matching database branch, prompting the user for confirmation, parsing the JSON response with jq to extract the connection URI, and checking whether a Neon branch already exists before creating one. The approach eliminates the need for local Postgres installations or seed scripts by keeping each Git branch paired with its own isolated database branch.
