--- title: Create Environments with Masked Production Data Using... description: Engineering teams struggle to create realistic non-production environments when production databases contain PII. Neon addresses this by combining its... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/create-environments-with-masked-production-data-using-neon-branches-uybmyp857 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Create Environments with Masked Production Data Using Neon Branches | daily.dev og:description: Engineering teams struggle to create realistic non-production environments when production databases contain PII. Neon addresses this by combining its... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/create-environments-with-masked-production-data-using-neon-branches-uybmyp857 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/UYbMyP857.png og:image:alt: Create Environments with Masked Production Data Using Neon Branches og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Create Environments with Masked Production Data Using Neon Branches **[Neon](https://daily.dev/sources/neontech)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Engineering teams struggle to create realistic non-production environments when production databases contain PII. Neon addresses this by combining its copy-on-write database branching with the PostgreSQL Anonymizer extension. The workflow involves creating a branch from production, applying static masking rules to sensitive columns (using strategies like anon.fake, anon.partial, or anon.noise), and then using that anonymized branch as a reusable base for dev, CI, preview, and ephemeral environments. Branches are instant regardless of dataset size, preserve schema and referential integrity, and can be automated via GitHub Actions on pull request creation. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Branching With or Without PII: The Future of Environments](https://daily.dev/posts/branching-with-or-without-pii-the-future-of-environments-dqdpyhgo6) · Neon · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Branching as the Environment: How Sharing Excess Ships Faster on Neon](https://daily.dev/posts/branching-as-the-environment-how-sharing-excess-ships-faster-on-neon-ktetjquif) · Neon · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Handling Auth in a Staging Environment](https://daily.dev/posts/handling-auth-in-a-staging-environment-ikaxb9ox4) · Neon · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to Handle PII in Staging Databases Without Losing Realistic Data](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-handle-pii-in-staging-databases-without-losing-realistic-data-ipwyedptt) · Neon · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Promoting Postgres Changes Safely From Multiple Environments to Production](https://daily.dev/posts/promoting-postgres-changes-safely-from-multiple-environments-to-production-aazpuxhzk) · Neon · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#database](https://daily.dev/tags/database), [#postgresql](https://daily.dev/tags/postgresql) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/create-environments-with-masked-production-data-using-neon-branches-uybmyp857) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Create Environments with Masked Production Data Using Neon Branches","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/create-environments-with-masked-production-data-using-neon-branches-uybmyp857","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/create-environments-with-masked-production-data-using-neon-branches-uybmyp857"},"datePublished":"2026-07-09T06:57:55.754Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T02:26:53.383Z","description":"Engineering teams struggle to create realistic non-production environments when production databases contain PII. 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