Vercel Storage

Vercel Storage

You are an expert in Vercel's storage options. Know which products are active, which are sunset, and when to use each.

When to Use

Trigger this skill when the user is:

• Choosing a storage provider for a Vercel/Next.js application
• Installing or configuring @vercel/blob, @vercel/edge-config, @neondatabase/serverless, @upstash/redis, @supabase/supabase-js, @prisma/client, mongodb, convex, or @libsql/client
• Migrating away from the sunset @vercel/postgres or @vercel/kv packages
• Debugging Vercel Marketplace integration env var provisioning
• Working in lib/blob/**, lib/storage/**, prisma/**, supabase/**, or similar storage code paths
• Setting up Drizzle, Prisma, or Neon with lazy initialization to survive next build

Prerequisites

• A Vercel project linked locally (vercel link) so vercel env pull works
• Vercel CLI installed (npm i -g vercel) for Marketplace provisioning
• Node.js 19+ when using @neondatabase/serverless
• Windows host is primary — use PowerShell. On Windows, source is unavailable; use dotenv-cli or PowerShell $env: variable injection for scripts that need .env.local

Procedure

1. Choose the Storage Provider

Use the decision matrix to pick the right product before writing any code.

2. Provision via Marketplace (Preferred Path)

Preferred: Vercel-managed Neon/Upstash/Supabase/etc. through the Vercel Marketplace. This auto-provisions accounts/resources and injects environment variables into the linked Vercel project.

# Install a storage integration (auto-provisions env vars)
vercel integration add neon
vercel integration add upstash
vercel integration add supabase
vercel integration add prisma
vercel integration add mongodb-atlas
vercel integration add turso

# List installed integrations
vercel integration list

Browse additional options at https://vercel.com/marketplace or the dashboard at https://vercel.com/dashboard/{team}/stores.

After Marketplace provisioning, pull env vars locally:

vercel env pull .env.local --yes

3. Fallback: Manual / Provider CLI Provisioning

Use the fallback path only when Marketplace is unavailable or you must use an existing external account.

1. Create the resource via the provider's CLI or dashboard (e.g., Neon CLI, Upstash CLI, Supabase dashboard).
2. Copy the connection string / URL / token into Vercel project env vars (dashboard or vercel env add).
3. Pull locally: vercel env pull .env.local --yes

Neon CLI fallback note: For Vercel-managed Neon projects, CLI operations require a Neon API key; do not rely on the normal browser-auth login flow alone.

4. Install the Client Package

# Blob
npm install @vercel/blob

# Edge Config
npm install @vercel/edge-config

# Neon Postgres (requires Node.js 19+)
npm install @neondatabase/serverless

# Upstash Redis
npm install @upstash/redis

# Supabase
npm install @supabase/supabase-js @supabase/ssr

# Prisma
npm install prisma @prisma/client
npx prisma init

# MongoDB Atlas
npm install mongodb

# Convex
npm install convex
npx convex dev

# Turso
npm install @libsql/client

5. Write Storage Code

Vercel Blob — File Storage

import { put, del, list, get } from '@vercel/blob'

// Upload from server (public)
const blob = await put('images/photo.jpg', file, {
  access: 'public',
})
// blob.url → public URL

// Upload private file
const privateBlob = await put('docs/secret.pdf', file, {
  access: 'private',
})
// Read private file back
const privateFile = await get(privateBlob.url) // returns ReadableStream + metadata

// Client upload (up to 5 TB)
import { upload } from '@vercel/blob/client'
const blob = await upload('video.mp4', file, {
  access: 'public',
  handleUploadUrl: '/api/upload', // Your token endpoint
})

// List blobs
const { blobs } = await list()

// Conditional get with ETags
const response = await get('images/photo.jpg', {
  ifNoneMatch: previousETag,
})
if (response.statusCode === 304) {
  // Not modified, use cached version
}

// Delete
await del('images/photo.jpg')

Private Storage (public beta): Use access: 'private' for files that should not be publicly accessible. Read them back with get(). Do NOT use private access for files that need to be served publicly — it leads to slow delivery and high egress costs.

Blob Data Transfer: Vercel Blob uses two delivery strategies — Fast Data Transfer (94 cities, latency-optimized) and Blob Data Transfer (18 hubs, volume-optimized for large assets). The system automatically routes via the optimal path.

Use when: Media files, user uploads, documents, any large unstructured data.

Vercel Edge Config — Global Configuration

Ultra-low-latency key-value store for application configuration. Not a database — designed for config data that must be read instantly at the edge.

import { get, getAll, has } from '@vercel/edge-config'

// Read a single value (< 1ms at the edge)
const isFeatureEnabled = await get('feature-new-ui')

// Read multiple values
const config = await getAll(['feature-new-ui', 'ab-test-variant', 'redirect-rules'])

// Check existence
const exists = await has('maintenance-mode')

Use when: Feature flags, A/B testing config, dynamic routing rules, maintenance mode toggles. Anything that must be read at the edge with near-zero latency.

Do NOT use for: User data, session state, frequently written data. Edge Config is optimized for reads, not writes.

Next.js 16: @vercel/edge-config@^1.4.3 supports cacheComponents and the renamed proxy.ts (formerly middleware.ts).

Neon Postgres (replaces @vercel/postgres)

Serverless Postgres with branching, auto-scaling, and connection pooling. The driver is GA at @neondatabase/serverless@^1.0.2 and requires Node.js 19+.

// Direct Neon usage
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless'

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!)
const users = await sql`SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${userId}`

// With Drizzle ORM
import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/neon-http'
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless'

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!)
const db = drizzle(sql)

Build-time safety — CRITICAL: The neon() call above throws if DATABASE_URL is not set. Since Next.js evaluates top-level module code at build time, this will crash next build when env vars aren't yet configured (e.g., first deploy before Marketplace provisioning). Use lazy initialization:

// src/db/index.ts — lazy initialization (safe for build time)
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless'
import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/neon-http'
import * as schema from './schema'

function createDb() {
  const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!)
  return drizzle(sql, { schema })
}

let _db: ReturnType<typeof createDb> | null = null

export function getDb() {
  if (!_db) _db = createDb()
  return _db
}

HARD RULE — Do NOT use JavaScript Proxy wrappers around the DB client. A common pattern is wrapping db in a Proxy for lazy initialization. This breaks libraries like NextAuth/Auth.js that inspect the DB adapter object (e.g., checking method existence, iterating properties). The Proxy intercepts those checks and breaks the auth request chain, causing hangs with no error. Use a plain getDb() function or a simple module-level lazy let instead.

Drizzle Kit migrations: drizzle-kit and tsx do NOT auto-load .env.local. Source env vars manually or use dotenv:

# Option 1: Source env vars before running (Linux/macOS only)
source <(grep -v '^#' .env.local | sed 's/^/export /') && npx drizzle-kit push

# Option 2: Use dotenv-cli (recommended, cross-platform)
npm install -D dotenv-cli
npx dotenv -e .env.local -- npx drizzle-kit push
npx dotenv -e .env.local -- npx tsx seed.ts

# Windows PowerShell equivalent (Option 2 — dotenv-cli, recommended)
npm install -D dotenv-cli
npx dotenv -e .env.local -- npx drizzle-kit push
npx dotenv -e .env.local -- npx tsx seed.ts

This applies to any Node script that needs Vercel-provisioned env vars — only Next.js auto-loads .env.local.

Upstash Redis (replaces @vercel/kv)

import { Redis } from '@upstash/redis'

const redis = Redis.fromEnv() // Uses UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL & TOKEN

// Basic operations
await redis.set('session:abc', { userId: '123' }, { ex: 3600 })
const session = await redis.get('session:abc')

// Rate limiting
import { Ratelimit } from '@upstash/ratelimit'
const ratelimit = new Ratelimit({
  redis,
  limiter: Ratelimit.slidingWindow(10, '10s'),
})
const { success } = await ratelimit.limit('user:123')

Supabase (Marketplace Native)

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'

const supabase = createClient(
  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL!,
  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!
)

const { data, error } = await supabase.from('users').select('*')

Install via Vercel Marketplace: vercel integration add supabase

Prisma ORM (Marketplace Native)

import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client'

const prisma = new PrismaClient()
const users = await prisma.user.findMany()

Install via Vercel Marketplace: vercel integration add prisma

MongoDB Atlas

import { MongoClient } from 'mongodb'

const client = new MongoClient(process.env.MONGODB_URI!)
const db = client.db('myapp')
const users = await db.collection('users').find({}).toArray()

Install via Vercel Marketplace: vercel integration add mongodb-atlas

Convex

import { query } from './_generated/server'
import { v } from 'convex/values'

export const getUsers = query({
  args: {},
  handler: async (ctx) => {
    return await ctx.db.query('users').collect()
  },
})

Turso (libSQL)

import { createClient } from '@libsql/client'

const turso = createClient({
  url: process.env.TURSO_DATABASE_URL!,
  authToken: process.env.TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN!,
})

const result = await turso.execute('SELECT * FROM users')

Install via Vercel Marketplace: vercel integration add turso

6. Migrate from Sunset Packages

@vercel/postgres and @vercel/kv are SUNSET. These packages no longer exist as first-party Vercel products. Use the marketplace replacements.

From @vercel/postgres → Neon

- import { sql } from '@vercel/postgres'
+ import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless'
+ const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!)

Drop-in replacement: For minimal migration effort, use @neondatabase/vercel-postgres-compat which provides API-compatible wrappers for @vercel/postgres imports.

From @vercel/kv → Upstash Redis

- import { kv } from '@vercel/kv'
- await kv.set('key', 'value')
- const value = await kv.get('key')
+ import { Redis } from '@upstash/redis'
+ const redis = Redis.fromEnv()
+ await redis.set('key', 'value')
+ const value = await redis.get('key')

Pitfalls

1. next build crashes with missing DATABASE_URL: The neon() call throws at module-eval time. Always use lazy initialization (getDb() pattern) — never call neon() at top-level scope.
2. Proxy wrappers break NextAuth/Auth.js: Wrapping the DB client in a JS Proxy for lazy init causes auth libraries to hang silently. Use a plain function or let variable instead. This is a HARD RULE.
3. drizzle-kit / tsx don't read .env.local: Only Next.js auto-loads .env.local. Use dotenv-cli (npx dotenv -e .env.local -- ...) for all standalone Node scripts. On Windows, source is not available — use dotenv-cli exclusively.
4. Using Blob private access for public files: Leads to slow delivery and high egress costs. Only use access: 'private' for files that should not be publicly accessible.
5. Edge Config used as a database: Edge Config is optimized for reads, not writes. Do NOT use it for user data, session state, or frequently written data.
6. Vercel-managed Neon CLI auth: CLI operations on Vercel-managed Neon projects require a Neon API key — the browser-auth login flow alone is insufficient.
7. Forgetting vercel env pull after Marketplace provisioning: After adding an integration, always run vercel env pull .env.local --yes locally so the new env vars are available for local dev.
8. Node.js version mismatch: @neondatabase/serverless requires Node.js 19+. Check node -v before installing.
9. Next.js 16 proxy.ts rename: @vercel/edge-config@^1.4.3 supports the renamed proxy.ts (formerly middleware.ts) and cacheComponents. Ensure you are on ^1.4.3 or later.

Verification

1. Confirm integration is installed:

   vercel integration list
   

   Expected: the storage integration (e.g., neon, upstash) appears in the list.

2. Confirm env vars were provisioned and pulled:

   vercel env pull .env.local --yes
   

   Then inspect .env.local for the expected keys (e.g., DATABASE_URL, UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL, UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN, BLOB_READ_WRITE_TOKEN, EDGE_CONFIG). Use YOUR_KEY placeholders when sharing examples — never commit real secrets.

3. Verify Blob upload works:

   import { put } from '@vercel/blob'
   const blob = await put('test.txt', 'hello', { access: 'public' })
   console.log(blob.url) // should print a vercel-storage.com URL
   

4. Verify Edge Config read:

   import { get } from '@vercel/edge-config'
   const val = await get('test-key')
   console.log(val)
   

5. Verify Neon query (with lazy init):

   import { getDb } from '@/db'
   const db = getDb()
   const result = await db.execute('SELECT 1 AS ok')
   console.log(result) // [{ ok: 1 }]
   

6. Verify Upstash Redis:

   import { Redis } from '@upstash/redis'
   const redis = Redis.fromEnv()
   await redis.set('ping', 'pong')
   console.log(await redis.get('ping')) // 'pong'
   

7. Verify next build succeeds without env vars (lazy init check):

   # Temporarily unset DATABASE_URL and build — should NOT crash
   $env:DATABASE_URL = $null
   npx next build
   

   If the build crashes with a neon() error, the lazy initialization pattern is not correctly applied.

Related skills

• vercel-deploy — Vercel project linking, env var management, deployment workflow
• nextjs — Next.js App Router, proxy.ts/middleware.ts, cacheComponents
• drizzle-orm — Drizzle schema, migrations, drizzle-kit push