page:guides:astro:database connection

Connect Postgres for Astro

Summary

Connect an Astro app to PostgreSQL on Ample. Read DATABASE_URL at runtime with pg: when you supply one with --env it is delivered encrypted and takes precedence; when you supply none and the app needs PostgreSQL, Ample auto-provisions a managed PostgreSQL 16 database and injects its connection string.

Prerequisites

• pg reading the DATABASE_URL environment variable at runtime
• Either a production DATABASE_URL to pass with --env, or nothing (auto-provision)
• An Ample account token with servers:write and databases:read

Input Schema

• env: Encrypted environment variables as KEY=value; secret values are never stored in ample.toml.
  • Items: Pattern: ^[A-Z][A-Z0-9_]*=.*$
  • Max items: 50
• name: App name (lowercase, digits, and dashes).
  • Max length: 63
  • Min length: 1
  • Pattern: ^[a-z0-9-]+$
• path: Project directory to deploy, or one service name from ample.toml.
  • Max length: 512
  • Min length: 1
• size: VM size; omit to let Ample pick a runtime-safe size.
  • Enum: ["s-1vcpu-256mb", "s-1vcpu-1gb", "s-1vcpu-2gb", "s-2vcpu-2gb", "s-2vcpu-4gb"]
• start: Start command override when detection cannot infer it.
  • Max length: 512

Workflow Steps

1. Read the URL at runtime: Open connections from the DATABASE_URL environment variable inside the app; never commit credentials and never connect at build time.
2. Choose the source of the database: Pass --env DATABASE_URL=... for an existing database, or omit it to let Ample provision a managed one on first deploy and reuse it on redeploys.
   • Command: ample deploy . --name --public
3. Test the connection through the app: Expose a route (/db) that runs a trivial query and returns postgres=ok.
4. Verify: Fetch the live URL and run the success checks below. On failure read the build log, then the runtime log, fix the cause, and deploy again; do not blind-retry.
   • Command: ample logs --kind build

Examples

• Astro + PostgreSQL canary: Auto-provisioned managed database with a real query.
  • Source Reference: tests/deploy-canaries/astro-postgres-app

Success Checks

• Database route reports a live connection.
  • Kind: http_get
  • Path: /db
  • Expect: postgres=ok

Limitations

• Verified on the node-22 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; other templates and sizes are not verified by this recipe.
• Region, compliance attestations and request-duration limits are unknown and not claimed.
• Apps auto-pause when idle and wake on the next request; always-on is an operator setting, not a plan feature.
• Managed PostgreSQL 16 only; extensions, connection limits and backup or restore procedures are not verified.
• Apps and their managed databases are placed together; cross-node shared databases are unsupported.

Cost Estimate

• Currency: USD
• Monthly Amount: 10.0
• Note: Apps and managed databases auto-pause when idle; the estimate is the always-on monthly price of the tested sizes. Plan quotas and budgets apply.