Supabase Postgres

Supabase provides a managed PostgreSQL database with built-in connection pooling via Supavisor, along with additional features like storage, real-time subscriptions, and edge functions.

Note that supastarter uses better-auth for authentication, not Supabase Auth. Supabase is used purely as a database provider in this setup.

1. Create a Supabase account and project

Go to supabase.com and create an account. Create a new project and choose a strong database password. Save this password as you will need it for your connection strings.

2. Get your connection strings

In the Supabase dashboard, click the Connect button at the top of your project, then select the ORM tab. You will find two connection strings:

• Pooler (Transaction mode): Used by your application at runtime for efficient connection management.
• Direct connection: Used for database migrations.

The pooler connection string uses port 6543:

postgres://postgres.[project]:[password]@aws-0-[region].pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgres?pgbouncer=true

The direct connection string uses port 5432:

postgresql://postgres:[password]@db.[project-ref].supabase.co:5432/postgres

3. Configure environment variables

Add both connection strings to your .env.local file:

DATABASE_URL="postgres://postgres.[project]:[password]@aws-0-[region].pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgres?pgbouncer=true"
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://postgres:[password]@db.[project-ref].supabase.co:5432/postgres"

4. Configure Prisma for migrations

If you are using Prisma, configure it to use the direct connection string for migrations. Create or update the prisma.config.ts file:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { defineConfig, env } from 'prisma/config';

export default defineConfig({
  schema: './prisma/schema.prisma',
  datasource: {
    url: env('DIRECT_URL'),
  },
});

At runtime, Prisma Client automatically uses the DATABASE_URL environment variable (the pooler connection string) for all queries.

If you are using Drizzle, no special configuration is needed. The standard PostgreSQL setup works with the pooled DATABASE_URL.

5. Run migrations

Push your database schema to Supabase:

pnpm --filter database push

6. Enable Row Level Security

After running migrations, enable Row Level Security (RLS) for all created tables in the Supabase dashboard. Navigate to the Table Editor, select each table, and enable RLS from the table settings.

If you also want to use Supabase for file storage, see the complete Supabase setup recipe which covers both database and storage configuration.

Frequently asked questions

Does supastarter use Supabase Auth?

No, supastarter uses better-auth for authentication, which stores user data directly in your Supabase Postgres database. Supabase is used only as a database (and optionally storage) provider.

Do I need to enable RLS?

Yes, enabling RLS is recommended for security. supastarter accesses the database through the server-side connection, not the Supabase client SDK, but RLS adds an additional layer of protection at the database level.

Can I use Supabase's real-time features?

The database connection works for real-time subscriptions if you add the Supabase client SDK to your project, but this is not included by default in supastarter.