# Connecting directly to Postgres (psql, pg_dump, ORMs)

> How to connect psql, pg_dump, Prisma, Drizzle or a GUI straight to a SupaHost project's Postgres over the SSH tunnel on Business, and what to use on other plans.

Source: https://supahost.app/kb/direct-postgres-connection · Updated 2026-11-11

Direct Postgres connections on SupaHost go through an SSH tunnel and are available on the Business and Enterprise plans. Postgres isn't exposed to the internet on any plan: port 5432 listens only inside the instance. On Builder and Pro, use the Data API, Studio's SQL editor, the MCP server or the exports instead.

## On Business and Enterprise

### 1. Add your SSH key

Go to *Dashboard → your project → **Connect** → **SSH & CLI***, paste your public key (for example the contents of `~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub`) and click **Add key**. It works within a minute. Only the instance owner can add keys; you can have up to 20.

### 2. Open the tunnel

Leave this running in a terminal:

```bash
ssh -N -L 5432:127.0.0.1:5432 supahost@acme.supahost.space
```

If you already run Postgres locally on 5432, forward a different local port:

```bash
ssh -N -L 6543:127.0.0.1:5432 supahost@acme.supahost.space
```

### 3. Get the connection string

On *Connect → **Database***, click **Show connection string**:

```
postgresql://postgres:<password>@127.0.0.1:5432/p_app_one
```

The database name is `p_` plus your project name with `-` replaced by `_`. Change the port if you forwarded a different one.

### 4. Connect your tool

```bash
psql "postgresql://postgres:<password>@127.0.0.1:5432/p_app_one"

pg_dump -Fc -f app-one.dump "postgresql://postgres:<password>@127.0.0.1:5432/p_app_one"
```

For Prisma or Drizzle, set the same URL as `DATABASE_URL` in your local `.env`. There's no connection pooler on SupaHost, so there's no separate "pooled" URL or `pgbouncer=true` flag: use the one URL for both queries and migrations.

### Quick SQL without a tunnel

Over plain SSH, you can open `psql` for a project, or run one statement:

```bash
ssh supahost@acme.supahost.space
sudo supahost-psql app-one
sudo supahost-psql app-one -c "select count(*) from public.bookings"
```

## On Builder and Pro

| Task | Use |
|---|---|
| Run SQL by hand | Studio's SQL editor (Database tab → **Open Studio**) |
| Query from your app | supabase-js and the Data API |
| Let an AI agent run SQL or migrations | The MCP server's `execute_sql` and `apply_migration` |
| Take a database dump | **Create pg_dump** on the **Backups** tab |
| Use Prisma or Drizzle against SupaHost | Needs a direct connection, so Business or Enterprise. See [Prisma](/docs/integrations/prisma) and [Drizzle ORM](/docs/integrations/drizzle) |

## Things to know

- **The tunnel is for your tools, not production traffic.** Serverless and edge platforms can't hold an SSH tunnel open. Have those apps use the Data API or Edge Functions.
- **Connections are shared.** One Postgres server serves every project on the instance, with `max_connections = 400` in total. Keep ORM pool sizes small, especially in development servers that reload often.
- **You sign in as `postgres`**, the same role you'd use on Supabase Cloud. It can create objects in `public` and is subject to normal permissions.
- **Only the tunnel works.** `127.0.0.1:5432` in the connection string means "through your local end of the tunnel". The string won't work without it.
- SSH access is restricted: you can't get a root shell, and the instance's cloud credentials are blocked.

## Related

- [SSH access and direct Postgres](/docs/platform/ssh)
- [Connecting to your database](/docs/database/connecting)
- [Connection refused or timeout when connecting to Postgres](/kb/connection-refused)
- [Can I connect from serverless and edge functions?](/kb/serverless-edge-connections)