# Resetting a project's database password

> SupaHost generates the postgres password for you, and you only need it for direct connections on Business. Where to find it, and what to do if it must change.

Source: https://supahost.app/kb/reset-database-password · Updated 2026-11-11

There's no self-serve database password reset on SupaHost. You usually don't need one: SupaHost generates the `postgres` password for you, and your app never uses it. Apps sign in to your project with the API keys, not a database password. If you're on Business or Enterprise and want the password for a direct connection, you can view it any time. If it really has to change, email support.

## When you need the password

Only for direct Postgres connections, which are available on Business and Enterprise through the SSH tunnel. That covers tools like `psql`, `pg_dump`, Prisma, Drizzle and database GUIs.

On Builder and Pro there's no direct connection, so there's no password to manage. Work with the database through the Data API, Studio's SQL editor, the MCP server's `execute_sql`, or the exports on the **Backups** tab.

## Finding the password

1. Go to *Dashboard → your project → **Connect** → **Database***.
2. Click **Show connection string** (instance owner only). You get a URL like:

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

3. Open the tunnel, then connect with that URL:

   ```bash
   ssh -N -L 5432:127.0.0.1:5432 supahost@acme.supahost.space
   # in a second terminal:
   psql "postgresql://postgres:<password>@127.0.0.1:5432/p_app_one"
   ```

Team members who aren't the owner see "Ask the instance owner for the connection string."

The `postgres` role belongs to the instance's Postgres server, which holds every project's database. So the same password works for each project's database on that instance; only the database name (`p_<project>`) changes.

## If the password must change

Email supahost@volods.com from the account owner's address, with the instance name and why it needs changing (for example, it was pasted into a public repo or a shared chat). Then, while you wait:

- Remove SSH keys you don't trust from **Connect** → **SSH & CLI**. The database port isn't exposed to the internet, so without SSH access the password alone can't be used to connect from outside.
- Check *Dashboard → **Activity*** for changes you don't recognise.

Don't change it yourself with `alter role postgres password ...`. Studio and SupaHost's own tools sign in as `postgres`, and they'd stop working until the stored password matches again.

## Related errors

If a tool says `FATAL: password authentication failed for user "postgres"`, the password itself is rarely the problem. Usually it's the wrong database name, a tunnel to a different instance, or a local Postgres already listening on port 5432. See [FATAL: password authentication failed](/kb/password-authentication-failed).

## Related

- [Connecting directly to Postgres](/kb/direct-postgres-connection)
- [SSH access and direct Postgres](/docs/platform/ssh)
- [Keeping keys safe](/docs/security/api-key-safety)