Connection Guide

Quick connect

Copy your connection string from the dashboard and use it directly:

Python
Node.js
Go
psql

pip install psycopg2-binary

import psycopg2

conn = psycopg2.connect("postgresql://user:pass@rs-xxx.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full")
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT 1")
print(cur.fetchone())
conn.close()

npm install pg

const { Client } = require('pg');

const client = new Client({
  connectionString: 'postgresql://user:pass@rs-xxx.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full'
});

await client.connect();
const res = await client.query('SELECT 1');
console.log(res.rows[0]);
await client.end();

go get github.com/jackc/pgx/v5

conn, err := pgx.Connect(context.Background(),
    "postgresql://user:pass@rs-xxx.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
defer conn.Close(context.Background())

psql "postgresql://user:pass@rs-xxx.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full"

Connection details

Find your connection credentials in the Rivestack dashboard under the Connection tab of your database or cluster.

Parameter	Description	Example
Host	Your unique endpoint	`rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io`
Port	PostgreSQL port	`6432`
Database	Database name	`mydb`
Username	Database user	`myuser`
Password	User password	(from dashboard)
SSL Mode	Certificate and hostname verification	`verify-full`

Port 6432 applies to every dedicated plan — Solo, Starter, Growth and Scale — on a single node and after scaling to HA alike. Free shared databases use 5432. Copying the connection string from the dashboard always gives you the right one.

Connection string

postgresql://username:password@host:6432/dbname?sslmode=verify-full

Click the copy button next to each field in the dashboard to copy values to your clipboard.

SSL / TLS

All Rivestack connections require SSL. Unencrypted connections are rejected. Use sslmode=verify-full so the client also verifies the public CA chain and confirms that the certificate matches the database hostname. sslmode=require encrypts traffic but does not authenticate the server identity. No CA certificate download is needed, because Rivestack uses certificates signed by a trusted public CA.

Connect with psql

psql "host=rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io port=6432 dbname=mydb user=myuser sslmode=verify-full"

You’ll be prompted for your password. To include it inline:

psql "postgresql://myuser:mypassword@rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full"

Language examples

Python
Node.js
Go

Using psycopg2

pip install psycopg2-binary

import psycopg2

conn = psycopg2.connect(
    host="rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io",
    port=6432,
    dbname="mydb",
    user="myuser",
    password="mypassword",
    sslmode="verify-full"
)

cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT version()")
print(cur.fetchone())

cur.close()
conn.close()

Using SQLAlchemy

pip install sqlalchemy psycopg2-binary

from sqlalchemy import create_engine

engine = create_engine(
    "postgresql://myuser:mypassword@rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb",
    connect_args={"sslmode": "verify-full"}
)

with engine.connect() as conn:
    result = conn.execute("SELECT version()")
    print(result.fetchone())

Using pg (node-postgres)

npm install pg

const { Client } = require('pg');

const client = new Client({
  host: 'rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io',
  port: 6432,
  database: 'mydb',
  user: 'myuser',
  password: 'mypassword',
  ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: true }
});

await client.connect();
const res = await client.query('SELECT version()');
console.log(res.rows[0]);
await client.end();

Using a connection string

const { Client } = require('pg');

const client = new Client({
  connectionString: 'postgresql://myuser:mypassword@rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full'
});

await client.connect();

Using Prisma

Set your DATABASE_URL in .env:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://myuser:mypassword@rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full"

Using pgx

go get github.com/jackc/pgx/v5

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    "github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
)

func main() {
    connStr := "postgresql://myuser:mypassword@rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io:6432/mydb?sslmode=verify-full"

    conn, err := pgx.Connect(context.Background(), connStr)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    defer conn.Close(context.Background())

    var version string
    err = conn.QueryRow(context.Background(), "SELECT version()").Scan(&version)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(version)
}

Using database/sql

package main

import (
    "database/sql"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    _ "github.com/lib/pq"
)

func main() {
    connStr := "host=rs-abc12345.eu.db.rivestack.io port=6432 user=myuser password=mypassword dbname=mydb sslmode=verify-full"

    db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    defer db.Close()

    var version string
    err = db.QueryRow("SELECT version()").Scan(&version)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(version)
}

HA cluster connections

For HA clusters, connections are routed through a load balancer that automatically directs traffic to the primary node. All connections use port 6432 — the same port a single-node cluster uses. Scaling up to HA adds the load balancer without changing your connection string: the hostname and port both stay as they were. The load balancer handles failover automatically, and your application reconnects to the new primary without changing connection details.

Connection limits

Tier	Max Connections
Free	5
HA Cluster	100

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

Verify your host, port, and credentials are correct.
Ensure you’re using sslmode=verify-full and the dashboard hostname, not a raw IP address.
Check that your host and port are correct.

SSL errors

All connections require SSL. Configure sslmode=verify-full and connect with the hostname shown in the dashboard. The certificate chains to a public CA, so no custom CA download is needed.

Too many connections

Free tier databases are limited to 15 connections. HA clusters support up to 100. Close idle connections or use connection pooling in your application.

Getting Started

Features

Demos

Resources

Changelog

Quick connect

Connection details

Connection string

SSL / TLS

Connect with psql

Language examples

Using psycopg2

Using SQLAlchemy

Using pg (node-postgres)

Using a connection string

Using Prisma

Using pgx

Using database/sql

HA cluster connections

Connection limits

Troubleshooting

​Quick connect

​Connection details

​Connection string

​SSL / TLS

​Connect with psql

​Language examples

​Using psycopg2

​Using SQLAlchemy

​Using pg (node-postgres)

​Using a connection string

​Using Prisma

​Using pgx

​Using database/sql

​HA cluster connections

​Connection limits

​Troubleshooting

Quick connect

Connection details

Connection string

SSL / TLS

Connect with psql

Language examples

Using psycopg2

Using SQLAlchemy

Using pg (node-postgres)

Using a connection string

Using Prisma

Using pgx

Using database/sql

HA cluster connections

Connection limits

Troubleshooting