A branch-first dev loop for Neon: link, checkout and env pull

Neon has introduced three new CLI commands—neonctl link, neonctl checkout, and neonctl env pull—to streamline branch-first development, making it the default approach for developers using Neon Serverless Postgres or the broader Neon Platform. These commands simplify the process of linking a local development workspace to a Neon project, switching branches, and managing environment variables. The neonctl link command connects the workspace to a Neon project interactively, neonctl checkout facilitates branch management inspired by Git, and neonctl env pull automatically fetches and updates branch-specific environment variables. This setup is particularly beneficial for coding agents, ensuring isolated development environments and reducing human error. Additionally, Neon offers options to manage environment variables without writing them to disk, using runtime injection via the new @neondatabase/env package. These tools aim to enhance the developer experience in anticipation of the Neon Platform's private preview, with more updates and features to be announced.

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