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# v0 chat uses production environment variables and fails to create NeonDB branch

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Vsme Tee (@vsme-tee) · 2026-03-18

## Problem
When creating a new chat for an existing project running on Vercel using the `NeonDB` integration, a new `git` branch is created as expected, safeguarding `main`. However, the chat still uses the same production environment variables the app is running with in production.

## Current Behavior
- No new `NeonDB` branch is created (though it works fine when creating a new branch outside of `v0`).
- `VERCEL_ENV` and `NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ENV` are not set to `preview` or `development` as expected.
- This is dangerous because the development environment pushes migrations on start, which could break production.

The release article does mention new `Neon` branch creations so I assume something is going wrong on our side or Vercel’s: [The New v0 Is Ready for Production Apps and Agents - Neon](https://neon.com/blog/the-new-v0-is-ready-for-production-apps-and-agents#shipping-real-apps-real-data)

## Question
How can we proceed to debug this issue?