The Scenario
You are a release engineer. Tomorrow morning at 9 AM you are deploying a major schema migration across twelve staging database branches in Neon. Before any migration scripts run, you need a point-in-time snapshot of each branch documented in a tracking workbook: snapshot ID and timestamp in columns C and D, so you have a rollback reference if anything goes wrong.
The workbook already has project IDs in column A and branch IDs in column B.
The bad version of the next ninety minutes:
- Open the Neon dashboard
- Navigate to project one, locate branch one, click the snapshot option
- Wait for it to complete, copy the snapshot ID, note the timestamp
- Navigate to project two, repeat
- By branch eight the timestamps are inconsistent because you forgot to note them in real time for two branches
- You deploy the next morning with two branches that have no verified snapshot timestamp.
The fast version is one prompt.
The Easy Way: One Prompt in SheetXAI
SheetXAI reads the branch list and calls the Neon API to create a snapshot for each one, capturing the snapshot ID and timestamp automatically.
Open the SheetXAI sidebar and type:
Create a snapshot for every branch listed in my Excel workbook — use the project ID and branch ID columns — and record the resulting snapshot ID and status in the adjacent columns.
SheetXAI iterates through all twelve rows, creates each snapshot, and writes the snapshot ID and status back into the workbook. Every branch has a documented rollback point.
What You Get
A complete pre-deployment snapshot tracker with:
- Snapshot ID column — the unique identifier for each snapshot
- Status column — creation status and timestamp for each row
- Full row coverage — every branch in the workbook has a snapshot documented
If a snapshot fails, SheetXAI writes the error into the snapshot ID column so you know exactly which row to investigate.
What If the Data Is Not Quite Ready
Pre-deployment workbooks often have gaps. SheetXAI handles them in the same prompt.
When branch IDs are branch names
For each row, resolve the branch name in the branch ID column to the actual Neon branch ID for the project in column A. Write the branch ID back into the column. Then create a snapshot and write the snapshot ID and creation timestamp into the adjacent columns.
When some rows already have a snapshot ID from yesterday's dry run
Skip any row where the snapshot ID column already has a value. For the remaining rows, create a Neon snapshot and write the snapshot ID and creation timestamp into the adjacent columns.
When only specific branches are in scope for tomorrow's migration
Filter to rows where the Status column says 'In Scope'. Create a Neon snapshot for each filtered row and write the snapshot ID and creation timestamp into the adjacent columns.
When the release manager wants a go/no-go summary
Create a Neon snapshot for each row. Write the snapshot ID and creation timestamp into the adjacent columns. Then write a summary in cell F1 showing: total snapshots created, total failures with branch IDs, and a GO or NO-GO recommendation based on whether all rows have a snapshot ID.
The pattern: the workbook is the deployment checklist. One prompt creates all the snapshots and produces the go/no-go recommendation.
Try It
Get the 7-day free trial of SheetXAI and open any branch tracking workbook with Neon project IDs and branch IDs, then ask it to create the pre-deployment snapshots. The Neon integration is included in every plan. See also how to bulk-create Neon feature branches from an Excel workbook or the Neon in Excel overview.