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Every 3 days

Stop a free Supabase project from pausing

Your free project stays active, and you hear about it if the keep-alive query fails.

Runs
Every 3 days
Apps
Supabase
AI
Not needed
Access
read

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every 3 days run a small select on my Supabase project so it stays active, and email me if the query errors.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A developer builds a side project, a prototype for a client or a small internal tool on Supabase's free tier and then gets busy with something else. After a stretch of inactivity the project is paused, the app starts returning errors and the developer finds out when a user complains. Restoring a paused project takes manual steps, and a demo scheduled for the same morning can fall apart.

Every three days, ClickRuntime sends a lightweight select query to your project, which counts as real activity. If the query fails, for example because the project is already paused or the key stopped working, it emails you so you can act before anyone else notices. A healthy run stays silent and costs you nothing.

It helps solo builders, students and agencies that keep several low-traffic projects running on the free plan.

What you get out of it

  • Demos and prototypes stay online

    A client demo or a portfolio project that has been paused makes you look careless. A small regular query keeps the project awake, so the link you share on Monday still works on Friday.

  • You hear about problems before users do

    When the check fails, you get an email straight away. Finding out from your own inbox on Tuesday beats learning about the outage from an annoyed user on Thursday. Even a quiet week still gets a check.

  • No need to remember a manual visit

    Logging in to the dashboard every week to keep a project alive is exactly the kind of chore that gets forgotten. The scheduled query removes the habit entirely and still runs during holidays.

  • Several projects can be covered at once

    If you maintain a handful of small projects, each gets its own check. One routine protects all of them, so a forgotten prototype does not become a paused one. Each one is monitored separately.

  • The query touches almost no data

    A single small select on a table creates no meaningful load and does not alter your rows. You keep the project active without writing data or risking changes to anything important.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Every three days ClickRuntime runs a tiny read against your Supabase project.

  2. That activity keeps a free project from being paused for inactivity.

  3. If the read fails, you get an email with the error so you can fix it before the project pauses.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Supabase

What you get

RunsEvery 3 days
Stop a free Supabase project from pausingtoday, 9:00Succeeded
Email · Keep-aliveSupabase keep-alive query failed HTTP 401: Invalid API key

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Run it at a different time, more or less often, or only on weekdays
  • Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Supabase steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
keep_a_free_plan_project_from_pausing.pyexample
from clickruntime import on_trigger, credentials, http, notify

SUPABASE_URL = "https://your-project.supabase.co"

def sb_headers(**extra):
    key = credentials.secret("SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY")
    return {"apikey": key, "Authorization": f"Bearer {key}", **extra}

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    resp = http.get(f"{SUPABASE_URL}/rest/v1/profiles", params={"select": "id", "limit": 1}, headers=sb_headers())
    if not resp.ok:
        notify.email_me("Supabase keep-alive query failed", f"HTTP {resp.status_code}: {resp.text[:500]}")
    return {"status": resp.status_code}

FAQ

Common questions

How often does the query need to run to prevent a pause?
Supabase pauses free projects after a period of inactivity, which has been seven days. A query every three days leaves comfortable margin for a failed run or two. Check Supabase's current policy if you are unsure and ask your assistant to adjust the interval.
Which query does it run?
A minimal select of one row from a table you name, using your project URL and an API key stored as a secret. It reads one record and makes no changes, which is enough to register as activity with the project.
What happens if the project is already paused?
The query fails, and you get an email telling you so. A paused project has to be restored from the Supabase dashboard, so the alert gives you the chance to do that quickly. The scheduled checks then resume working.
What permissions does it need?
read. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run each time it runs (every 3 days). Checks that find nothing to do and stop right away aren't counted.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Stop a free Supabase project from pausing” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.