diff --git a/src/auth-request.ts b/src/auth-request.ts
index 1967f20..85aa628 100644
--- a/src/auth-request.ts
+++ b/src/auth-request.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ interface Handlers {
   onMessage: (event: MessageEvent) => void
 }
 
-export function readEventSource(url: string, discoConfig: DiscoConfig, handlers: Handlers) {
+export function readEventSource(url: string, discoConfig: DiscoConfig, handlers: Handlers): Promise<void> {
   const params: EventSourceInitDict = {
     headers: {
       Accept: 'text/event-stream',
@@ -27,8 +27,11 @@ export function readEventSource(url: string, discoConfig: DiscoConfig, handlers:
   // 'output' is our way of saying that we're sending a message
   es.addEventListener('output', handlers.onMessage)
   // sending 'end' is our way of signaling that we want to close the connection
-  es.addEventListener('end', () => {
-    es.close()
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    es.addEventListener('end', () => {
+      es.close()
+      resolve()
+    })
   })
 }
 
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ export function request({
   discoConfig: DiscoConfig
   body?: unknown
   expectedStatuses?: number[]
-  extraHeaders?: Record<string, string>,
+  extraHeaders?: Record<string, string>
   bodyStream?: Readable
 }) {
   const params: RequestInit = {
diff --git a/src/commands/postgres/create.ts b/src/commands/postgres/create.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1164e4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/commands/postgres/create.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+import {Command, Flags} from '@oclif/core'
+import {getDisco} from '../../config.js'
+import {request, readEventSource} from '../../auth-request.js'
+
+type PostgresInstance = {
+  name: string
+  version: string
+  created: string
+}
+
+type PostgresDatabase = {
+  created: string
+  name: string
+}
+
+export default class PostgresCreate extends Command {
+  static description = 'create a database for a project, ensuring addon and instance are installed'
+
+  static examples = ['<%= config.bin %> <%= command.id %>']
+
+  static flags = {
+    disco: Flags.string({required: false}),
+    project: Flags.string({required: true}),
+    'env-var': Flags.string({required: true, default: 'DATABASE_URL'}),
+  }
+
+  public async run(): Promise<void> {
+    const {flags} = await this.parse(PostgresCreate)
+    const discoConfig = getDisco(flags.disco || null)
+    let instances: PostgresInstance[] | undefined
+    let instanceName: string | undefined
+    {
+      // get list of instances
+      const url = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/postgres-addon/cgi/endpoints/instances`
+      const res = await request({
+        method: 'GET',
+        url,
+        discoConfig,
+        expectedStatuses: [200, 404],
+        extraHeaders: {
+          'X-Disco-Include-API-Key': 'true',
+        },
+      })
+      if (res.status === 200) {
+        const respBody = (await res.json()) as {instances: PostgresInstance[]}
+        instances = respBody.instances
+      } else {
+        // res.status == 404
+        this.log('Postgres addon not installed. Installing.')
+        const url = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects`
+        const project = 'postgres-addon'
+        const body = {
+          name: project,
+          githubRepo: 'letsdiscodev/disco-addon-postgres',
+        }
+
+        const res = await request({method: 'POST', url, discoConfig, body, expectedStatuses: [201]})
+        const data = (await res.json()) as any
+        if (data.deployment) {
+          const url = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/${project}/deployments/${data.deployment.number}/output`
+          await readEventSource(url, discoConfig, {
+            onMessage(event: MessageEvent) {
+              process.stdout.write(JSON.parse(event.data).text)
+            },
+          })
+        }
+
+        instances = []
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (instances.length === 0) {
+      this.log('No Postgres instance yet. Adding one.')
+      const url = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/postgres-addon/cgi/endpoints/instances`
+      const res = await request({
+        method: 'POST',
+        url,
+        discoConfig,
+        expectedStatuses: [201],
+        extraHeaders: {
+          'X-Disco-Include-API-Key': 'true',
+        },
+      })
+      const respBody = (await res.json()) as {
+        instance: {name: string}
+        project: {name: string}
+        deployment: {number: number}
+      }
+      this.log(`Added instance ${respBody.instance.name}.`)
+      const deploymentUrl = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/${respBody.project.name}/deployments/${respBody.deployment.number}/output`
+
+      await readEventSource(deploymentUrl, discoConfig, {
+        onMessage(event: MessageEvent) {
+          process.stdout.write(JSON.parse(event.data).text)
+        },
+      })
+      instanceName = respBody.instance.name
+    } else {
+      instances.sort((a, b) => new Date(a.created).valueOf() - new Date(b.created).valueOf())
+      instanceName = instances.at(-1)?.name
+      this.log(`Using Postgres instance ${instanceName}.`)
+    }
+
+    let databaseName: string | undefined
+    {
+      this.log('Creating database.')
+      const url = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/postgres-addon/cgi/endpoints/instances/${instanceName}/databases`
+      const res = await request({
+        method: 'POST',
+        url,
+        discoConfig,
+        expectedStatuses: [201],
+        extraHeaders: {
+          'X-Disco-Include-API-Key': 'true',
+        },
+      })
+      const respBody = (await res.json()) as {database: PostgresDatabase}
+      this.log(respBody.database.name)
+      databaseName = respBody.database.name
+    }
+
+    {
+      this.log('Attaching database to project.')
+      const url = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/postgres-addon/cgi/endpoints/instances/${instanceName}/databases/${databaseName}/attach`
+      const reqBody = {envVar: flags['env-var'], project: flags.project}
+      await request({
+        method: 'POST',
+        url,
+        discoConfig,
+        body: reqBody,
+        expectedStatuses: [200],
+        extraHeaders: {
+          'X-Disco-Include-API-Key': 'true',
+        },
+      })
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/commands/postgres/instances/add.ts b/src/commands/postgres/instances/add.ts
index 77e1e7a..aee48e8 100644
--- a/src/commands/postgres/instances/add.ts
+++ b/src/commands/postgres/instances/add.ts
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ export default class PostgresInstancesAdd extends Command {
         'X-Disco-Include-API-Key': 'true',
       },
     })
-    const respBody = (await res.json()) as {project: {name: string}; deployment: {number: number}}
-    this.log(`Added instance ${respBody.project.name}`)
+    const respBody = (await res.json()) as {instance: {name: string}, project: {name: string}; deployment: {number: number}}
+    this.log(`Added instance ${respBody.instance.name}`)
     const deploymentUrl = `https://${discoConfig.host}/api/projects/${respBody.project.name}/deployments/${respBody.deployment.number}/output`
 
     readEventSource(deploymentUrl, discoConfig, {