diff --git a/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs b/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
index a155e9ebb2..5c0d008943 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
@@ -652,6 +652,10 @@ async fn handle_timeline(timeline_match: &ArgMatches, env: &mut local_env::Local
             let name = import_match
                 .get_one::<String>("node-name")
                 .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("No node name provided"))?;
+            let update_catalog = import_match
+                .get_one::<bool>("update-catalog")
+                .cloned()
+                .unwrap_or_default();
 
             // Parse base inputs
             let base_tarfile = import_match
@@ -694,6 +698,7 @@ async fn handle_timeline(timeline_match: &ArgMatches, env: &mut local_env::Local
                 None,
                 pg_version,
                 ComputeMode::Primary,
+                !update_catalog,
             )?;
             println!("Done");
         }
@@ -831,6 +836,10 @@ async fn handle_endpoint(ep_match: &ArgMatches, env: &local_env::LocalEnv) -> Re
                 .get_one::<String>("endpoint_id")
                 .map(String::to_string)
                 .unwrap_or_else(|| format!("ep-{branch_name}"));
+            let update_catalog = sub_args
+                .get_one::<bool>("update-catalog")
+                .cloned()
+                .unwrap_or_default();
 
             let lsn = sub_args
                 .get_one::<String>("lsn")
@@ -880,6 +889,7 @@ async fn handle_endpoint(ep_match: &ArgMatches, env: &local_env::LocalEnv) -> Re
                 http_port,
                 pg_version,
                 mode,
+                !update_catalog,
             )?;
         }
         "start" => {
@@ -918,6 +928,11 @@ async fn handle_endpoint(ep_match: &ArgMatches, env: &local_env::LocalEnv) -> Re
                 .get(endpoint_id.as_str())
                 .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("endpoint {endpoint_id} not found"))?;
 
+            let create_test_user = sub_args
+                .get_one::<bool>("create-test-user")
+                .cloned()
+                .unwrap_or_default();
+
             cplane.check_conflicting_endpoints(
                 endpoint.mode,
                 endpoint.tenant_id,
@@ -972,6 +987,7 @@ async fn handle_endpoint(ep_match: &ArgMatches, env: &local_env::LocalEnv) -> Re
                     pageservers,
                     remote_ext_config,
                     stripe_size.0 as usize,
+                    create_test_user,
                 )
                 .await?;
         }
@@ -1457,6 +1473,18 @@ fn cli() -> Command {
         .required(false)
         .default_value("1");
 
+    let update_catalog = Arg::new("update-catalog")
+        .value_parser(value_parser!(bool))
+        .long("update-catalog")
+        .help("If set, will set up the catalog for neon_superuser")
+        .required(false);
+
+    let create_test_user = Arg::new("create-test-user")
+        .value_parser(value_parser!(bool))
+        .long("create-test-user")
+        .help("If set, will create test user `user` and `neondb` database. Requires `update-catalog = true`")
+        .required(false);
+
     Command::new("Neon CLI")
         .arg_required_else_help(true)
         .version(GIT_VERSION)
@@ -1517,6 +1545,7 @@ fn cli() -> Command {
                 .arg(Arg::new("end-lsn").long("end-lsn")
                     .help("Lsn the basebackup ends at"))
                 .arg(pg_version_arg.clone())
+                .arg(update_catalog.clone())
             )
         ).subcommand(
             Command::new("tenant")
@@ -1630,6 +1659,7 @@ fn cli() -> Command {
                             .required(false))
                     .arg(pg_version_arg.clone())
                     .arg(hot_standby_arg.clone())
+                    .arg(update_catalog)
                 )
                 .subcommand(Command::new("start")
                     .about("Start postgres.\n If the endpoint doesn't exist yet, it is created.")
@@ -1637,6 +1667,7 @@ fn cli() -> Command {
                     .arg(endpoint_pageserver_id_arg.clone())
                     .arg(safekeepers_arg)
                     .arg(remote_ext_config_args)
+                    .arg(create_test_user)
                 )
                 .subcommand(Command::new("reconfigure")
                             .about("Reconfigure the endpoint")
diff --git a/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs b/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs
index ce8f035dfc..bab7a70ce7 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs
@@ -41,11 +41,15 @@ use std::net::SocketAddr;
 use std::net::TcpStream;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::process::Command;
+use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context, Result};
+use compute_api::spec::Database;
+use compute_api::spec::PgIdent;
 use compute_api::spec::RemoteExtSpec;
+use compute_api::spec::Role;
 use nix::sys::signal::kill;
 use nix::sys::signal::Signal;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
@@ -122,6 +126,7 @@ impl ComputeControlPlane {
         http_port: Option<u16>,
         pg_version: u32,
         mode: ComputeMode,
+        skip_pg_catalog_updates: bool,
     ) -> Result<Arc<Endpoint>> {
         let pg_port = pg_port.unwrap_or_else(|| self.get_port());
         let http_port = http_port.unwrap_or_else(|| self.get_port() + 1);
@@ -140,7 +145,7 @@ impl ComputeControlPlane {
             // before and after start are the same. So, skip catalog updates,
             // with this we basically test a case of waking up an idle compute, where
             // we also skip catalog updates in the cloud.
-            skip_pg_catalog_updates: true,
+            skip_pg_catalog_updates,
             features: vec![],
         });
 
@@ -155,7 +160,7 @@ impl ComputeControlPlane {
                 http_port,
                 pg_port,
                 pg_version,
-                skip_pg_catalog_updates: true,
+                skip_pg_catalog_updates,
                 features: vec![],
             })?,
         )?;
@@ -500,6 +505,7 @@ impl Endpoint {
         pageservers: Vec<(Host, u16)>,
         remote_ext_config: Option<&String>,
         shard_stripe_size: usize,
+        create_test_user: bool,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         if self.status() == EndpointStatus::Running {
             anyhow::bail!("The endpoint is already running");
@@ -551,8 +557,26 @@ impl Endpoint {
                 cluster_id: None, // project ID: not used
                 name: None,       // project name: not used
                 state: None,
-                roles: vec![],
-                databases: vec![],
+                roles: if create_test_user {
+                    vec![Role {
+                        name: PgIdent::from_str("test").unwrap(),
+                        encrypted_password: None,
+                        options: None,
+                    }]
+                } else {
+                    Vec::new()
+                },
+                databases: if create_test_user {
+                    vec![Database {
+                        name: PgIdent::from_str("neondb").unwrap(),
+                        owner: PgIdent::from_str("test").unwrap(),
+                        options: None,
+                        restrict_conn: false,
+                        invalid: false,
+                    }]
+                } else {
+                    Vec::new()
+                },
                 settings: None,
                 postgresql_conf: Some(postgresql_conf),
             },
@@ -577,11 +601,16 @@ impl Endpoint {
             .open(self.endpoint_path().join("compute.log"))?;
 
         // Launch compute_ctl
-        println!("Starting postgres node at '{}'", self.connstr());
+        let conn_str = self.connstr("cloud_admin", "postgres");
+        println!("Starting postgres node at '{}'", conn_str);
+        if create_test_user {
+            let conn_str = self.connstr("user", "neondb");
+            println!("Also at '{}'", conn_str);
+        }
         let mut cmd = Command::new(self.env.neon_distrib_dir.join("compute_ctl"));
         cmd.args(["--http-port", &self.http_address.port().to_string()])
             .args(["--pgdata", self.pgdata().to_str().unwrap()])
-            .args(["--connstr", &self.connstr()])
+            .args(["--connstr", &conn_str])
             .args([
                 "--spec-path",
                 self.endpoint_path().join("spec.json").to_str().unwrap(),
@@ -785,13 +814,13 @@ impl Endpoint {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    pub fn connstr(&self) -> String {
+    pub fn connstr(&self, user: &str, db_name: &str) -> String {
         format!(
             "postgresql://{}@{}:{}/{}",
-            "cloud_admin",
+            user,
             self.pg_address.ip(),
             self.pg_address.port(),
-            "postgres"
+            db_name
         )
     }
 }