the build

max_identifier_length reports a number, 63, and the number is the least interesting thing about it.

PostgreSQL won't let you pass more than 100 arguments to a function, and changing it requires rebuilding every extension on your machine.

PostgreSQL's max_files_per_process isn't a hard limit—it's a descriptor pool that quietly recycles old files when full.

max_connections is a memory budget and a circuit breaker wearing a capacity costume.

max_active_replication_origins is a ten-year-old XXX comment that finally got paid off.

Unlock faster index builds and vacuum operations by understanding maintenance_work_mem: PostgreSQL's one-allocation memory budget that actually behaves like…

Discover which PostgreSQL maintenance tasks actually use `maintenance_io_concurrency`—the answer is wider and more surprising than the name suggests, and…

Logical decoding holds uncommitted transactions in memory until commit—and when they get too big, PostgreSQL spills them to disk.

PostgreSQL's oldest logging parameters measure CPU time, page faults, and context switches per statement—crude but irreplaceable when you need to know why a…

Track WAL replay progress on a primary, or diagnose why a standby stalled—two GUCs for the same startup question, answered only in the server log.

log_lock_waits is the cheapest lock-contention detector PostgreSQL ships, and through version 18 it is off by default.

log_replication_commands is log_statement = all for walsenders, with the one difference that you should turn it on.

Aggregate query statistics hide the forest of cheap queries.

Control what bind parameters PostgreSQL logs alongside statements and errors.

Three parameters control what reaches your server log: a severity floor, whether to attach the triggering SQL, and how many fields each message prints.

A log line has two parts: the message, which PostgreSQL decides, and everything in front of it, which you do. log_line_prefix is the join key.

PostgreSQL's log rotation has three parameters that only make sense together: one rotates at clock boundaries, one at file sizes, and one decides whether to…

All three of these do nothing unless logging_collector is on; they describe the files the collector writes.

PostgreSQL's logging collector is a small pipe-based daemon that prevents message loss and garbling—but turning it on requires a restart, which you'll want on…

PostgreSQL 18 adds granular connection logging.

And now, we put on our waders and venture into the swamp that is all of the PostgreSQL logging GUCs.

Prepared statements switch from custom plans to generic plans on the sixth execution, and that switch can make your queries mysteriously slow.

Listen_addresses decides which TCP sockets exist on your server—but it says nothing about who can use them.