PostgreSQL Strict Standard

Rules for production Postgres. Targets 16+ with notes for 17/18 features.

Version Targets

PostgreSQL 18 is GA (released Sept 2025). New deployments should target 18. Highlights worth designing around:

Async I/O subsystem (AIO): sequential scans, bitmap heap scans, and VACUUM issue concurrent reads instead of blocking each one. Up to ~3x faster on bulk-read workloads. No code change required.
Skip scan on B-tree indexes: multicolumn indexes can now be used when the leading column is not in the predicate, reducing the need for redundant index variants.
Parallel GIN index builds: CREATE INDEX ... USING gin runs in parallel. Big win for JSONB and full-text builds on large tables.
uuidv7() native: no extension required (see PG-26 below).
Virtual generated columns are the default: stored columns require explicit STORED. Virtual columns compute on read, no write amplification.
OLD and NEW in RETURNING: capture the row state before and after UPDATE/DELETE/MERGE in one statement.
OAuth 2.0 authentication in libpq: easier SSO integration.
Planner stats survive major version upgrades: post-upgrade clusters reach steady-state performance much faster, no immediate ANALYZE storm.