pg_flight_recorder

Server-side flight recorder for PostgreSQL. Answers "what was happening in my database?"

Install

Requires PostgreSQL 15+ with pg_cron.

Download from GitHub Releases or clone the repo, then:

Copy# Core (tables, collection, scheduling)
psql --single-transaction -f install.sql

Copy# Control (optional — vacuum diagnostics, scale factor tuning, bloat analysis)
psql --single-transaction -f autovacuum_control.sql

Copy# Reporting & analysis (optional)
psql --single-transaction -f reporting.sql

Use

CopySELECT flight_recorder_reporting.report('1 hour');

That's it. It runs automatically. The report tells you what happened.

Uninstall

Copy# Remove everything (destructive)
psql --single-transaction -f uninstall.sql

Copy# Remove only control functions (keeps core + data)
psql --single-transaction -f uninstall_autovacuum_control.sql

Copy# Remove only reporting functions (keeps core + data)
psql --single-transaction -f uninstall_reporting.sql

Export

With default retention: ~2.5GB uncompressed, ~150MB compressed.

Copy# Without compression
pg_dump -d your_database -n flight_recorder --data-only -f flight_recorder_data.sql

Copy# With compression (PostgreSQL 16+)
pg_dump -d your_database -n flight_recorder --data-only --compress=gzip:9 -f flight_recorder_data.sql.gz

Copy# With compression (PostgreSQL 15)
pg_dump -d your_database -n flight_recorder --data-only | gzip > flight_recorder_data.sql.gz

Reference

See REFERENCE.md for configuration, functions, and details.