App Development tools
Build applications with PostgreSQL
Connecting applications to PostgreSQL correctly is foundational but often done poorly. Connection strings vary across drivers and frameworks, SSL configuration differs between cloud providers, and connection pooling settings can make or break application performance under load.
A PostgreSQL connection string encodes host, port, database, user, SSL mode, and optional parameters like application_name (for identifying connections in pg_stat_activity), statement_timeout (preventing runaway queries), and connect_timeout. The sslmode parameter is critical for security: require encrypts traffic but doesn't verify the server certificate, while verify-full provides complete protection against MITM attacks.
These tools help you build correct connection strings for your driver and cloud provider, understand SSL mode trade-offs, and configure connection parameters that prevent common production issues. The AI assistant knows the specifics of connecting from popular frameworks (Django, Rails, Spring Boot, Node.js) and cloud platforms (AWS RDS, Google Cloud SQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Supabase, Neon).
Common problems
- Using sslmode=disable or sslmode=prefer instead of require/verify-full
- Not setting statement_timeout, allowing queries to run indefinitely
- Missing application_name, making it hard to identify connections in pg_stat_activity
- Connection string format differences between libpq URI and keyword/value styles
- Not configuring connection pooling, exhausting max_connections under load