Troubleshooting tools
Diagnose and fix common PostgreSQL problems
PostgreSQL troubleshooting often starts with a specific error message or symptom: "too many connections," "deadlock detected," "could not serialize access," or simply "the database is slow." Each symptom has multiple possible root causes, and effective diagnosis requires systematic investigation rather than guessing.
The "too many connections" error is one of the most common PostgreSQL issues. The default max_connections is 100, and each connection consumes memory (work_mem, temp_buffers, connection overhead). The real fix is rarely increasing max_connections — it's usually implementing connection pooling with PgBouncer or the built-in connection pooler in your cloud provider, fixing connection leaks in application code, or reducing idle connections.
These tools help you diagnose specific PostgreSQL problems with targeted questions and step-by-step analysis. The AI assistant understands PostgreSQL error codes, system view outputs, and common misconfiguration patterns, and provides actionable fixes rather than generic advice.
Common problems
- Exceeding max_connections without connection pooling
- Connection leaks in application code (connections opened but never closed)
- Deadlocks from inconsistent lock ordering across transactions
- Transaction ID wraparound warnings from deferred vacuuming
- Disk space exhaustion from unmonitored WAL or temp file growth