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Articles
Notes on comparing, deploying and keeping PostgreSQL schemas honest.
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Using AI to Manage Your PostgreSQL Schema
April 07, 2026
PostgresCompare's MCP server support lets AI assistants like Claude explore your databases, compare schemas, and generate migration scripts—all through natural conversation. -
Introducing the New PostgresCompare CLI: Power and Automation for Your Database Pipelines
March 31, 2026
We’ve completely rewritten the PostgresCompare CLI. With support for over 40 object types, Git-integrated comparisons, and CI/CD-ready output formats, it's the ultimate tool for automating your PostgreSQL schema workflows. -
The Top 5 Ways to Compare PostgreSQL Databases (And Why pg_dump Isn't Enough)
March 30, 2026
Comparing database schemas is a core task. We review 5 methods, from simple CLI tricks to dedicated tools, to find the best fit for your workflow. -
PostgresCompare vs Redgate pgCompare
March 23, 2026
Both tools compare PostgreSQL schemas. One deploys directly with safety checks and runs 100% locally. See the full feature and pricing comparison. -
How to Compare Two PostgreSQL Databases (Step-by-Step Guide)
March 17, 2026
Learn three ways to compare PostgreSQL databases: using a dedicated comparison tool, pgAdmin Schema Diff, or pg_dump. Find schema differences in minutes, not hours. -
PostgresCompare vs pgAdmin Schema Diff — Which Is Better?
March 13, 2026
pgAdmin is free but limited. PostgresCompare offers deployment scripts, comparison history, and 40+ object types. See the full feature comparison. -
How to Safely Rename a Column in PostgreSQL
February 25, 2026
Renaming a column sounds simple, but on a live system it can break your application instantly. Here's how to do it safely without downtime. -
How to Safely Deploy PostgreSQL Schema Changes
February 08, 2026
DROP TABLE and DROP COLUMN can destroy data instantly. A reference guide to destructive PostgreSQL operations, their risks, and safer alternatives. -
The PostgresCompare command line
August 21, 2019
The PostgresCompare command line is coming soon -
The new create script window
July 07, 2018
The next release of Postgres Compare includes a new "Create Script" experience which allows you to work with and make alterations to an update script in real time. Previously this was a small modal. Now it is a seperate, resizable window to make it easier to work with and include some extra information. -
Getting started with PostgresCompare
June 16, 2018 · updated September 15, 2026
From first launch to a deployment script in six steps — try the demo, connect your databases, compare them, and generate the SQL to bring them in sync. -
The path to beta
April 16, 2018
Its been a little over a month since the alpha of PostgresCompare started and, thankfully, I've received a lot of feedback as to how I can improve the application. To help clear up how I'm going to get from alpha to beta and beyond I'm detailing here the work I am going to tackle before taking that next step. -
Sneak Preview
January 11, 2018
Here’s a gif of me comparing a couple of databases and viewing the differences.
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Documenting relationships in the pg_catalog schema
June 11, 2017
While exploring the
pg_catalogschema I noticed that while the relationships between the tables are documented, they are not enforced by actual database constraints. Tom Lane provided an excellent answer as to why this is the case: -
Building the prototype
June 07, 2017
User interface design is hard. There is something about the frontend that doesn’t come naturally to me. At the same time I’ve witnessed first hand the impact a beautiful and intuitive UI can have on a user. A beautiful UI is easy on the eyes, users want to interact with it and they are more forgiving when something doesn’t quite work.
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CREATE DATABASE and the pg_database catalog
June 06, 2017
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a new PostgreSQL database. It does so by cloning an existing database, a template. PostgreSQL comes with two template databases,
template0andtemplate1. The difference betweentemplate0andtemplate1is their intended use.template1is the default template when creating a new database, it can also be connected to and any custom objects that new databases should have can be created there.template0does not accept connections and is therefore a clean source for those times whentemplate1has become messy for some reason. -
The guiding principles behind Postgres Compare
May 16, 2017
I believe that while listening to customer feedback and giving the people what they want can be of great benefit to the short term development of an application, it is also important to lay out some key principles that really define the essence of the product. Key principles help in many ways. From a users point of view the application has an identity and a unique look and feel. Internally the principles can be used as a guide for decision making.
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Using the system catalogs to get column information
May 12, 2017
A question came up on the pgsql-general mailing list regarding how to obtain column information from a PostgreSQL database. Finding the definition of database objects is something I spend a lot of time doing when working on the comparison and scripting engines for Postgres Compare.
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A summary of database version control options
April 20, 2017
There was a question recently on pgsql-general about Stored procedure version control. The question was: