The release of pg_statviz 1.2 brings timely support for PostgreSQL 19 (tested against beta3) while introducing a new blocking locks analysis module, all while maintaining its minimalist footprint.
Key changes in this release include:
- PostgreSQL 19 support: Captures the new
wal_fpi_bytescounter frompg_stat_wal, and the PG18/19 I/O worker, effective WAL level, and autovacuum scoring settings are now stored insnapshot_conf. - Broad version compatibility: Tested across the entire PostgreSQL 13 to 19 range, ensuring current users and early adopters can rely on it.
- New blocking locks analysis: Each snapshot records the number of blocked and blocking sessions, broken down by lock type (e.g.,
relation,transactionid,tuple). Detection usespg_blocking_pids(), so soft blocks (sessions ahead in the lock queue) are counted, not just hard conflicts. - Lightweight storage: Table size remains independent of the number of involved sessions, keeping overhead low even with many blocked processes.
- Charts and AI verdicts: Like other modules, this one produces visualizations and AI-based severity assessments, with a deterministic severity floor so sustained blocking can never be reported as healthy.
For developers, this release is significant because it future-proofs your monitoring setup for PostgreSQL 19 while enhancing your ability to detect and diagnose lock contention. The blocking locks module gives you immediate insight into whether sessions are waiting on locks, and by what type, without requiring external tools. This is critical for troubleshooting application performance issues and deadlocks. With support for the new wal_fpi_bytes counter, you can better understand WAL write patterns, which is especially relevant for replication and full-page write tuning. The extension's continued focus on minimalism means you can add these capabilities without bloating your database, making it a practical choice for production environments. As PostgreSQL 19 approaches, having a monitoring tool that already supports its new features gives you a head start in planning and testing upgrades.