PostgreSQL 19 graph queries fail the 'would you ship this?' test

PostgreSQL developers have pulled planned graph query support from version 19 due to concerns that unresolved bugs could plague the release. The SQL Property Graph Queries (SQL/PGQ) feature, which enables exploration of relationships between nodes connected by edges, was added to the SQL standard in 2023. However, PostgreSQL's implementation of this feature was removed due to unresolved issues, with the next version's release date still pending.

A fourth beta is scheduled for September 24. Developer Tom Lane cautioned that if shipped in version 19, the feature would likely encounter post-release bugs that wouldn't be fixable until version 20. EDB's senior vice president of software engineering, Tom Kincaid, confirmed that PGQ will not be included in PostgreSQL 19, stating that the community wanted to address a few more aspects before releasing it.

While database administrators still face a significant advantage in the form of a new REPACK command that allows reclaiming disk space without locking out other users during the operation, it still holds an exclusive lock during the swapping of rewritten table and index files, which can cause middle-of-the-night calls and customer access issues.