Transaction & Policy Checks

Name: pgfence
Author: pgfence

Beyond DDL, pgfence enforces operational best practices that prevent silent production incidents.

Transaction Checks

#	Pattern	Severity
25	NOT VALID + VALIDATE CONSTRAINT in the same transaction	error
26	Multiple ACCESS EXCLUSIVE statements compounding	warning
27	`CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY` inside a transaction	error
28	Bulk `UPDATE` without `WHERE` in migration	warning
29	Wide lock window: ACCESS EXCLUSIVE on multiple tables in same transaction	warning

Policy Checks

Missing SET lock_timeout: prevents lock queue death spirals
Missing SET statement_timeout: safety net for long operations
Missing SET application_name: enables pg_stat_activity visibility
Missing SET idle_in_transaction_session_timeout: prevents orphaned locks
lock_timeout set after dangerous DDL: ordering violation, timeout must be set before any statement that acquires a dangerous lock
lock_timeout / statement_timeout value exceeds threshold: warns when timeout values are too permissive (defaults: lock_timeout > 5s, statement_timeout > 10min)

Inline Ignore

Suppress a specific check on a statement with a comment directive:

sql

-- pgfence-ignore: add-column-not-null-no-default
ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN status TEXT NOT NULL;

-- pgfence-ignore
DROP TABLE legacy_sessions;  -- suppress all checks

See Configuration → Inline Ignore for full syntax reference.