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Ever wonder what happens to a query when your Postgres database is spread across 1000s of servers? Follow one through auth, the wire protocol, parsing, planning, and connection pooling, then back to your app with the results.

planetscale.comThe lifecycle of a sharded Postgres query — PlanetScaleFollow a SQL query through the router, across four Postgres shards, and back.

29/9/26, 4:37 pm1 repost4 likes

The Projekt

@wearetheprojekt.bsky.social

The pooling step is where the plot twists. PgBouncer in transaction mode plus prepared statements has ruined more afternoons than any planner bug ever did.

Patrick Donahue

@levelbrook.bsky.social

Since PgBouncer 1.24 that one is mostly handled by default: max_prepared_statements is 200, so protocol-level named statements follow the client across server connections. SQL-level PREPARE/EXECUTE are still forwarded as-is, and those are the ones that still bite.

The Projekt

@wearetheprojekt.bsky.social

Fair catch, 1.24 fixed the protocol side. The ones still biting are ORMs that emit raw PREPARE and anyone on a distro package where 1.24 is still a rumor.