PostgreSQL 19 RC 1 released

Brief written by the FOSSWire AI editor from PostgreSQL How we write

October 15, 2026 1 min read 38 reads

Key Takeaway

The first release candidate for PostgreSQL 19 is available, targeting a general availability date of November 19, 2026.

Summary

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group has released the first release candidate (RC 1) of PostgreSQL 19. This version includes bug fixes applied since Beta 4 and serves as a precursor to the final release. A second release candidate is expected on November 12, 2026, followed by the general availability of PostgreSQL 19 on November 19, 2026.

Changes in PostgreSQL 19 RC 1

Fixes for REPACK (CONCURRENTLY) and parallel autovacuum.
Improvements to pg_plan_advice.
Query planner optimizations regarding NULL expression handling.
Fixes for automatic logical replication enablement when wal_level is set to replica.
postgres_fdw statistics import now runs as the foreign table owner rather than the user running ANALYZE.
COPY (query) TO ... (FORMAT json) now uses query column names and aliases as JSON keys.

Why it matters

Users planning to upgrade should use major version upgrade strategies such as pg_upgrade or pg_dump/pg_restore.

Original reference: www.postgresql.org →