The Art of Keeping PostgreSQL Clean: Internals, Autovacuum, and Controlled Deletion
Large PostgreSQL tables never shrink on their own and deleting data at scale can easily cause more harm than good. This talk focuses on how to safely clean up data in production without blocking workloads or causing vacuum storms.
We’ll explore real cleanup patterns , from partition drops and rebuild-and-reattach approaches to cursor- and CTE-based batched deletions , each designed to minimize lock contention and replication lag. We’ll also examine what actually happens inside PostgreSQL when data is deleted: how tuples become dead, how autovacuum reclaims space, and why transaction age and WAL behavior matter for performance.
By the end, attendees will understand how to plan, execute, and automate cleanup in large, high-concurrency PostgreSQL environments safely, continuously, and with full awareness of the engine’s internals.