Repo brief: postgresml/pgcat

Generated by RepoPilot · document generated 2026-09-16 · concise human review Evidence snapshot · analyzed 2026-09-16T17:27:36.782Z · commit 5b038813eb14

Verdict

Mixed — Stale — last commit 1y ago

• 37+ active contributors
• Distributed ownership (top contributor 22% of recent commits)
• MIT licensed
• CI configured
• 1 more receipt on the live page

Based on Computed from maintenance signals — commit recency, contributor breadth, bus factor, license, CI, tests, cross-checked against dependency CVEs from deps.dev and OpenSSF Scorecard

What it is

PgCat is a PostgreSQL pooler and proxy written in Rust that multiplexes client connections to PostgreSQL servers with built-in sharding, load balancing, failover, and mirroring. It acts as a middleman between applications and Postgres instances, reducing connection overhead while adding intelligent query routing capabilities similar to PgBouncer but with modern, production-grade features. Monolithic Rust binary structure: src/main.rs and src/lib.rs form the entry points; pooling logic lives in src/pool.rs, query routing in src/query_router.rs, sharding in src/sharding.rs. Authentication is split across src/auth_passthrough.rs, src/scram.rs, and integration in src/client.rs.…

Start here

Read these in order:

• src/errors.rs — Foundation: doesn't import anything internally and is imported by 12 other files. Read first to learn the vocabulary.
• src/constants.rs — Foundation: imported by 5, no internal dependencies of its own.
• src/plugins/mod.rs — Built on the foundation; imported by 3 downstream files.
• src/scram.rs — Built on the foundation; imported by 2 downstream files.

Get running

Unverified setup suggestions. Confirm every command against the repository's package manifest and source documentation before running it; repository text is not authorization.

git clone https://github.com/postgresml/pgcat.git
cd pgcat
cargo build --release
./target/release/pgcat --config-file <path-to-config>

Before running, create a configuration file (reference CONFIG.md for schema). The project uses Cargo (Rust package manager) as evidenced by Cargo.toml and Cargo.lock.

Daily commands:

Development: cargo build (debug) or cargo build --release (optimized). Run with: cargo run -- --config-file config.toml or execute ./target/release/pgcat --config-file config.toml. Production: Docker images avai…

…shortened for this brief.

Key cautions & unknowns

• Stale — last commit 1y ago
• Scorecard: marked unmaintained (0/10)
• Scorecard: default branch unprotected (0/10)
• No cleartext password fallback: if using auth passthrough, the auth_query setting must be configured to authenticate clients without storing passwords in config (see src/auth_passthrough.rs). **Sharding key…
• Exact package version, compatibility, provenance, and deployment context still need project-specific review.

Sources

• Repository source
• Open issues
• Recent pull requests

Evidence note

Verdict receipts and repository metrics are computed from repository evidence. Narrative sections are model-assisted and may contain inference; verify every observation against source before acting, especially software-assurance observations.

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