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RS-LOCK-003 — ATTACH PARTITION validates the incoming rows under a lock on the parent

Namespace: RS-LOCK · Code: RS-LOCK-003

ATTACH PARTITION takes ACCESS EXCLUSIVE on the PARENT table — blocking every query against every partition — and then scans the incoming table to prove every row satisfies the partition bound, unless a matching CHECK constraint already exists. On a large incoming partition that scan is the outage, and it happens while the whole partitioned table is locked. Non-concurrent DETACH takes the same lock on the parent.

Remediation

Section titled “Remediation”

Add a CHECK constraint matching the partition bound to the incoming table BEFORE attaching, and validate it separately: ALTER TABLE incoming ADD CONSTRAINT c CHECK () NOT VALID; then VALIDATE CONSTRAINT c; then ATTACH. With the constraint already proven, ATTACH skips the scan and the lock is brief. On PostgreSQL 14+, prefer DETACH PARTITION CONCURRENTLY for the reverse direction.

References

Section titled “References”
  • PRD §10
  • RFC §14.2

This page is generated from the same catalog rowshape explain RS-LOCK-003 reads, so the remediation here is byte-identical to the one a verdict carries — they cannot drift. An agent can read it with the explain_finding MCP tool.