CLUSTERDB(1)

🌸 NAME 🌸

okay so bestie, meet clusterdb(1) — the PostgreSQL utility that gives your tables a lil recluster moment. We’re gonna walk through every flag, every env var, and every caveat together. No cap, nothing skipped. 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

clusterdb [connection-option...] [--verbose | -v]
          [ --table | -t table ]...  [dbname]

clusterdb [connection-option...] [--verbose | -v] --all | -a

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

clusterdb is a utility for reclustering tables in a PostgreSQL database. It finds tables that have previously been clustered, and clusters them again on the same index that was last used. Tables that have never been clustered are not affected. periodt 💅

clusterdb is a wrapper around the SQL command CLUSTER(7). There is no effective difference between clustering databases via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server. Same energy, same result. ✨

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

clusterdb accepts the following command-line arguments:

• -a, --all — cluster all databases. all of them, bestie 👑
• [-d] dbname, [--dbname=]dbname — picks the database to cluster when -a/--all is not used. If this is not specified, the database name is read from the environment variable PGDATABASE. If that is not set, the user name specified for the connection is used. The dbname can be a connection string — if so, connection string parameters will override any conflicting command line options. 🫶
• -e, --echo — echo the commands that clusterdb generates and sends to the server. It’s literally spilling the server tea. ☕
• -q, --quiet — do not display progress messages. Shhh, quiet girl era. 🤫
• -t table, --table=table — cluster table only. Multiple tables can be clustered by writing multiple -t switches. 🎯
• -v, --verbose — print detailed information during processing. Info dump, but make it cute. 📋
• -V, --version — print the clusterdb version and exit. 💫
• -?, --help — show help about clusterdb command-line arguments, and exit. 🆘

It also accepts these command-line arguments for connection parameters:

• -h host, --host=host — specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket. 🖥️
• -p port, --port=port — specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections. 🔌
• -U username, --username=username — user name to connect as. 🪪
• -w, --no-password — never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a password is not available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a password. > vibe check: no password prompt means no magical backup password, okay? 😭
• -W, --password — force clusterdb to prompt for a password before connecting to a database. This option is never essential, since clusterdb will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. However, clusterdb will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt. 🔐
• --maintenance-db=dbname — when -a/--all is used, connect to this database to gather the list of databases to cluster. If not specified, the postgres database will be used, or if that does not exist, template1 will be used. This can be a connection string — if so, connection string parameters will override any conflicting command line options. Also, connection string parameters other than the database name itself will be re-used when connecting to other databases. 🧰

🦋 ENVIRONMENT 🦋

• PGDATABASE, PGHOST, PGPORT, PGUSER — default connection parameters. ✨
• PG_COLOR — specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values are always, auto and never. 🌈

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15). 🫶

🔥 DIAGNOSTICS 🔥

If things get messy, see CLUSTER(7) and psql(1) for discussions of potential problems and error messages. The database server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq front-end library will apply. 💀

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

To cluster the database test:

$ clusterdb test

To cluster a single table foo in a database named xyzzy:

$ clusterdb --table=foo xyzzy

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

CLUSTER(7) — go read it, bestie. It’s the main character of this whole cluster situation. 🫶

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mwah 💋 — this iconic manual page comes from PostgreSQL 15.19, dated 2026, and that’s the clusterdb(1) sign-off. Slay responsibly. 🌟