icu_validation_level

icu_validation_level is the PostgreSQL setting that defines the log level for reporting invalid ICU locale strings.

Note

Fact — official short description: “Log level for reporting invalid ICU locale strings.”

Identity

Type , Valueenum: Upstream pg_settings type
Context , Valueuser: Settable by an ordinary user
Unit , Value—: Raw unit
Range , Value—: Raw limits in the last observed version
Enum values , Valuedisabled, debug5, debug4, debug3, debug2, debug1, log, notice, warning, error: — for non-enum types
Category , ValueClient Connection Defaults / Locale and Formatting: Upstream classification
Latest boot value , Valuewarning: warning

Lifecycle

Fact	Value
First observed	PG16
Present in	PG16–19 Beta 3
Removed in	No
Introduction commit	`1671f990dd66` — Validate ICU locales.
Commit date	2023-03-28
Discussion	thread 1 · thread 2

Default history

Measured PG9.0–19 Beta 3 boot defaults
Versions	Raw `boot_val`	Unit	Human value
PG16–19 Beta 3	`warning`	—	warning

How it works

icu_validation_level sets the log level for reporting invalid ICU locale strings. The setting changes how invalid ICU locale identifiers are reported, including the option to suppress reporting or escalate it to an error.

icu_validation_level is a USER-context setting. An authorized role can change it for a session, while ALTER ROLE or ALTER DATABASE can establish a default for future sessions.

It changes representation, parsing, or locale behavior at the client boundary rather than physical storage. Coordinate it with the other locale and formatting settings and with driver-native binary or typed protocols.

Tuning advice

Tip

Advice. These are workload-specific starting points and must be validated with measurements.

Workload	Guidance
OLTP	Keep icu_validation_level at WARNING so malformed locale identifiers are visible. Raise it to ERROR only in a migration gate that has already cleaned existing inputs.
OLAP	Use the same validation policy for analytical object creation; lowering the level can let inconsistent locale metadata spread into reproducible jobs.
Small nodes	Do not tune it for capacity. Preserve WARNING unless a controlled compatibility issue requires temporary lower-severity reporting.

Pigsty

Values use the fixed 8-vCPU, 32-GiB, 100-GiB SSD fixture and render the current Pigsty templates for PG19 Beta 3; this does not assert current Pigsty support for that historical or beta release.

Template	Effective value	Versus upstream boot	Source expression
OLTP	Unmodified	—	—
OLAP	Unmodified	—	—
CRIT	Unmodified	—	—
TINY	Unmodified	—	—

Caution

Advice — pending human review. Fact from the current Pigsty template projection: OLTP: PG16–19 Beta 3 unmodified; OLAP: PG16–19 Beta 3 unmodified; CRIT: PG16–19 Beta 3 unmodified; TINY: PG16–19 Beta 3 unmodified. No Pigsty-specific rationale is inferred from an absent override.

Common pitfalls

Changing icu_validation_level in one session and assuming role defaults, database defaults, or other pooled sessions changed with it.
Assuming a presentation setting changes stored values or server-side type semantics.
Changing a role or database default without testing text-parsing clients, exports, and pooled sessions.
Changing icu_validation_level globally without a rollback plan and a client or operational compatibility test.

client_encoding · lc_messages · lc_monetary · lc_numeric · lc_time · default_text_search_config