log_min_messages

log_min_messages is the PostgreSQL setting that defines the message levels that are logged.

Note

Fact — official short description: “Sets the message levels that are logged.”

Identity

Type , Valuestring: Upstream pg_settings type
Context , Valuesuperuser: Settable at runtime by a superuser
Unit , Value—: Raw unit
Range , Value—: Raw limits in the last observed version
Enum values , Value—: — for non-enum types
Category , ValueReporting and Logging / When to Log: Upstream classification
Latest boot value , Valuewarning: warning

Lifecycle

Fact	Value
First observed	PG9.0 (research boundary)
Present in	PG9.0–19 Beta 3
Removed in	No
Introduction commit	Not asserted: predates the PG9.0 research boundary
Commit date	—
Discussion	—

Default history

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

How it works

log_min_messages sets the message levels that are logged. Each level includes all the levels that follow it. The later the level, the fewer messages are sent. The server-log severity ordering has special placement for LOG and differs from client_min_messages, so a threshold name cannot be copied blindly between them.

log_min_messages is a SUPERUSER-context setting. Superuser or a role granted the appropriate SET privilege can change it for a session, while ALTER ROLE or ALTER DATABASE can establish a default for future sessions.

It changes emitted diagnostic data rather than query semantics, but volume, sensitive content, log_line_prefix, destinations, collector throughput, and retention determine operational cost and usefulness.

Tuning advice

Tip

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

Workload	Guidance
OLTP	Tune log_min_messages against an explicit observability question and a measured log-volume budget. Prefer selective thresholds, sampling, or role-level overrides over indiscriminate capture.
OLAP	Analytical jobs can justify richer log_min_messages telemetry, but account for long statements, large bind values, and bursty completion patterns in the log pipeline.
Small nodes	Keep log_min_messages useful but bounded: verify disk, collector, retention, and redaction capacity before increasing detail or frequency.

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: PG9.0–19 Beta 3 unmodified; OLAP: PG9.0–19 Beta 3 unmodified; CRIT: PG9.0–19 Beta 3 unmodified; TINY: PG9.0–19 Beta 3 unmodified. No Pigsty-specific rationale is inferred from an absent override.

Common pitfalls

Changing log_min_messages in one session and assuming role defaults, database defaults, or other pooled sessions changed with it.
Enabling richer logging without budgeting collector throughput, storage, retention, and downstream query cost.
Writing SQL text, bind values, identities, or host data without a redaction and access-control policy.
Changing log_min_messages globally without a rollback plan and a client or operational compatibility test.

log_min_error_statement · log_min_duration_statement · log_min_duration_sample · log_statement_sample_rate · log_transaction_sample_rate