playbook/antigravity-awesome-skills/skills/postgresql-cli/references/meta-commands-inspection.md

Part of the psql meta-command reference. See also: meta-commands-core.md, meta-commands-formatting.md

psql Meta-Commands — Object Inspection (\d family)

This document covers all \d family commands for inspecting database objects, including tables, indexes, functions, schemas, and more.

Table of Contents

• Object Inspection (\d family)
• Pattern matching rules

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Object Inspection (\d family)

All \d commands accept these common modifiers:

• + — extra info (size, description, ownership)
• S — include system objects
• x — expanded display (must follow S or +, NOT immediately after \d)

Important: The x modifier for expanded display must appear after S or + (e.g., \dt+x), because \dx is a separate command that lists installed extensions. Writing \dx when you meant expanded display will show extensions instead.

All accept a pattern parameter with wildcard matching (*, ?, regex). See Patterns section below.

\d[Sx+] [ pattern ]

Without a pattern: equivalent to \dtvmsE (lists all visible tables, views, materialized views, sequences, and foreign tables).

With a pattern: shows columns, types, tablespace, special attributes (NOT NULL, defaults), indexes, constraints, rules, triggers. For foreign tables, shows the foreign server.

\d+ adds: column comments, OID presence, view definition, replica identity, access method.

Table-type listing commands

\dE / \di / \dm / \ds / \dt / \dv — List foreign tables, indexes, materialized views, sequences, tables, or views. Combine letters: \dti lists both tables and indexes.

\d+ adds: persistence status (permanent/temporary/unlogged), physical size on disk, description.

Aggregate and function listings

Command	Shows
\da[Sx] [pattern]	Aggregate functions with return type and input types
\df[anptwSx+] [pattern [arg_pattern ...]]	Functions. Filter by type: a=agg, n=normal, p=procedure, t=trigger, w=window. Additional args match parameter type names. Use - as last arg_pattern to prevent matching functions with extra args. Example: \df * integer lists functions whose first argument is integer.
\do[Sx+] [pattern [arg_pattern [arg_pattern]]]	Operators with operand/result types. One arg matches prefix operators; two args match binary operators. Use - for unused operand. Example: \do + integer integer lists + operators with two integer args.

Schema and type listings

Command	Shows
\dn[Sx+] [pattern]	Schemas (namespaces)
\dT[Sx+] [pattern]	Data types (\dT+ shows internal name, size, enum values, permissions)
\dC[x+] [pattern]	Type casts (\dC+ shows leakproof status and description)
\dD[Sx+] [pattern]	Domains (\dD+ shows permissions and description)
\dO[Sx+] [pattern]	Collations (only collations usable with current database encoding — results vary by database)

Access method and operator listings

Command	Shows
\dA[x+] [pattern]	Access methods
\dAc[x+] [am_pattern [type_pattern]]	Operator classes
\dAf[x+] [am_pattern [type_pattern]]	Operator families
\dAo[x+] [am_pattern [family_pattern]]	Operators in families
\dAp[x+] [am_pattern [family_pattern]]	Support functions in families

Configuration and privilege listings

Command	Shows
\dconfig[x+] [pattern]	Server config parameters. Without a pattern, shows only non-default values. \dconfig+ adds data type, context, and access privileges.
\dp[Sx] [pattern]	Table/view/sequence privileges
\ddp[x] [pattern]	Default access privileges
\drg[Sx] [pattern]	Granted role memberships (ADMIN, INHERIT, SET options, grantor)
\drds[x] [role_pattern [db_pattern]]	Per-role and per-database config settings
\z[Sx] [pattern]	Alias for \dp

Replication and partition listings

Command	Shows
\dP[itnx+] [pattern]	Partitioned relations (t=tables, i=indexes, n=nested shows parent)
\dRp[x+] [pattern]	Replication publications (\dRp+ shows associated tables/schemas)
\dRs[x+] [pattern]	Replication subscriptions (\dRs+ shows additional properties)

Extended statistics, extensions, and more

Command	Shows
\dX[x] [pattern]	Extended statistics. Status column shows defined (requested) or NULL (not requested) per statistic kind. Use pg_stats_ext to check if ANALYZE has been run.
\dx[x+] [pattern]	Installed extensions (\dx+ lists all objects in each extension)
\dy[x+] [pattern]	Event triggers
\dd[Sx] [pattern]	Object descriptions (comments on constraints, operator classes, operator families, rules, triggers). Other object comments are shown by their respective \d commands.

Foreign data wrapper listings

Command	Shows
\des[x+] [pattern]	Foreign servers
\det[x+] [pattern]	Foreign tables (\det+ shows options and description)
\deu[x+] [pattern]	User mappings (CAUTION: \deu+ may show passwords)
\dew[x+] [pattern]	Foreign-data wrappers

Text search listings

Command	Shows
\dF[x+] [pattern]	Text search configurations (\dF+ shows parser and dictionary list per token type)
\dFd[x+] [pattern]	Text search dictionaries
\dFp[x+] [pattern]	Text search parsers (\dFp+ shows functions and recognized token types)
\dFt[x+] [pattern]	Text search templates

Other object listings

Command	Shows
\db[x+] [pattern]	Tablespaces (\db+ shows options, size, permissions, description)
\dc[Sx+] [pattern]	Character-set encoding conversions
\dl[x+]	Large objects (alias for \lo_list)
\dL[Sx+] [pattern]	Procedural languages
\du[Sx+] [pattern] / \dg[Sx+] [pattern]	Database roles (\du = \dg, since users and groups were unified into roles)
\l[x+] [pattern]	Databases (\l+ shows size, default tablespace, description. Size only available for databases you can connect to.)
\sf[+] func_desc	Function definition (read-only, + numbers lines from body start)
\sv[+] view_name	View definition (read-only, + numbers lines)

Pattern matching rules

All \d commands that accept a pattern use the same matching system:

1. Case folding: Unquoted letters are folded to lowercase (like SQL identifiers). Double quotes prevent folding.
2. Wildcards: * matches any character sequence, ? matches any single character. Within double quotes, these are literal.
3. Dot separator: A dot (.) separates schema from object name. Two dots separate database.schema.object (database must match current connection).
4. Regex: Advanced patterns like [0-9] work. . is a separator (not regex any-char), * → .*, ? → ., $ is literal. Within double quotes, all regex specials are literal.
5. No pattern: Shows all objects visible in the current schema search path (equivalent to *). Use *.* to see all objects regardless of visibility.